WAUKESHA, Wis. – Senior Jamie Pankratz and sophomore Vanessa Uitenbroek will compete this weekend at the 2022 NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field National Championships. This is Pankratz's first-ever national event, and after four years with the program, she's happy to see her hard work pay off, "it feels good, I was stuck within 20 centimeters of my PR since freshman year, so to finally have a PR by two meters in the season feels great."
 
Pankratz, a chemistry major from Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, comes into the national meet ranked sixth in the weight throw, with a qualifying distance of 17.88 meters. Thankfully, her longest throw of the season came just a week ago at the Ripon Final Qualifier. She's thankful that a good throw last weekend will help with her nerves at nationals, "it secured my spot in the second flight, I won't have to warm up twice if I make finals," said Pankratz. "I couldn't get a PR in several weeks so it reminds me of what I'm actually able to do and hopefully I will be able to do it again this week."
 
For Uitenbroek, this is her second appearance at a national meet in less than a year, after competing in the 2021 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the discus. "Knowing the atmosphere and energy of the meet is very helpful," says Uitenbroek, when asked how her experience with outdoor nationals will help this weekend. "It's also about knowing my competition and being more comfortable with the people that are going to be there so I can focus on myself and do what I need to do to do my best."
 
Uitenbroek qualified for the indoor meet with a 14.30-meter throw in the shot put event, which currently sits as the fifth-longest throw in the nation this season. "Coming into Carroll my goal was never only nationals, it was just hitting PRs and doing my best," said Uitenbroek, when asked if getting to two national meets before the end of her sophomore year was ever a goal for her. "If I'm able to do that and nationals is on the way, it's just a bonus."
 
Uitenbroek qualifies as the first female indoor shot put thrower to qualify for nationals, and Pankratz is the first weight thrower to make the national meet since Emily Uitenbroek did in 2020. "Obviously representation of our team at nationals is a big deal," says Associate Head Track and Field Coach Peter Delzer, when asked how excited he is to have students back at nationals. "Having both of them qualify and being in a good place for them to contend for All-American honors is a big deal for our program and University."
 
The women's shot put and weight throw groups led by coach Delzer this season have been ranked as high as no. 2 in the nation according to the USTFCCCA DIII TF Event Squad Rankings. Head Track and Field Coach Shawn Thielitz credits coach Delzer's team mentality for the success they've had, "When you look at where we were before Delzer, we had great individual throwers in the past," says Thielitz. "What Pete has brought has been a complete squad mentality. With building depth and getting that top-end national talent, we've become a destination University for throwers in the Midwest and across the Nation."
 
Pankratz competes first on Friday, March 11 at 10 AM EST at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC. Uitenbroek's event will take place on Saturday, March 12 at 11 AM EST. "I'm excited, at the end of the day, I already can say I qualified," says Pankratz when asked about her emotions going into the event. "There's nothing to be nervous about, so make something of it and hopefully walk away with some hardware." Live results and live video of the 2022 NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field National Championships can be found on gopios.com/wtrack.