SIOUX FALLS -- Junior Emma Hertz of the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Team will attend and compete at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Indoor Championships on March 12-13 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NCAA released its declared entries and junior thrower Emma Hertz of Sioux Falls (O'Gorman High School) qualified in both the shot put and weight throw with top 10 marks in each.  Hertz, a two-time NCAA DII indoor All-American, is ranked second in the shot put at 15.90 meters or 52-2 feet, a mark which is a USF school record. She also qualified in the weight throw with the 10th best mark of 18.87 meters or 61'11 feet, which is also a USF school record.

"We are very excited for Emma (Hertz) to get the opportunity to go back to the NCAA DII indoor nationals for a third year in a row," said USF Director of Track and Field Doug Petersen. "After last year when we had the national meet canceled right before we were to compete due to the pandemic, this is a fresh chance to show what she can do. Emma has had a great year and she will have an awesome experience at nationals," he said.

In her career, Hertz has won 14 shot put titles and two weight throw titles indoors. Overall, indoors and outdoors, she has 44 top-five finishes in the throws with 19 total titles and 29 placements of either first or second.

At the Minnesota State Quad on Feb. 12, 2021, Hertz had a memorable performance. Hertz, who had set a shot put record earlier this year, registered an NCAA DII automatic qualifying mark in winning the shot put with a throw of 52-02 or 15.90 meters (15.58 NCAA auto mark) which was a school record and DII's second-best throw. Hertz's shot put effort broke her own mark by over two feet. She also set a school record with a second place finish in the weight throw as she had an NCAA DII provisional mark of 61-11.00 or 18.87 meters. 

The NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee has announced the participants for the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships. A total of 404 participants, 202 men and 202 women, will compete in the championships. Student-athletes qualified for the championships by reaching the automatic and provisional standards established for each event.