By Mari Radtke
Emily Chicoine, a 2020 South O’Brien graduate has twice been named to the Morningside College Dean’s list in her freshman year there. Adding to her achievements is her participation at the National NAIA Track & Field event in top Shores, AL. The Event was held Wednesday May 26 through Friday May 28, 2021.
The Morningside Womens’ 4×800 relay team qualified for the National competition at the Drake Relays by meeting the time standard of 9:24.00. They ran a time of 9:18.44 at the Drake Relays. The team’s season best was run in the National prelims with a time of 9:14.87. The team ran in the first of 3 heats in the preliminary event placing 2nd in their heat. The top 2 from each heat and the next 2 fastest times qualify to run in the finals. Earning a spot in the finals earned the 4 runners the “All American” honor. Morningside’s team was 1 of at least 24 other 4×800 relay teams. They placed 5th overall with a time of 9:19.11.
The team is made up of Chicoine, Emalee Funderman of Anthon, Payton Boer of Sioux Center and Jo McKibben of Mapleton. Funderman is a senior and also qualified for a single event.
Chicoine said, “I started to get my personal best and wound up at Nationals. It was a great experience! It didn’t hit me until a week later how great this is.”