2021 MEN'S NAIA OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS
Joseph Dotson | Decathlon | 2nd
Adam O'Brien | Pole Vault | 7th
Kevin VanDyke | 3K Steeplechase | 8th

2021 WOMEN'S NAIA OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS
Arianna Daniel | 400m | 2nd
Baylee Touey/Arianna Daniel/Julia Delucchi/Lindsey Bonney | 4x100m Relay | 5th

MEET CENTRAL

GULF SHORES, Alabama – Arianna Daniel missed a national championship by a hair Friday while putting the finishing touches on a dazzling career for the Southern Oregon University track and field team at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.

On the final day of the NAIA Outdoor Championships, Daniel's runner-up effort in the women's 400-meter race was one of four All-America performances for the Raiders. The women's 4x100 relay team – with Daniel, Lindsey Bonney, Julia Delucchi and Baylee Touey – placed fifth, Adam O'Brien placed seventh in the pole vault, and Kevin VanDyke placed eighth in the 3K steeplechase.

SOU departed the meet with seven total All-Americans including Joseph Dotson, who finished second in the decathlon Thursday.

Daniel's two newest All-America plaques gave her nine total, the most ever for a Raider sprinter and the second-most in women's team history behind Jessa Perkinson.

In the 400, after running her fourth straight PR in Thursday's prelims with the top qualifying time of 55.24 seconds, she ran the final in 55.33 – only four-hundredths of a second behind champion Jakarri Alven, a freshman from Aquinas (Mich.). Daniel's finish matched that of Tiwana Merritt, the 400 runner-up 20 years ago, for the best in the event at SOU.

An hour earlier in the 4x100 relay, the Raiders clocked in at 46.56 seconds for the top finish in women's team history in that race a day after setting another school record in the prelims. It marked the fourth straight season that SOU turned in a top-eight showing in a women's relay. William Carey won it in 45.51.

O'Brien, a sophomore, became SOU's first All-American in the men's pole vault since 2008. He did it by clearing the bar three attempts in a row, the last at 16 feet ¾ inches to match his PR. His teammate, Garrett Bryan, was just behind him in 11th place. He cleared 15-9.

The Raiders had a pair of top-10 steeplechase placers in VanDyke (9:24.13) and Zeke Stelzer (9:28.18). VanDyke, a senior, became an All-American for the first time by edging the ninth-place finisher, Indiana Wesleyan's Landon Miller, by .35 seconds.

SOU MEN'S RESULTS
3,000m Steeplechase final (18 total entries)
8. Kevin VanDyke, 9:24.13
10. Zeke Stelzer, 9:28.18

Pole Vault final (21 total entries)
7. Adam O'Brien, 4.90m (16-0 ¾)
11. Garrett Bryan, 4.80m (15-9)

SOU WOMEN'S RESULTS
400m final (8 total entries)
2. Arianna Daniel, 55.33

4x100m final (8 total entries)
5. SOU (Baylee Touey, Arianna Daniel, Julia Delucchi, Lindsey Bonney), 46.56