VIRGINIA BEACH -- It took a school record throw in the finals for Wayne State College senior Brooklynn Chipps to capture the individual national championship in the weight throw Friday afternoon at the 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

Chipps, a senior from Elgin (Clearwater HS), had just one mark in prelims with two fouls and was sixth at 62’ 9 ½” entering finals of the weight throw.  Her first mark in finals (64’ ¼”) moved her up one spot to fifth and then Chipps came up with a new personal best and school record mark of 67’ 11” to take over first place.  She ended up winning the event by two feet, ½ inch and becomes the first-ever Wildcat thrower to win a national championship in the weight throw and just the second ever NCAA indoor national champion at Wayne State, joining Wildcat Hall of Famer Sara Wells Bents who won the 2015 shot put national title during the indoor season.

Chipps edged current Wildcat teammate Mckenzie Scheil’s previous school record of 67’ 9 ¾” set February 27, 2021. 

Scheil, a graduate student from Fairmont (Fillmore Central HS), also competed Friday in the weight throw but suffered three fouls and did not record a mark.  It was the fifth straight season that Scheil, a two-time All-American in the weight throw, was a national qualifier in the event.