BROOKINGS, S.D. – The first day of the 44^th annual NAIA Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships featured the pentathlon and semifinal races in the long-distance and relay races. 

Dakota State (S.D.) hosted the national meet for the sixth consecutive year, the fifth time in the last six seasons that the national meet is held at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. 

The first national indoor track & field individual champion of 2024 was crowned Thursday in the pentathlon. 

• Kerrigan Myers of Midland (Neb.) took the first lead in the pentathlon after collecting 1,004 points in the 600-meter hurdles with a time of 8.56 seconds.
• Renee Finke of Central Methodist (Mo.) overtook the lead after recording the top high jump mark at 1.74 meters (5 feet, 8.5 inches – personal record) and maintained their lead before the final event in the 800 meters.
• Kaitlyn McColly of Dickinson State (N.D.) was trailing by 83 points before running the final event of the 800 meters. She finished second in the race at 2:24.63 seconds and collected 762 points.
• McColly edged Finke to win the NAIA pentathlon title. McColly finished with 3,716 points, making the first Blue Hawk pentathlon national title in school history. Finke followed with 3,701 points.
• Abbi Stevens of Southern Oregon, who clocked the top time in the 800-meter run at 2:19.82, finished third in the pentathlon.
• Dickinson State and Central Methodist opened with the lead after the first day, with 10 points each.  The Eagles also secured a seventh-place finish in the pentathlon (Haley Bellamy with 3,340 points).
• Southern Oregon is third with six points, followed by Montana Tech fourth with five points. Midland is fifth with four points, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) is sixth with three points, and Bethel (Ind.) is seventh with one point.
• The long distance races started with the 5000 meter run semifinals, with 29 runners combined in two heats. The top four in each heat and the next four best times advance to the finals on Saturday at 3:35 p.m. CT. 
• A pair of freshmen runners highlighted the 5000 meters race with the top two times – Hasnae Goulamzi of Texas Wesleyan at 17:32.62 and Alina Boshchuk of Cumberlands (Ky.) at 17:32.69.
• A total of three relay semifinals were held on Thursday. 
• The 4x800 meter relay had four heats (25 total teams), where the top time in each heat plus the next four best times advanced to the finals Friday evening at 5:35 p.m. CT.
• Grace (Ind.), who won the 2023 national title in the 4x800 meter relay, clinched the top semifinal time of 9:8.94. 
• A total of 20 teams competed in the 4x400 meter relay semifinals. The top two teams in each heat (3 total heats) with the next two best times will run in the national finals on Saturday at 4:55 p.m. CT.
• Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) claimed the top time in the 4x400 meter relay in 3:45.34.
• The final relay of the day was the distance medley relay (DMR), with a total of 17 teams (2 heats). The top two place finishers in each heat, plus the next four best times, advanced to the national final on Saturday at 4:20 p.m. (CT).
• College of Idaho captured the top time in the DMR with a time of 11:57.63.

Five national event titles will be crowned Friday as the action continues with the 3000 meter racewalk at 10:05 a.m. CT. The long jump will be the first individual field event at the national meet, starting at 1 p.m. CT. The pole vault and the weight throw will also occur at 3 p.m. CT.

Numerous semifinal running events are set to kick off at 12 p.m. (CT), starting with the 1 mile run.