NMJC (W-T&F) Looks for 3-Peat at NJCAA Outdoor Championships
The T-Bird women's track & field team looks to defend their 2023 & 2024 outdoor national title this week at the 2025 NJCAA Outdoor T&F Championships in Hutchinson, Kansas May 15-17 at Gowan Stadium.
Last season, the Thunderbirds won 2024 NJCAA Outdoor T&F Championships in Monroe, Louisiana. The T-Birds placed third overall this year at the 2025 NJCAA Indoor T&F Championships in Lubbock, Texas.
"The key for us will be to execute and perform at our best, and simply do what we have already done throughout this season," NMJC women's track & field head coach Kathleen Raske said. "I believe that this team can rise to the challenge if they are hungry enough. When you are two-time defending outdoor national champions, we have to fight even harder to stay on top. We cannot take things for granted and know that it will be a battle for every point. If our team battles, we will be in a good position to compete for another title."
The women have 34 entries this week. The T-Birds are No. 1 in the final USTFCCCA Track & Field Women's Rating Index as they ready for outdoor nationals.
"Outdoor track provides for more opportunity to score in different events which suits our team a bit better, especially in the long throws, sprint relay steeplechase, and long hurdles." Coach Raske said.
The women's team is spearheaded at the top by the field side. Sophomore Tania Millena Ancelmo Da Silva, a three-time individual national champion, is the top performer in the hammer throw ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA with a school-record mark of 60.62m. She has won the weight throw national championship in 2024-25 and is the 2024 defending national champion in the hammer throw.
Jumper Tiana Petrova is the one to beat in the high jump. The indoor national champion holds a mark of 1.75m from the March that ranks No. 1 in the NJCAA.
Esteisy Salas-Lozano ranks No. 1 in the NJCAA in the shot put with a school record throw of 16.25m during the indoor season. Salas-Lozano set the outdoor school record in March with a throw of 15.85m.
Thrower Bruna Vieira de Jesus comes into nationals ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA for the javelin with a throw of 47.40m. The mark is No. 2 in the country by .53m.
The track side is led by the 4x800m relay squad. The team is likely to consist of Emilly Silva, Jody Ann Mitchell, Tyfane Martins, Francesca Alvarado, and if necessary Daphne Kausz. The quartet of runners are first in the NJCAA in the relay with a school-record time of 8:50.12.
Nandy Kihuyu and Jody Ann Mitchell are two more track athletes that can make their mark at the outdoor championships. Kihuyu is the national runner-up in the indoor 400m and is No. 4 in the NJCAA with a time of 53.23. Jody Ann Mitchell was runner-up in the 600m during the indoor season and comes into outdoor No. 4 in the NJCAA in the 800m with a time of 2:08.23.
"I believe that Tania Da Silva, Tiana Petrova, Jody Ann Mitchell, Nandy Kihuyu, Esteisy Salas, Bruna Vieira de Jesus, Kamaria Knight, Francesca Alvarado, Emilly Silva, Maliah Edwards, Amari Pratt, Ysanne Peart and all the sophomores will have a good meet due to their experience and confidence," Coach Raske said. "I look for their leadership this weekend."
"I expect our freshman to step up and compete like sophomores now that they have been through a whole season to get seasoned," Coach Raske said. "I think everyone learned a lot of lessons from the NJCAA indoor meet and are poised to handle the meet better mentally."
The meet on Day 1 will start with the heptathlon at 9 a.m. CDT and ends with the 10,000m around 8:30 p.m. CDT. Day 2 starts at 9 a.m. CDT and ends at 5:45 p.m. CDT. Day 3 will start at 10 a.m. CDT and finishes at 4:45 p.m. CDT.
For the full schedule click here, for live results click here, and for the livestream of the events click here.
"I'm excited about the "get to" versus the "have to" mentality as every single athlete had to work hard to qualify and have an opportunity to compete and leave it all out there," Coach Raske said. "I am thankful for these women and that we "get to" compete together and go for a win!"
Rest of Entries
100m- Kamaria Knight: 11.41 NJCAA No. 6 | 100m- Amari Pratt: 11.66 NJCAA No. 19 | 100m- Nalicia Glen: 11.88 NJCAA No. 38
200m- Kamaria Knight: 23.89 NJCAA No. 17 | 200m- Tuwana McLean: 24.10 NJCAA No. 24 | 200m- Amari Pratt: 24.37 NJCAA No. 35
400m- Tuwana McLean: 56.31 White Card
800m- Emilly Silva: 2:10.70 NJCAA No. 8
1500m- Daphne Kausz: 5:09.99 White Card
5000m- Lisel Ndlovu: 18:28.87 NJCAA No. 49
100mH- Maliah Edwards: 13.78 NJCAA No. 6
400mH- Ysanne Peart: 1:02.92 NJCAA No. 10
3000m Steeplechase- Francesca Alvarado: 11:12.25 NJCAA No. 6 | 3000m Steeplechase- Lisel Ndlovu: 11:40.79 NJCAA No. 16
4x100m 45.67 (Edwards, McLean, Pratt, Knight) NJCAA No. 7
4x400m 3:40.36 (Kihuyu, McLean, Peart, Mitchell, or Silva) NJCAA No. 3
Long Jump- Kavel Ritchie: 5.98m NJCAA No. 7 | Long Jump- Sofia Mosquera Rodriquez: 5.84m NJCAA No. 10
Triple Jump- Sofia Mosquera Rodriquez: 12.35m NJCAA No. 3 | Triple Jump- Janita Antipina: 12.02m NJCAA No. 7 | Triple Jump- Kavel Ritchie: 11.81m NJCAA No. Top 16
Shot Put- Yosiris Cordoba: 13.27m NJCAA No. 10 | Shot Put- Athilia Pryce: 13.03m NJCAA No. 13
Discus- Yosiris Cordoba: 50.93m NJCAA No. 4 | Discus- Athilia Pryce: 47.80m NJCAA No. 5
Hammer Throw- Esteisy Salas-Lozano: 45.28m NJCAA No. 11 | Hammer Throw- Athilia Pryce: 45.08m NJCAA No. 13
