July 15, 2026
GREENWOOD, Ind. –
Casey Olson of Dakota State (S.D.) was cited by the College Sports Communicators as NAIA Academic All-America® Second Team recipient, announced Wednesday morning.
Olson had a stellar outdoor track & field season where she was the first DSU women's javelin national champion. Her journey to the national champion began where she needed to qualify for the national meet on the final regular season meet after the Frontier Conference meet. She produced a national qualifying mark of 42.10 meters (138 feet, 1 inch) during the University of South Dakota Twilight meet on May 8.
Olson competed in both heptathlon and javelin at the NAIA National Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Asheville, N.C., on May 20-22. Despite facing challenges with wet weather conditions, she posted her career best 4,612 points to finish 10
th overall in the heptathlon (two spots shy of becoming NAIA All-America). Her heptathlon mark is the second highest scored in DSU women's outdoor track & field school record book.
She was originally scheduled to throw javelin after the heptathlon was completed on the second day of the national meet, but rain forced to move the javelin event on the final day of the meet on May 22.
Olson opened the javelin prelims round by throwing her career best 46.17 meters, grabbing the lead after the first three rounds. She threw another career best mark of 46.66 meters (153 feet, 1 inch) to begin the final round and captured the national title for the Trojans. Her mark is also the DSU women's outdoor track & field school record.
The entire 20-member NAIA team has an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.86. The NAIA Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist the College Sports Communicators with handling the awards fulfilment aspects for the 2024-25 NAIA Academic All-America® program.
Olson was an All-Conference in Frontier Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the high jump this past May.
Casey, a native of Fergus Falls, Minn., is a senior professional accountancy major at Dakota State University.
