CHADRON, Neb. -- May 15, 2023 -- Chadron State College standout Kyla Sawvell was already certain of qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Track and Field Championships in both the hammer throw and the shot put, but she solidified that status on Friday and Saturday while participating in two "last chance" meets in Nebraska.

Heading into the meets, Sawvell was 10^th on the hammer throw chart with a season-best mark of 187 feet, 10 inch and was 16^th on the shot put list at 47-10.  The top 20 contestants in each individual event earn the right to compete at nationals, which will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 25-27 at Pueblo, Colo.

Competing initially at Concordia University at Seward on Friday, the graduate student from Wall, S.D., threw the hammer 60.96 meters, or 200 feet even, and shoved the shot 14.63 meters, or 48 feet even.  But she did even better on Saturday at the meet

Sawvell uncorked the hammer 63.14 meters, or 207 feet, 2 inches, and hit 14.96 meters, or 49-1, with the shot.  Those marks moved her up to second on the national hammer throw chart and put her sixth among the shotputters.  Since the Nebraska meets, which drew many contestants, were among those in the final round for last chance meets, there's definitely no doubt about her status now.

Sawvell also did well in the discus at the two meets, throwing 148-9 on Friday and 147-8 on Saturday, her  season bests, but they're still shy of making the top 20 in that event.  She has a career-best of 154-0 with the discus.     

Several other Eagles also entered the last chance meets.  Another hammer thrower, Courtney Smith of Rock Springs, Wyo., capped her career by hitting 170 feet, 1 inch, some 3 feet, 8 inches farther than ever before, but not far enough to put her in contention for the national meet.

CSC's Shane Collins of Bison, S.D., who, like Sawvell, won the hammer throw at the recent Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Meet that the Eagles hosted, also competed at both of the meets.  But he was not able to improve upon his season best of 197-10, the mark that he used to win the gold at the conference meet. 

It appears, though, that Collins will qualify for nationals.  He is currently 17^th on the men's hammer throw list.  The qualifiers will be announced this week. 

One of the Eagles' most persistent athletes, Harley Rhoades of Douglas, Wyo., had a career-best a career-best mark of 152-9 in the javelin at Kearney, but he's still shy of a national qualifying mark.

Chadron State's biggest disappointment following two weekends of participating in last chance meets involves junior Creighton Trembly of Longmont, Colo.  On May 6, he matched his career-best of 14.22 seconds at Colorado State-Pueblo.  He also qualified for the finals at Concordia this past weekend, but hit a hurdle and could not complete the race.  It appears to have taken a 14.06 to qualify for nationals. 

Among Chadron State hurdlers, only all-time great Karl McFarlane, who placed as high as fourth at the National Outdoor Meet as a senior in 2013, has ever run the highs faster than Trembly's best marks this spring. McFarlane is the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's 110-high hurdle recordholder at 14.00 seconds flat.