By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
INDIANAPOLIS – The Fort Hays State track and field teams will send eight student-athletes to compete in seven events at the 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, announced Tuesday (Feb. 28) by the NCAA office. This year’s indoor meet is being held March 10-11 in Virginia Beach, Va.
Six Tigers will represent the men’s team in the 4x400m relay, pole vault, heptathlon and 400m dash, with two student-athletes representing the women’s team in the pentathlon.
After reaching the podium in the combined events at both the indoor and outdoor meets last season, Nolan Churchman looks to make it three in a row this winter in the heptathlon. The sophomore ranks 12th in the country this season with a top point total of 5,304.
Churchman will then wrap up the event alongside Hayden Albright, Philip Landrum and Ethan Lang in the 4x400m relay. The quartet ran a school-record time of 3:11.10 this season, fourth-best in Division II this season.
Jacob Clark and Ryan Stanley both return to the national meet in the pole vault thanks to a top clearance of 17-2.75 this season, fifth-best nationally. Stanley is a two-time national champion in the discipline, two of six All-American honors for the senior, while Clark earned All-American honors both indoors and outdoors last season.
Albright also qualified individually in the 400m dash thanks to his school-record time of 47.63, 17th-best in Division II this year. Albright has two outdoor All-American trophies, but this is his first trip to the indoor national meet.
Mattie Rossi and Taylor Savolt will both compete in the pentathlon at the national meet. Rossi broke her own school record with 3,815 points at the MIAA Championships last weekend, seventh-best in the country, while Savolt ranks 13th with a top point total of 3,732. Rossi is a six-time All-American, including a fifth-place finish at the pentathlon last season.
2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships
Friday-Saturday, March 10-11 Virginia Beach, Va.
Schedule of Events – FHSU Competitors
Friday, March 10
Heptathlon – 10 a.m. (9 a.m. CT) – Nolan Churchman
400m Prelims – 4:25 p.m. (3:25 p.m. CT) – Hayden Albright
Saturday, March 11
Pentathlon – 10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. CT) – Mattie Rossi, Taylor Savolt
Heptathlon Day Two – 10:45 a.m. (9:45 a.m. CT) – Nolan Churchman
Pole Vault – 3:55 p.m. (2:55 p.m. CT) – Jacob Clark, Ryan Stanley
400m Finals – 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. CT) – Hayden Albright
4x400m Relay – 6:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. CT) – Hayden Albright, Philip Landrum, Ethan Lang and Nolan Churchman