Erin Oleksak of Marian (Ind.) won her second national pentathlon title in three years after claiming the gold medal on Day One at the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday (3). Her victory was set up by some quality performances throughout the entire day and included two event titles.
Oleksak scored 3,735 points to win the national title, topping the overall points chart ahead of Lauren Tamayo of Hastings (Neb.) who finished in the runner-up position with 3,706 points and third-place Lindsay Adams of Doane (3,673 pts). Read more: How to watch the 2022 NAIA Indoor Championships?
On her path to success in the pentathlon competition, Oleksak won two events – the high jump (855pts) and the long jump (720pts), as well as collecting a pair of second-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and 800-meters.
The closely contested competition saw Oleksak entering the final event with a narrow advantage after taking over the lead over Tamayo by three points.
The Marian junior then went on to finish second in the 800-meters with a time of 2:23.80 for 773 points, with Tamayo finishing fourth in 2:25.77 for 747 pts.
At the end of the first day of competition at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D, Marian, and Doane (Neb.) are currently tied for first place in the women’s team standings after the one scoring event.
Adams’ third-place finish in the pentathlon was supported by her teammate Nicole Harms’ fifth-place finish in the event, which helped the Tigers score 10 points after the first day.
Meanwhile, the opening day saw several semi-final races taking place on the track of South Dakota State, with Friends (Kan.), Life (Ga.), and The Master’s (Calif.) all among the teams opening up the competition with promising performances heading into the second day.
The 2022 NAIA Indoor Championships will take place from Thursday, March 3 to Saturday, March 5.
