Herl qualifies for outdoor nationals

One week after earning two indoor track and field All-American titles, senior Mel Herl, of Eaton, Colorado, hit one automatically-qualifying mark and two provisionally-qualifying marks for the D-II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in May, broke one school record, and earned gold in three events at the University of Colorado Boulder Jerry Quiller Classic Friday and Saturday.
“My coaching staff and I decided that we wanted to compete me early so that we could get national qualifying marks in early and reset training,” Herl said. “This made it so that we could take a different approach to my outdoor training compared to what I did indoor. It was a bold move considering the meet circuit I had been on, but it will be beneficial to chasing bigger marks as the season progresses.”
Herl won the hammer throw, marking 192 feet, 2 1/2 inches to provisionally qualify for the outdoor national meet. She broke the school record on her first attempt of the season at the meet, throwing 189-6. The previous record of 189-1 was set by Jessica Horsley in 2011.
Herl also automatically qualified for the national meet in discus, winning the event with a throw of 166 1/2, and won and provisionally qualified in shot put with a 49-6 3/4-throw.
“I am glad to be qualified in three events so that I can take a step back and focus on chasing personal records,” Herl said.
At the D-II National Indoor Track and Field Championship meet March 9-11 in Birmingham, Alabama, Herl won the shot put competition, throwing 51-9. She also earned the bronze in the weight throw with a 69-4 toss.
“When it comes to throwing, the weight room is just as important as technique training, so we have to take an approach that will allow strength gains to capitalize on technique that ultimately results in bigger throws,” Herl said.
The CSC track and field team will compete at the Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota, Yellow Jacket Spring Open Saturday.