AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State track and field team will be represented by five student-athletes at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 11-12, the NCAA announced Tuesday night. The Cyclone women, who are ranked No. 24 in the country by the USTFCCCA will be represented by
Kate Hall (long jump),
Christina Hillman (shot put) and
Jhoanmy Luque (long jump). The ISU men will have
Daniel Everett (5,000-meter run) and
Jan Jeuschede (shot put) competing for the Cardinal and Gold.
The Cyclone women's team and its return to the top-25 has come via the strong performances of Hall and Hillman. Hillman, a two-time NCAA champion, three-time Big 12 champion and five-time All-American in the shot put, will head to Birmingham, Alabama as the No. 2 seed in the women's shot put. Hillman earned her third-career Big 12 crown last weekend with a season-best toss of 58-10.
Hall, a true freshman, is the No. 5 seed for the women's long jump at a school-record 21-5 1/2 at the Razorback Invitational last month. The Casco, Maine native is coming off a silver medal effort at the conference championships in the long jump. Hall has elected to not compete in the 60-meter dash, for which she had a qualifying time of 7.30, to focus her energy in the long jump.
A pair of Cyclones made their ways into the NCAA Championships at Big 12 Indoors last weekend in Jeuschede and Luque. The German shot putter earned a silver medal in the shot put with an indoor-best throw of 63-3 1/4, moving him to the No. 11 seed for the NCAA Championships. This will be Jeuschede's third NCAA Championships trip, but first indoors.
Luque also used a personal best to advance to Birmingham. The Venezuelan earned the bronze medal in the Big 12 long jump with a leap of 20-10 3/4, which will make her the No. 13 seed. The sophomore will also be making her NCAA Indoor Championships debut after competing in last season's NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Daniel Everett left the Big 12 Indoor Championships with a pair of silver medals in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter run and will look to add some All-America accolades to the collection. The senior transfer from Columbia is the No. 8 seed in the men's 5,000-meter run and will be up against many foes from the Iowa State Classic in which he earned that time. The Iowa State Classic produced seven of the 16 qualifying times for the men's 5K in Birmingham, including six of the top nine seeds.
All competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships will be streamed live on ESPN3. ESPN2 and ESPNU will air replays at a later date.