Northern Michigan University sophomore Danielle Lund, center, stands atop the podium with her medal after winning the women’s discus by about 4 1/2 feet at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships held at Grand Valley State University in Allendale on Friday. Flanking the Manistique High School graduate are runner-up Elizabeth Miller, left, and third-place Jayla Procter, both from Davenport. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — A trio of athletes from the women’s track and field team at Northern Michigan University will hit the road later this week for a pair of meets specially set up for last-chance qualifying for the upcoming NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

The national meet in Division II is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, May 21-23, in Emporia, Kansas.

Athletes need to reach certain timing, distance or height standards to at least have a chance to qualify.

Most qualifications are considered “provisional,” meaning that those results will be compared other results with only a certain top number invited to the nationals.

Fans can follow @NMU_Track_Field and @NMU_Wildcats on X for updates leading up to and during events, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s track and field schedule for links to live results and a preview.

This weekend, Wildcats sophomore Danielle Lund and seniors Sophia Potter and Beverly Harper will attend the St. Francis Fighting Chance Meet in Joliet, Illinois, on Friday, then head back around the southern end of Lake Michigan for the Grand Valley State University Last Chance Meet in downstate Allendale on Sunday.

They and their teammates finished in third place as last week’s GLIAC Outdoor Championships, also held at the GVSU campus in Allendale.

On Friday, Lund, a Manistique High School graduate, will compete in the hammer throw, while Harper will vie in the 800-meter run and Potter in the 10,000.

Then on Sunday, Lund will make her attempt in both the hammer throw and shot put, while Potter will run the 5,000.

At last week’s GLIAC finals, Lund was Northern’s lone winner, taking the discus with a throw of 42.97 meters (140 feet, 11 3/4 inches), a victory by about 4 1/2 feet.

The Wildcats rolled up 113 points as she was also third in the hammer with 51.66 meters (169-5 7/8) and fourth in the shot put with a heave of 13.22 meters (43-4 1/2).

For those finishes, she was named the Field Athlete of the Meet and also earned High Point Athlete of the Meet honors. During the season, Lund had set the school record in the shot put with 13.75 meters (45-1 3/8).

The host Lakers won the GLIAC meet in a runaway with 245 points, while Wayne State was runner-up with 150 1/2 in a field of 11 schools. Michigan Tech was eighth and Lake Superior State ninth with a combined total of just 11 points.

Including Lund doing it twice, NMU had nine top-three podium finishes as the Wildcats had an especially strong showing in field events.

Freshman Alyssa Tumminaro was second and Kaitlin Smith third in the pole vault after both cleared 3.49 meters (11-5 1/4). They and event winner Tess Carlson of Davenport all cleared that height, with places determined by a tiebreaker.

In the javelin, Northern senior Teiolla Harvey was second with a throw of 37.97 meters (124-6 7/8), while sophomore Alayna Vandegriff was third in the triple jump with a leap of 11.04 meters (36-2 5/8).

On the track, Marquette Senior High School grad and Northern junior Baux Truckey was third in the 200 in 24.35 seconds, while the 4-by-400 relay that included Truckey along with Harper and freshmen Maya Woods and Lily Phillips was third in 3:56.78.

And Potter was third in the 10,000 in 35:34.63 as the Wildcats had a number of other top-10 finishes.

Story contents based on a Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the meets. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.