BY MADISON SHAPLAND
As the outdoor track and field season draws to a close, the Fort Hays State University team looks to go out with a roar as they are sending 16 athletes and 18 entries to the 2022 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships.on May 26-28th.
The men are sending in a 4×100 meter relay consisting of sophomores Cole Diffenbaugh, Hayden Albright, Xavier Robinson and junior Philip Landrum with a #12 ranked time of 40.54. FHSU also sends a 4×400 meter relay consisting of Albright, junior Jack Pakkebier, and sophomores Ethan Lang, and Nolan Churchman with a #9 ranked time of 3:11.06. Trevor Medina will act as an alternate for the 4×400 meter relay.
Individually, Churchman will also compete in the decathlon where he’s ranked 8th. Lang also qualified for two events and will race in the 800-meter run where he is ranked 19th in the Nation at the DII level. Robinson joins this list of competitors who will compete in multiple events at the Championships by qualifying for the triple jump on top of the relay. He is ranked 16th in the event.
Sophomore Jacob Clark and junior Ryan Stanely will compete in the pole vault where they are ranked 5th and 10th respectively. Representing the Tigers in the 5000 and 10000-meter runs is senior Robbie Schmidt, who is ranked 22nd and 11th in the long runs respectively. Senior David Enns is throwing the javelin and is ranked 19th.
For the women, junior Lyric Holman will race in the 100m dash, ranking 10th, and the 200m dash, ranking 15th. Fellow junior Mattie Rossi is competing in the 100m and 400m hurdles, ranked 10th and 3rd, as well as the heptathlon where she is ranked 5th. Sophomore Alexandra Hart will high jump, holding the 14th slot. Sophomores Addie Berens and Rhyann Brown are throwing the javelin, ranked 7th and 13th respectively.
Diffenbaugh is looking forward to competing at nationals with his teammates.
“[I’m looking forward to] the opportunity for team bonding and getting closer with my teammates,” he said.
Robinson said he has his sights on medaling
“Having a chance to place on the podium and a shot at being All-American is something I’m looking forward to the most,” he said.
Preliminaries will take place in Thursday and Friday in Allendale, Michigan at the Grand Valley State Track and Field Stadium while finals will take place on Saturday.
Follow along with TMN for updates from the national meet.
