UTICA, NY - The Utica College track and field program sends representation to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships for a seventh straight outdoor season this week. Local product Kelsey Wands (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) will compete for her second All-America honors, as well as the National Championship in the long jump on Thursday, May 27th. The meet will be held at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Follow Along: Live results will be made available through Delta Timing at https://tf.deltatiming.com/ncaa/2021-ncaa-d3-outdoor-championships. Live video, if available, will be on NCAA.com.
Accepted Entries: The full list of accepted entries for the meet can be found at http://data.tf.deltatiming.com/2021-ncaa-d3-outdoor-championships/women-accepted-entries.htm.
When It Goes Down: Wands will compete on Thursday beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Do It Again, For The First Time: This is Wands' second time qualifying for an NCAA Championship event. However, it will be her first time competing. She previously qualified for the 2020 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, which were later cancelled.
How She Got Here: The top 19 declared entries in each individual women's event were granted entry into this year's championship. Wands has been in qualifying position throughout the postseason, but took things to another gear at last week's AARTFC meet as she placed second with a personal best mark of 5.84 meters. The winner set the nation's top mark, and Wands held a temporary 2nd on the national leaderboard before two other competitors set marks in the high end of the five meter range. She will compete as the fourth overall seed, with the top three marks nationally all in the accepted entries. Wands will be one of two competitors in the field from the Empire 8 conference, with the other being Brenna Johnson of Nazareth. Every competitor in the field has achieved a mark of 5.67 meters or better.
Chasing History: With a mark in the top 5, and the potential to achieve an even stronger mark, Wands enters nationals as a legitimate national title contender. If she were to win, she would be the first NCAA National Champion of any kind in school history.
Chasing The Record Books: Wands is already the program's indoor record holder at 5.59 meters set in her rookie season. However, she is still chasing the outdoor record held by multiple time NCAA qualifier and All-American Sarah Wiatr. That record currently stands at 6.10 meters, and she is just under a foot away from tying or breaking that record.
Piling Up The Awards: Wands was recently named an All-Region selection for the second time in her career by the USTFCCCA. She was also named as the E8 Field Athlete of the Week on Monday. She is also the 2021 Empire 8 Outdoor Champion and an All-Conference selection, and was a 2020 Indoor All-American.
