INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The trio of
Bryson DeBerry,
Jade Bontke, and
Lucas Van Klaveren saw their tickets punched to the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex on March 11-12.
"Bryson, Lucas, and Jade are three of our best and most dedicated athletes," said
John Sauerhage. "Their determination to improve each year has led them to this point."
DeBerry, a senior from Plainview, Texas, was a First Team All-American at the indoor championships last season, placing in the Top 8 to earn the distinction. This season, he has cleared 2.20 and repeated as champion in the high jump at the Sun Belt Championships.
The school record holder sits in 10th in the country in the high jump and will look to clear 2.21 and above to make a run at a national championship.
Bontke, a senior from Hillsboro, Texas, put together an incredible season in multi events and capped it with an outstanding meet at the Sun Belt Championships.
Bontke stole the show at the SBC Championships with two golds and a bronze to earn the Top Scorer of the Meet among both genders. Bontke dominated the Pentathlon at conference, breaking her own school record mark she set earlier in the season at 4,117, good for 13th in the country. She set a SBC Pentathlon SBC record in the long jump at 5.95 and won four of her five events.
Additionally, Bontke placed first in the 4x400 along with her teammates and third in the high jump. Her high jump mark of 1.79 is good 38th in the nation. Earlier this season, Bontke became the first female athlete in school history to break 4,000 points in the pentathlon.
Van Klaveren, a senior from the Netherlands, used an unreal performance at the conference meet to catapult himself into the NCAA Championships. Van Klaveren put together an incredible run, winning the final event, the 1000 at 2:44.36, to close out the event with a three point advantage and the gold medal.
Van Klaveren finished with a Sun Belt and meet record of 5,734, the second-highest score all-time and good for 16th in the nation to qualify.
"I am proud of them and the terrific job Coach Berger has done with them," said Sauerhage. "We are excited for the NCAA Championship."
The Mavs last had an individual national champion when
Alexus Henry won the women's high jump at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. More information leading into the championships will be released next week.
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