Thursday, May 27, 2021
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Dania Holmberg has not had many races this season where she was chasing instead of being chased.
The Seattle Pacific senior was in the chase group this time and she did what needed to qualify for Saturday’s final in the women’s 1,500 meters on day one of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Grand Valley State Lacrosse/Track and Field Stadium.
Holmberg was the final time qualifier to make the 12-athlete field for Saturday’s final, running a time of 4:29.42. She placed sixth in the first preliminary heat, which produced the top-five times in the field.
“Except for the last 250 meters, I couldn’t have asked for a better race just because I was in the mix the entire time,” Holmberg said to SPUFalcons.com. “That was just my goal because the entire field was within 10 seconds of each other. Just tried to use that to my advantage.”
Celene Ritter of Lee (Tenn.) was the top qualifier in the event, winning the first heat in a time of 4:22.66.
Both Seattle Pacific athletes that qualified for the national meet competed on Thursday. Senior Scout Cai competed in the women’s pole vault and closed out her career with a 13th place finish as she cleared the opening height of 12 feet, 5.5 inches. Journey Gurley won the competition with a clearance of 13 feet. 11.25 inches.
Cai ends her Seattle Pacific career as a seven-time GNAC outdoor champion, which includes the pole vault in 2018, 2019 and 2021. She set the GNAC record in the event at 13 feet, 3 inches, at the Buc Scoring Invite on April 30. She earned All-American honors in the heptathlon in 2019, placing seventh.
The remaining five GNAC athletes in the national meet will compete on Saturday. Holmberg’s final in the women’s 1,500 meters will start at 5:25 p.m. EDT. Western Washington senior Calahan Warren will compete in the lone men’s section of the 1,500 meters at 1:20 p.m.
In the field events, Montana State Billings senior Beau Ackerman will open the day with the men’s javelin at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Western Washington senior Hannah Nienaber will compete in the women’s javelin at 11:45 a.m. and Vikings’ sophomore Aliyah Dawkins competes in the women’s high jump at 5:15 p.m.