ALLENDALE, Mich. — Wayne State’s track and field teams came home with a pair of All-American honors at the 2022 NCAA Div. II Outdoor Nationals track and field meet.
Mckenzie Scheil and Brooklynn Chipps placed second and third, respectively, in the hammer throw Thursday afternoon to earn All-American honors.
Scheil, a graduate of Fillmore Central High School, scratched on her first two attempts in prelims before recording a mark of 180 feet, 10 inches to qualify eighth for the finals. In the finals, Scheil scratched on her first throw but followed with marks of 187-10 and 195-5 on her final throw to move up to second place.
It’s the third time Scheil has collected All-American honors in the hammer throw, placing second last year along with a seventh place finish in 2019. Scheil entered nationals with the top regular season mark of 201-4 at the Wildcat Classic in Wayne on March 25.
Chipps, a junior from Elgin, finished third in the hammer throw with a top heave of 192-11. In the prelims, Chipps scratched two of her three attempts but posted a mark of 186-7 on her second attempt to enter finals with the fifth-best throw. Chipps recorded her top mark of 192-11 on her second attempt in finals after scratching on her first throw. She finished finals with a mark of 182-9 and collects her first All-American honor.
Scheil fouled on all three attempts in the shot put prelims Saturday morning. She was competing in the shot put at the national championships for the second straight season after placing 12th one year ago. She entered this year’s nationals ranked 18th in NCAA Div. II in the shot put with a top season mark of 47-5 3/4 at the South Dakota Twilight Meet on May 6.
Wayne State’s Cole Christoffersen finished 17th out of 20 competitors Thursday afternoon in the men’s hammer throw. The Lyons-Decatur graduate posted a mark of 186-0 on his third and final throw in prelims after fouling on his first two attempts. A mark of at least 197-9 was needed to qualify for finals in the event.
Christoffersen entered nationals ranked 14th in NCAA Div. II with a season-best effort of 200-7 set at the South Dakota Challenge in Vermillion April 21.
Dylan Kneifl finished 12th Friday afternoon in the men’s high jump. With the 12th place finish, Kneifl collects second-team All-American honors.
The sophomore from Pilger cleared the opening height of 6-7 1/2 on his third attempt to move onto the next height. He advanced to the next height after clearing 6-9 1/2 on his second attempt, but failed on all three attempts at 6-10 3/4 to be eliminated.
Kneifl entered nationals tied for 10th in NCAA Div. II with a new WSC school record mark of 6-11 1/2 at the NSIC Championships in Aberdeen, S.D., May 14.
