UNI track & field: Heims earns third Paralympic team berth

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- UNI track and field alum Jessica Heims was selected to the United States Paralympic Team for the 2024 Paris games on Sunday following the conclusion of the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials over the weekend in Miramar, Florida.

Heims' selection will mark her third appearance on Team USA for the Paralympic Games, which will be held Aug. 28 through Sept. 8 in the French capital and at the historic Stade de France stadium. The Swisher, Iowa native will compete in the F64 discus throw competition after topping her classification with a 36.50-meter performance on Friday.

"We are so proud of each and every one of these athletes," said Sherrice Fox, Director of U.S. Paralympics Track & Field. "Each one of them has proven themselves to be among the best in the world, and we can't wait to see them at their best in Paris."

Born with amniotic band syndrome with an amputated left leg below the knee, Heims made her Paralympic debut at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a eighth-place finish in the F44 discus and seventh-place performance in the T44 400-meter dash. At the 2020 Tokyo games, which were delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she finished fifth in the F64 discus with a career-best throw. Additionally, Heims captured the silver medal for the United States last summer at the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile in the discus.

Joining Heims in Paris will be another Panther track and field alum in Erin Kerkhoff, who graduated from UNI this past semester. Making her second U.S. Paralympic Team, Kerkhoff will compete in the T13 400-meter dash.

Both Heims and Kerkhoff are among an elite list of former and current Panther athletes who have qualified for either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. Earlier this summer, current UNI swimmer Olivia Chambers qualified for her first Paralympics and will join Heims and Kerkhoff in the journey towards becoming the university's first-ever Paralympic medalist, as well as first Olympic or Paralympic medalist since wrestling's Bill Smith captured gold in the freestyle welterweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

UNI's ALL-TIME PARALYMPIANS

NAME	GAMES	EVENT	RESULT
Jessica Heims	Rio De Janeiro 2016 Tokyo 2020 Paris 2024	F44 Discus T44 400m Dash F64 Discus F64 Discus	8th Place 7th Place 5th Place -----
Erin Kerkhoff	Tokyo 2020 Paris 2024	T13 100m T13 400m Dash F13 400m Dash	DNP 8th Place -----
Olivia Chambers	Paris 2024	TBD	-----

UNI's ALL-TIME OLYMPIANS

NAME	GAMES	SPORT/EVENT	RESULT
William "Red" Hamilton	London 1908	Medley Relay (Track)	Gold Medal
Maynard Harmon	Los Angeles 1932	Wrestling	DNP
Bill Koll	London 1948	Freestyle Lightweight (Wrestling)	5th Place
Gerald Leeman	London 1948	Freestyle Bantam Weight (Wrestling)	Silver Medal
Bill Nelson	London 1948	Wrestling	DNP
Bill Smith	Helsinki 1952	Freestyle Welterweight (Wrestling)	Gold Medal

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