Griffith prepares to compete at NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State track and field's Charity Griffith is set to compete in the annual NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 11-12 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala. She qualified to take part in the pentathlon and high jump after finishing in the top 16 nationally in each event.

"I'm really excited, and I think I'm more excited than nervous," Griffith said. "There are people just like I am, and I need to put my mindset there. I'm really excited to represent Ball State and I'm very thankful for the position where God brought me, my coaches, my friends and my family."

She is set begin the pentathlon Friday with the 60-meter hurdles at 11:20 a.m. ET and end with the 800-meter run at 4:40 p.m. ET. The high jump is slated to take place Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Griffith is the sixth Cardinal in program history to earn qualification to the annual championship meet and the first since Amber Williams in 2009. She is one of two in the Ball State record book to be a multi-event qualifier in the same season, joining Patricia Soman, who competed in the long jump and triple jump in 2003.

The Arlington, Ind. native is the first student-athlete in program history to earn qualification in the high jump and pentathlon events at the indoor championship.

"I'm really excited about this opportunity to go down to the NCAA Indoor Championships with Charity," head coach Adrian Wheatley said. "She's done a great job this year of staying cool, sticking to the plan and making sure that we do the same thing week in and week out, and it has paid off.

"Our goal is to go down there, continue to replicate the MAC Championships and take one jump at a time, one event at a time and allow her an opportunity to compete. This is the first time in a long time that we've had some representation. This is the start of what we're doing here at Ball State."

Griffith's high jump mark of 1.85m (6-0 3/4) is currently tied for the 10th-best mark in the country, while her 4,099 pentathlon points rank 16th.

Griffith, who was named the MAC's Most Valuable Performer and Most Outstanding Field Performer, picked up a pair of gold medals at the conference meet last week and has won the high jump in every meet she's competed in the event this season.

"I don't plan on changing anything from what I've done every meet," Griffith added. "It's shown that it's working. I'm really excited to go out there, do the same things that I have been doing and show what I've got."

Friday Schedule (Pentathlon)
11:20 am ET - 60m Hurdles
12:30 pm ET - High Jump
2:30 pm ET - Shot Put
3:30 pm ET - Long Jump
4:40 pm ET - 800m Run

Saturday Schedule (High Jump)
2:30 pm ET - Finals

Griffith prepares to compete at NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

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Players Mentioned

Charity Griffith