Three Minnesotans Make U.S. Roster for World Championships

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Next month's World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary received an infusion of Minnesota talent as three Minnesotans qualified for Team USA via the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships. 

Joe Klecker, Maggie Ewen, and Payton Otterdahl all earned top-three finishes to make the U.S. roster and will compete against the best in the world for world titles. 

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Former North Dakota State NCAA champion and Minnesota State Champion Payton Otterdahl earned another spot on Team USA, qualifying for the 2023 World Athletics Championships on Sunday night with a third-place finish in the shot put at the USA Track & Field Championships. 

Otterdahl recorded a career-best throw of 72-05.75 (22.09m) to place third in one of the deepest shot put competitions in American history. The top three finishers automatically qualified to represent Team USA at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 19. 

Otterdahl registered three of the five best marks of his career on Sunday, surpassing 71-11.50 (21.93m) three times. He is now ranked No. 6 in the world this year. 

Otterdahl finished 10th in the shot put at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. He competed for NDSU from 2015-19, setting the collegiate indoor shot put record and winning NCAA indoor titles in the shot put and weight throw in 2019. In high school, Otterdahl was the 2014 Minnesota State Champion in the discus and shot put, and won the Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year Honors that season. 

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Maggie Ewen a 2013 graduate of St. Francis High School and a NCAA Champion with Arizona State, won the women's shot put title on Saturday with a throw of 65' 4.25" to win the title by almost three feet over Adelaide Aquilla. 

This is Ewens second time winning the USA National Title in the shot put following her win in 2018 (63' 3") and her sixth big title overall as a professional alongside her wins in the shot put at the 2018 NACAC Championships, the 2019 The Match Europe vs. USA, a 2021 Diamond League title, and the 2022 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships title. 

This will be Ewens second time going to the World Athletic Championships after representing the USA there in 2022, where she finished 9th in the shot put. 

Ewen currently ranks as the top women's shot put competitor in the world with a throw of 20.45 meters from the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix in May. 

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2020 USA Olympian Joe Klecker continued his impressive streak against the elite USA men's distance talent to make Team USA for the 2023 World Athletic Championships in the 10K. In the 10k, Klecker finished 2nd only behind Woody Kincaid with a time of 28:24.50. 

This is Klecker's third year in a row advancing from the USA National Championships to that years World Championship after going to the Olympics in 2021 and the World Athletic Championships last year. 

At those two World Championships, Klecker finished 16th at the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) and 9th at the 2022 World Athletic Championships. 

Klecker currently ranks as the #5 10,000m runner in the world for the 2023 outdoor season only behind Berihu Aregawi, Selemon Barega, Woody Kincaid, and Richard Etir. 

Klecker also finished 4th in the 5000m race with a time of 13:26.94 to finish behind Abdihamid Nur, Paul Chelimo, and Sean McGorty. 

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Related:

• The Top Two Finishers In Each U20 Event For Team U.S.A.
• Juriad Hughes Jr. Wins Silver to Clinch Spot On USA U20 Team
• Video: Shot Put Champion Ewen Reflects on Competition
• Most Dominant MN Boys Track and Field Athletes of All-Time
• Q&A with Team USA Olympian Mason Ferlic
• Your Newest Olympians, Minnesotas Klecker and Otterdahl!
• Video: Joe Klecker First Sub-Four Mile on Colorado Soil