SPEARFISH, S.D. –  The Black Hills State University track and field teams will be attempting to qualify for the Division II National Championships this weekend. A handful of Yellow Jackets will compete at Occidental College on Saturday, while some will be in Kearney, Nebraska, on Sunday.
 
The Oxy Invitational will be held May 11 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jordan Theisen will be running in the 1500. Cailey Roth and Keegan Her Many Horses will run in the 800m. Roth's time is currently less than a second off a provisional time. Tristan Hepp will compete in the 400 meter hurdles, where he will be looking to improve on his standing provisional time. Tori Moore and Jake Iverson will both run in the 3000m steeplechase. Moore currently has a provisional time and will be looking to reach an automatic time. Meanwhile, Iverson's best time so far is less than a second off a provisional qualifying time. Jonah Theisen will vie for a qualifying time in the 5000m, and Nathan Frederick will be running in the 10k.
 
The Loper Last Chance, hosted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney, will be May 12. Three Yellow Jacket pole vaulters – Jordyn Huneke, Hannah Hendrick, and Whitney Scott – will all compete on Sunday. All three currently have provisional marks, and will be looking to improve. Also in action will be Makaleb McInnis, Allan McDonnell, Alexandra Richards, and Kyla Sawvell. McInnis currently has a provisional mark in the javelin, as does McDonnell in the high jump. Sawvell, recently named the RMAC Freshman of the Year, has provisional marks in the shotput and discus, and is also second in the conference in the hammer currently.
 
Following this weekend's last chance meets, the competitors will be announced for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The national meet will be held May 23-25 in Kingsville, Texas.