TOKYO, Japan – For the first-time in program history, High Point University has three track and field athletes headed to the 2025 Track and Field World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Two alumni, Austin Miller and Chris Van Niekerk will compete in the men's pole vault and shot put, respectively and current student-athlete Ricardo Montes de Oca will join Miller in the men's pole vault. The three athletes will represent three different countries.
 
The World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 will see more than 2000 athletes from across 200 countries compete in the Japanese capital between September 13-21. The High Point athletes will compete on Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13 (*Japan is 13 hours ahead of North Carolina).
 
Van Niekerk, who graduated from HPU in May of 2024, will represent his native country of South Africa in the men's shot put on Friday night at 10:00 p.m. ET. During his time at High Point, he attended his first-ever NCAA Championships as a graduate student and claimed Second-Team All-America honors following his 18.82m performance in the shot put, becoming HPU's first-ever men's outdoor track & field All-American in the event as well as the Big South's first shot put All-America since 2013. Leading up to the Championships, Van Niekerk finished ninth at the NCAA East First Rounds in the men's shot put with a Big South and school-record throw of 19.12m. Over the course of his five seasons, Van Niekerk was named a two-time Big South Field Athlete of the Year, three-time Big South Outdoor Shot Put Champion, two-time Big South Indoor Shot Put Champion and a three-time Big South Outdoor Discus Champion.
 
Miller and Montes de Oca will compete on Saturday morning at 6:05 a.m. ET. Miller will represent team USA and Montes de Oca will represent his home country of Venezuela.
 
Miller was a four-year member of the track and field team at High Point and graduated in May of 2016. During his time in the Big South he was named a two-time Big South Outdoor Pole Vault Champion and a two-time Big South Indoor Pole Vault Champion. His collegiate career-best of 5.25m sits Top 10 in the Big South All-Time Performance list. After graduation, Miller was named to the Big South 2010-2019 All Decade Team. Most recently, Miller was crowned the USA Men's Pole Vault Champion with a personal-best 5.92m and made history by becoming the first-ever HPU track and field athlete to win the event.
 
Montes de Oca is a current sophomore at HPU and recently completed his freshman season with the Panthers in 2024-25. In his lone season, he set both the Big South indoor and outdoor men's pole vault records clearing 5.60m during the indoor season and 5.44m during the outdoor season. During the postseason, he made an appearance at the NCAA Championships and the Pan Am U23 Championships. He set the Pan Am U23 men's pole vault record after clearing 5.45m to be crowned the Champion.
 
Tune in to watch all three athletes on Peacock and CNBC over the next two days or click HERE to see the live results. For more information about the 2025 Track and Field World Championships, visit worldathletics.org/.