By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
File Photo
Splitting into two different meets, the FHSU track and field team started its 2026 season over the weekend, as the team’s multi-athletes competed at the Boo Rogers Combined Events meet at Pittsburg State, and the rest of the team traveled to Topeka to compete at the Washburn Alumni Invitational.
Drew Tolar and Breanna Wells made the trip to the Boo Rogers meet, and both returned with personal bests. Tolar scored 4866 points in the Heptathlon, achieving a DII provisional mark, and Wells completed her first-ever Heptathlon with 2756 points, setting an initial personal best.
In Topeka, the rest of the team competed in various events, earning some provisional marks and securing top finishes. Freshman Katie Linenberger was the most outstanding athlete for the Tigers, winning her first-ever collegiate competition in the high jump with a jump of 1.74 meters.
That mark is also a top-5 mark from all NCAA DII competitors nationwide from the opening weekend and is a provisional mark that could send her to the national championship later this season.
Taylor Hoskinson won the women’s mile with a time of 5:07.06 minutes. In the 400-meter dash, Reba Mader clocked a time of 57.75 seconds, finishing 5th.
FHSU head coach Jason McCullough said Hoskinson had a superb performance.
“She did really well, and I was very impressed with that,” McCullough said. “The rest of the girls also performed well, and I was pleased to see how they all finished their race. On the guys’ side, we still have some work to do.”
On the men’s side, Mason Younger finished 2nd in the pole vault with a provisional mark of 4.85 meters. In the running events, Avery Albright recorded a time of 48.86 seconds to finish 3rd, and Nakari Morrical-Palmer ran 21.69 in the 200-meter race, and added a personal best in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.88 seconds.
Morrical-Palmer started the day with the 60 and said that his personal best helped him gain some extra motivation ahead of the 200-meter race later that day.
“That time in the 60 meant that my work led up to something, and I was able to improve on last year’s time,” he said. “So it was just one more motivation going into my 200, and it’s a good start. Of course, there’s always room to improve, and that’s what I hope to do the rest of the year.”
The Tigers will have another meet just before the end of the semester, as they will race in Kearney, Nebraska, on Friday before leaving for Christmas break.