GORHAM, Maine – Senior Zoe Barnes (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) and junior Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy) of the University of Southern Maine Huskies' women's track & field team have qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The event will be held from May 22-24 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Barnes qualified in the discus while Reitchel qualified in the javelin.
 
Barnes fell just short of All-American status in the discus at last year's national championship meet by placing 17th with a throw of 41.81m. She will enter the meet with the 18th best mark in Division III this season at 45.60m, a program record that came at the Monks Track & Field Invite and won her the event. The mark moved her into the top 10 nationally and proved to be enough to earn her another trip to nationals. She has finished first or second in the discus at every event that she has competed in this season. Her accolades this season include the Most Valuable Field Performer award at the Maine State Pine Tree Classic, her third consecutive LEC Field Athlete of the Year award, the LEC discus and shot put titles, and the DIII New England title in the discus. The discus competition is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Thursday, May 22.
 
Reitchel previously qualified for nationals as a freshman in 2023 and placed 22nd with a throw of 32.97m. She started the season at the top of the national leaderboard in the javelin by recording a throw of 44.24m at the University of New Hampshire Jim Boulanger Invitational on April 5th, the Huskies' first meet of the season. The mark, the fourth best in program history, has stayed in the top five all season and is currently fourth. A consistent performer, she placed first in the javelin at five of the six meets that she competed in. Reitchel claimed her second LEC javelin title with a throw of 41.48m and also won the DIII New England title with a throw of 41.09m. Like Barnes, Reitchel will compete on Thursday, May 22 with the javelin set to begin at 3:30 pm.
 
For each individual event contested, including the decathlon and heptathlon, the top 22 declared
student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 16 declared
relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition.