SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman junior Cameron Ponder and senior Aaron Wier and Samford junior Justin Stuckey have qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at the Randal Tyson Center in Fayetteville, Ark., March 11-13.
A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Ponder has qualified in the 3,000-meter run. He ranks sixth nationally with a time of 7:50.89 in the event, a career best which he posted Feb. 19 at the Camel City Invitational. Ponder, who has recorded two sub-4:00 mile marks during the 2021 indoor season, won the mile and placed third in the 800-meter run at the SoCon Championships last weekend.
Wier, who hails from Versailles, Kentucky, will compete in the mile at the national meet. He enters the meet in 14th place after recording a career-best time of 3:58.88 in the event at the Camel City Invitational. Wier finished second in the mile and fifth in the 800m at last weekend’s league championship meet.
Stuckey has had an outstanding season returning from injury, posting career best marks and climbing in the national standings. In the Bulldogs’ second meet of the season, Stuckey won the high jump event, posting a jump of 2.14 meters and climbing into the top 20 in the national event rankings. Most recently, Stuckey won the Southern Conference title in the men's high jump, tying a program record 2.17 meters and breaking the facility record at the Corps Physical Training Facility on the campus of VMI. The mark catapulted him to No. 16 in the nation and secured him a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Sixteen athletes will compete in each event at the championships. The men’s mile semifinal is slated for 2 p.m. (CT) on March 12, with the mile finals slated for 2 p.m. (CT) on March 13. The men’s 3,000m finals will be contested on March 13 at 3 p.m. (CT).
The Furman duo become the first Paladins to compete at the event since Allie Buchalski earned All-American honors in both the 3,000m and 5,000-meter run at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships. Last year, Ryan Adams and Gabbi Jennings qualified for the meet, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 virus.