Nebraska Wesleyan University sophomore John Kersenbrock had a leap of 23-00.00 in the men’s long jump to place sixth on day one at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Delaware, Ohio. Kersenbrock becomes an All-American in the long jump with his sixth place finish.

Kersenbrock (O’Neill, Neb.) highlighted the Nebraska Wesleyan performances on day one of the NCAA Track Championships that were delayed by lightning. Besides his sixth place finish in the long jump, Kersenbrock was also a member of the 4x400 relay team that ran a time of 3:13.50 for the fourth fastest time in the preliminaries to advance to the finals on Saturday evening. Joining Kersenbrock on the relay team were John Hower, Matt Holst and Nick Sawyer.

The winning mark in the men’s long jump was 23-6.25 by Paul Turner from University of La Verne. Kersenbrock, who had set the NWU school record earlier this season with a mark of 24-7, is now a two-time All-American in the long jump after placing seventh at the NCAA III Indoor Track Championships in March.

Besides the men’s 4x400 relay team qualifying for the finals, one other NWU male competed on day one. Derrick McKenzie competed in the 400 hurdles and ran a time of 54.20, but did not qualify for the finals as he was 16th overall.

A pair of Nebraska Wesleyan women’s relay teams also competed on Thursday. Both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams placed 12th overall and did not advance to the finals. The 400 relay team of Taylor Tacha, Erin Twibell, Claire Boyer and Allee Kuska ran a season-best time of 47.85, but missed the finals while the 1600 relay team of Boyer, Tacha, Jami Pritschau and Allee Kuska had a time of 3:54.13.

The NCAA III Track & Field Championships will continue the next two days on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.