MARION, Ind. – The stage is set for the final competition of the 2022-23 year, as five Warriors will be making their way to Indiana within a week for the 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship.
Nationals in 2023 sees a change in venue from years past as the NAIA reached an agreement with Indiana Wesleyan University to move the event from Gulf Shores, Ala., back to the Midwest. Indiana previously served as the host site for the National Championship from 2010 – 2013.
Making the trip to nationals this year are five Warriors, with four of them returning to the national stage after qualifying in 2022.
The lone student-athlete on the Warriors who will be making her first NAIA National Championship appearance is
Jayden Jackson. Jackson hit the qualifying standard for the heptathlon on April 8 in Turlock. But it wasn't until a week ago that Jackson knew she would be bound for nationals, as just 11 athletes across the country were announced by the NAIA as multi-event qualifiers.
Jackson enters nationals ranked No. 18 in the nation for the women's heptathlon. She holds a PR of 4,203 in the event, the score that punched her ticket to Indiana.
Jessup's men's team will be sending just one athlete to nationals, senior
Kamil Jones. Jones returns to the national stage after qualifying a year ago. The 2023 season sees Jones return in the same event from 2022, the 400m Hurdle.
Jones was the GSAC Champion in his national event and holds a lifetime PR of 53.71, which is a half-second improvement from the time he posted at the Pat Ryan Invitational to secure his nationals berth. Jones is ranked No. 23 overall in the event.
Three other Warriors will be returning to nationals in the same event they qualified with in 2022:
Alexis Jones,
Azalea Prince, and
Jessica Pedretti.
For Jones and Pedretti, the two waited until the last minute to punch their ticket, hitting the qualifying standards in their respective events during the West Coast Last Chance Meet on May 7.
Pedretti, who was named the GSAC Field Athlete of the Year, returns to nationals in the discus. Ranked No. 23 in her event, Pedretti holds a PR of 43.63m, a mark that is also the Jessup outdoor record.
Jones is off to nationals for the fifth time in her career, which ranks second in Jessup history for the most track nationals appearances, trailing only two-time National Champion Bailey Cossentine. Jones made two indoor national appearances as a member of Jessup's 4x400m relay team, making this her third outdoor qualification.
The mark of 5.28m sent Jones back to nationals, breaking her own Jessup record in the process. She also ranks No. 23 in her event.
As for Prince, this trip to nationals is her second of the 2023 season. Prince qualified for indoor nationals earlier this year in the 5k, and now she doubles her distance with back-to-back years at nationals in the 10k. This will be the fourth all-time national appearance for Prince as she also qualified for the XC National Championship in 2021.
Prince met the qualifying standard with a time of 37:48.05 at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in San Francisco. That time is also her PR in the event, placing her No. 28 going into Indiana.
Next week's action will take place at the IWU Track & Field Complex in Marion, Ind. Prelims begin on May 24, with the final day of nationals wrapping up on May 26.
Jessup Athletics will provide up-to-the-minute updates of everything going on in Indiana across our social media platforms and right here at
www.jessupathletics.com.
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Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).
