A trio of Linfield University track and field student-athletes have been invited to compete in the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 26-28, at Geneva, Ohio.
 
Graduate student Keaton Wood, senior Matt Metcalf and sophomore Jerrica Pachl will represent Linfield at the three-day championship meet. Over 850 athletes from Division III are expected to compete at the Spire Institute facility, co-hosted by Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) and the University of Mount Union.
 
Wood, who qualified in the men's decathlon, will be making his third NCAA outdoor championship-meet appearance. The Lake Oswego native enters the meet with a Division III-leading point total of 7,254 achieved at the Adams-Klein Combined Events Invitational in late March. In February, Wood was runner-up in the men's heptathlon at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
 
"Keaton's goal is to win the championship," said veteran Linfield track and field coach Travis Olson, adding, "The decathlon is a tough event, but if he can put it together he will be in contention to win at the end."
 
Metcalf, a returning All-American in the men's javelin from Eugene, is making his second NCAA championship-meet appearance. He enters the NCAA Championships with the 15th-best mark in Division III this spring (192 feet, 7 inches; 58.70 meters).
 
Last spring, Metcalf secured All-America honors, placing fifth nationally with a personal-best effort of 194-11¾.
 
"Although this season hasn't quite gone as planned, Matt knows how to compete," said Olson. "I believe his best will come out at nationals which should be enough to repeat as an All-American."
 
Pachl is appearing in the NCAA outdoor championships for the first time. With an entry mark of 5-7 (1.70m), the sophomore from Vancouver, Washington, begins the big meet locked in a six-way tie for the sixth-best mark in the women's high jump. Her best mark is within two inches of the national leader, Jaidyn Appel of Tufts, who leapt 5-8¾ at the NESCAC Championships.
 
Though it's a crowed field,  Pachl should benefit from competing in the NCAA indoor championships earlier this spring where she placed ninth with a mark of 5-4½.
 
"Jerrica had a great experience during the indoor season just missing all-American," said Olson. "She is much more confident now and I fully expect her to come home as an All-American."
 
"All three of our competitors have an excellent chance to become All-American," Olson predicted.
 
The decathlon will be contested Thursday and Friday beginning with the 100-meter dash at 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT). The men's javelin will get underway Thursday at 5:45 p.m. EDT (2:45 PDT). And the women's high jump is scheduled for Friday at 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT).