CHADRON, Neb. -- May 6, 2021 -- After having some exceptional results at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships at Pueblo, Colo., last weekend, several members of the Chadron State College track and field will seek some even better marks Friday.

Nine Eagles--eight men and one woman--are headed to the University of South Dakota Tune-Up Meet in Vermillion.  It's a chance for them to improve their times or jumps a bit and qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships at Allendale, Mich., on May 21-23.

The Eagles both opened and closed the conference meet riding high.  Early on, sophomore Naishaun Jernigan of Springfield, Mass., went 25-feet-7 ½ inches to take the DII national lead in the long jump and automatically qualify for nationals.  He's not making the trip this weekend. There's no reason for him to compete again until nationals.  He can maintain his momentum by working out at CSC.

As the conference meet was winding down on Sunday, the Chadron State men won both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.  The 4x100 crew made up of freshmen Morgan Fawver of McCook and Emory Yoosook of Casper and sophomores Osvaldo Cano of Oshkosh and Brodie Roden of Riverton, Wyo., won the 4x100 relay in 40.90.  A bit later Fawver, Cano and Roden along Greg Logsdon of Yoder, Wyo., won the 4x400 relay in 3:13.82.  

Both times rank among the Eagles' fastest three all-time.

Also on Sunday, Fawver placed second in the 100-meter sprint in 10.54 seconds and Roden was the runner-up in the 400 in 48.22 seconds.

But, in order to accompany Jernigan to nationals, both the relays and two speedsters need to lower their times a trifle.

"We're just a few tenths of a second or inches, if you prefer, away from qualifying," CSC Coach Riley Northrup explained.  "We hoping for great competition and weather."

This weekend the Eagles will concentrate on qualifying the 4x100 foursome.  Fawver and Roden also will enter the individual sprints.  The 4x400 relay will not enter that race, but Cano, Logsdon and Harley Rhoades of Douglas, Wyo., another excellent 400 runner on the CSC roster, will join Roden in the individual race.

Also competing Friday will be Derrick Nwagwu of Aurora, Colo., and Brock Voth of Berthoud, Colo., in the triple jump.  They finished sixth and eighth at the RMAC Meet with career bests of 49-6 ½ and 48-9, respectively.  They rank 15th and 22nd on the list of potential qualifiers. The top dozen or so after all the tune up and/or last chance meets take place are expected to qualify.  Eight triple jumpers have exceeded 50 feet.   

Also going to Vermillion is freshman Jourdaine Cerenil of Pine Bluffs, Wyo., for another opportunity to high jump.  During a meet on April 10, Cerenil cleared 5-5 ¾, just a quarter of an inch from provisionally qualifying for nationals.  She hasn't reached that height again during a meet, but has gone even higher in practice. 

"She's got lots of potential and we're getting her another chance to do something special," Northrup said.  "It will be good experience for her."

If the Eagles don't reach all of their goals this weekend, they're planning to enter at least one of the two "last chance" meets scheduled at the University of Nebraska-Kearney the weekend of May 14-16, Northrup said.   The 4x400 relay will definitely compete there or at a similar meet.