BY MADISON SHAPLAND
The Fort Hays State University indoor track program walked away from a successful weekend at the 2023 MIAA Track and Field Conference indoor meet last month. This success carried over to the national level when last Tuesday, the NCAA announced qualifiers for the 2023 DII Indoor Track and Field Championship in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Eight Tiger athletes qualified for the competition.
In the pole vault, both No. 5 Jacob Clark and No. 6 Ryan Stanley made qualifying heights to return them to the national competition. Both Clark and Stanely qualified with marks of 5.25m (17-2.75ft). The top mark to hit in DII is 5.43m.
Clark has two All-American titles to his name from both indoor and outdoor last season. Stanley is a two-time national champion and six-time All-American. The duo will face 16 other vaulters over the weekend.
Hayden Albright ran his way into the 400m dash for his first indoor national meet. His mark of 47.63 seconds earns him the 16th spot, where three other athletes are also seeded at the same time. This means Albright will face 18 competitors in the event. He has two All-American honors, both from outdoor seasons.
“I think my previous experience at nationals even though it was outdoors, will help,” Albright said. “I’m most excited to run my first individual event at nationals and going for a podium in the 4x400m relay.”
Albright said he assumes the atmosphere to outdoor nationals will be similar, and that he is calling on his experience competing in final rounds in the past to help him this weekend.
Nolan Churchman returns to the national heptathlon competition with a mark of 5304 points to seed him 12th out of 14 competitors in the event. He hit the podium at both the indoor and outdoor championships in the last season.
The heptathlon consists of the 60m dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60m hurdles, pole vault, and the 1000m run.
Churchman and Albright will also be competing in the 4x400m relay alongside teammates Philip Landrum and Ethan Lang. The relay’s time of 3:11.10 positioned the Tigers in the No. 4 seed, where 14 other relays will compete.
Two Tiger women will head to Virginia Beach and both will compete in the pentathlon. The pentathlon consists of the 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800m run.
Mattie Rossi is the no. seven seed out of 14 competitors, earning a qualifying score of 3815 points. This is not her first rodeo, as the senior has six All-American titles along with a fifth place trophy from the last indoor season.
Taylor Savolt also returns to the NCAA DII Indoor Championships. Last year she qualified in the triple jump, and this year in the pentathlon. With 3732 points, she sits 13th in the seed list.
“I’m really excited,” Savolt said. “I did three pents this year. My best performance was at conference last weekend and that’s what got me to nationals this year. I’m just hoping to stay close to that score and do better in some of the events I struggled with at conference and see where it takes me.”
Savolt said she is looking to going to Virginia with her team, taking in the whole experience, and competing with Rossi at her last indoor meet.
The competition will take place on Friday and Saturday. Friday will host prelims and mark the start of the heptathlon (60m, long jump, shot put, and high jump). Finals will take place on Saturday, along with the finish of the heptathlon, pentathlon, men’s pole vault, and 4×400 relays.
Most individual events take the top 16 times, relays will feature the top 12 times, and combined events will have a total of the top 14 athletes. Exceptions are made for ties.