N2NEW ORLEANS, La. – The USTFCCCA released their All-Central Region performers on Tuesday (Feb. 26) and nine Fort Hays State track and field athletes were mentioned on the list. For the men, eight events and seven athletes captured the honor, while two women in two events were named on the list. The release of the All-Region performers comes just under two weeks before the NCAA Division II National Championships for Indoor Track and Field, which will be hosted at Pittsburg State March 8-9.
To earn all-region distinction, an individual must be one of the top-five individuals in each event from each region, in addition to each region’s top-three relay teams. The regions for this award include – Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.
For the Fort Hays State men, Brett Meyer, Israel Barco, Malcom Gardner, Philip Landrum, Kolt Newell and Seppe van ‘t Westende received the mentions. Barco, Gardner, van ‘t Westende and Meyer captured their mention for the distance medley relay. The quad sits 14th on the NCAA Division II performance list with their time of 9:52.80, a time that gave them the MIAA championship over the weekend. This time was also a new school and conference record.
Meyer is mentioned on the list again for his mile run time. Meyer ranks fifth on the performance list with his provisional time of 4:04.23. Landrum received his all-region honor in the 60-meters after he won the MIAA championship in the event. Landrum ranks 17th on the performance list with a time of 6.83. Newell captured his placement with all-region honors for the high jump. Newell placed in the runner-up position at the MIAA Championships with his jump of 6 feet, 11 inches, an NCAA provisional mark.
On the women’s side, Summer Kragel and Mirena Goncalves landed a place on their side of the list. Goncalves earned her all-region mention in the 5,000-meters with her provisional time of 17:21.89. Goncalves placed in the runner-up position at the conference championships in the 5,000-meters. Kragel jumped her way into an all-region mention in the high jump with her third place MIAA finish of 5 feet, 6 inches.
