Gamble’s All-American Performance Caps Strong Opening Day for Taylor

TU Women's TF NAIA Outdoor Championships Central | Video Highlights | Gamble Interview

MARION, Ind. – Taylor competed in five events on the opening day of the 2024 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on Wednesday and either advanced to the finals or finished in the top ten in all of them.  

Mollie Gamble capped the day with a terrific display in the 10,000-meters, where she earned NAIA All-American honors for a second-straight season with a third-place finish. The senior ran near the front of the pack from the onset and stayed with the lead pack until the finish. Gamble ran a season-best time of 36:22.95 to finish less than five seconds behind the winner.

Noel VanderWall began the day for TU in the 1,500-meters and qualified for the finals on Friday with a time of 4:36.47 in the second heat. VanderWall ran with the leading pack throughout the race and wisely coasted in to secure her place in the finals and reserve her energy for the 4x800-meter relay. 

VanderWall's older sister, Ahna Neideck, finished fourth in her heat and fourth overall in the preliminaries of the steeplechase to match her sister in qualifying for the finals of their respective events. The sensational senior paced behind the leader and easily qualified with a steady, well-worked time of 10:54.68. 

The 4x800-meter relay team took the track in the third and final preliminary heat, staying near the front before distancing themselves from third to place second in their heat to qualify for the finals on Thursday. The quartet of VanderWall, Emily Johnson, Olivia Jeanette, and Abby Mays clocked a time of 9:09.86 for the seventh fastest time overall in the preliminaries. 

Kiana Siefert was in the first flight of three in the long jump and just missed out on three extra leaps with a tenth-place finish. The two-sport sophomore was seeded 22nd coming into NAIA Nationals, and outperformed that with a jump of 5.69 meters, which was two-and-a-half inches short of her career-best. 

The Trojans continue competition with one final and two preliminaries on Thursday, May 23, beginning with Mays in the 800-meter. The 4x800-meter relay will take the track thereafter, with Audrey Brinkruff and Sam Patterson finishing the day for Taylor in the 5,000-meter preliminaries.