Five Bruins Earn Bids to NCAA Outdoor Championships East Prelims

INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time in school history, five Belmont University women's track and field athletes have qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships East First Round. Juniors Logan Gray (shot put), Rebekah Stucker (hammer throw and discus) and Kaitlyn Vanderkolk (10000m), and graduates Tyra Finkeldey (pole vault) and Madelyn Quinn (javelin) have all earned bids to the NCAA Outdoor Championships East First Round, which will be held next Thursday, May 23 and Saturday, May 25 on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
 
It marks the first time since 2007 the Bruins have had five student-athletes qualify for a NCAA Outdoor Championships preliminary meet. In 2007, Lynette Rives (100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m), Lizz Pollock (400m, 4x100m, 4x400m), Christa Coppin (pole vault), Jessica Giles (4x100m, 4x400m) and Khalia Turner (4x100m, 4x400m) all qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships Mideast Regional.
 
Last year, Quinn (javelin), Grace Litzinger (3000m steeplechase), Katie Flaherty (3000m steeplechase) and Gray (shot put) all qualified for the NCAA East First Round in Jacksonville, Florida. This spring is the first time since the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships moved to two preliminary sites (East and West) in 2010, Belmont has had more than four athletes selected to the NCAA East First Round. It is also the first time the Bruins have had five athletes qualify for individual events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships East Preliminary meet.
 
With Gray, Stucker and Quinn all reaching NCAA postseason competition, Belmont has earned a selection in all four throwing events (shot put, hammer throw, discus, javelin) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships East First Round for the first time in program history.
 
Logan Gray – Shot Put
For the second consecutive year, Gray will be competing at the NCAA East First Round meet after setting the shot put school record in late April at Vanderbilt's Outdoor Music City Challenge. Her winning toss of 53 feet, 10.5 inches (16.42m) ranks 22nd in the NCAA East Region and 44th nationally. This past weekend, the Spartanburg, South Carolina (Spartanburg HS), native captured silver in the shot put at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships after taking bronze at the league's indoor championships.
 
Rebekah Stucker – Hammer Throw and Discus
Stucker becomes the first Bruin to ever qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships East First Round in the discus. Reaching her first NCAA Outdoor Championships, Stucker was named MVC Most Valuable Athlete at the MVC Outdoor Championships this past weekend after accounting for 26 points for Belmont. A native of Odessa, Missouri (Odessa HS), Stucker captured gold in both the discus and shot put and claimed bronze in the hammer throw. She won the discus with a program-record throw of 167 feet, 11 inches (51.18m), which ranks 43rd in the NCAA East Region. At the Outdoor Music City Challenge, Stucker went for 194 feet, 2 inches (59.19m) in the hammer throw to reach 35th in the NCAA East Region.
 
Tyra Finkeldey – Pole Vault
The first Bruin to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships prelims in the pole vault since Christa Coppin in 2007, Finkeldey won gold this past weekend at the MVC Outdoor Championships. The Old Saybrook, Connecticut (Old Saybrook HS), native set the school record in doing so as she vaulted for 13 feet, 4.5 inches (4.08m). Her record height ranks 35th in the NCAA East Region.
 
Kaitlyn Vanderkolk – 10,000m
One of Belmont's most decorated distance runners already, Vanderkolk earns her first NCAA Outdoor First Round bid after qualifying for the NCAA Cross Country Championship this past November. The first Bruin to qualify for the NCAA East First Round in the 10000m since Hannah Wittman in 2016, Vanderkolk completed the rare 5000m and 10000m sweep at the MVC Outdoor Championships this past weekend. A local native of Brentwood, Tennessee (Brentwood HS), Vanderkolk set the program record in the 10000m at the highly-competitive Raleigh Relays where she finished fourth with a blistering time of 33:30.69. Vanderkolk ranks 43rd in the 10000m in the NCAA East Region and made history with Belmont men's distance runner Carter Cheeseman in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the MVC Outdoor Championships. The duo became the first in MVC history to sweep both the men's and women's 5000m and 10000m races. The fourth national qualifier in women's cross country program history, Vanderkolk placed 17th at the NCAA South Regional Championship this past fall before recording the Bruins' fastest time at the NCAA Championship race. She also picked up her third MVC Elite 17 Award this past weekend at the MVC Outdoor Championships after earning the last two Elite 17 Awards for cross country.
 
Madelyn Quinn – Javelin
Qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships East First Round for the third time in her career, Quinn won her ninth overall javelin title and second conference championship this past weekend at the MVC Outdoor Championships. The Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Canada (Cobequid Educational Centre), native threw for 147 feet (44.82m) for MVC gold and owns a season-best mark of 150 feet, 1 inch (45.75m), which she set at her first meet of the season – Georgia Tech's Yellow Jacket Invitational. Ranking 43rd in the NCAA East Region, Quinn also won the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference javelin crown and has finished no worse than third at any of her four conference championships.
 
Stucker will begin Belmont's action at the NCAA East First Round next Thursday with the hammer throw getting underway at 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET from the Kentucky Outdoor Track & Field Facility. The javelin is set to start at 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET next Thursday, followed by the pole vault and shot put both taking place at 5:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. ET. Vanderkolk will race in the 10000m at 8:10 p.m. CT/9:10 p.m. ET next Thursday.
 
Next Saturday, May 25, Stucker will throw in the discus beginning at 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET.
 
The 2024 NCAA Outdoor East First Round will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live results can be found at BelmontBruins.com.
 
The top 12 competitors or relay teams in each event at the NCAA Outdoor First Round advance to the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Wednesday-Saturday, June 5-8.
 
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