BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Fort Hays State track and field picked up two more All-American trophies Saturday on the final day of the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships.
The Tigers sent four athletes to Birmingham and are returning with four All-American finishes, one national title and three school records. All four national qualifiers broke at least one school record this season.
Ryan Stanley opened the day with a strong performance in the pole vault. The Bennington native earned his third All-American honor after placing fourth at the national meet for the second time (2019 outdoors). Stanley broke the indoor school record when he cleared the 16-11.5 bar on his first attempt, matching his collegiate best and surpassing the school record by .75 inches. He committed just one foul over the first four heights, clearing three of the four on his first attempt. The junior was the lone competitor to clear the initial height on his first attempt.
Lyric Holman capped off the event with an appearance in the 60m dash finals. Running in lane No. 3, the same lane in which she ran a school-record 7.53 in the prelims, Holman turned in a seventh-place finish with a time of 7.60. The junior earned FHSU two team points with her finish.
Holman and Alexandra Hart combined for 12 team points, placing Fort Hays State 16th on the team score list, its top national finish in 10 years (14th in 2011). Stanley and Matthew Pieper combined for 7.5 team points, good for 33rd place out of 51 schools with at least one entry.
Fort Hays State finished the year with eight broken indoor school records, including four on both the men's and women's teams. Men's records broken this year include Stanley in the pole vault, Pieper's top mark of 5,258 points in the heptathlon, Ethan Lang's time of 1:10.91 in the 600y dash and the 4x400m relay team of Jack Pakkebier, Lang, Pieper and Kaden Wren's combined time of 3:16.62. Women's records that went down this season include Holman's 7.53 in the 60m prelims, her time of 24.92 in the 200m dash, Hart's national-championship winning jump of 6-0 in the high jump and Mattie Rossi's total of 3,450 points in the pentathlon.
Full FHSU Results
Heptathlon
t-6th - Matthew Pieper - 5,115 @
60m - 7.22 - 806
LJ - 23-3.5 - 838
SP - 37-0.5 - 563
HJ - 6-0.75 - 670
60mh - 8.81 - 788
PV - 13-1.5 - 617
1000m - 2:43.65 - 833
High Jump
1st - Alexandra Hart - 6-0 ! @ #
60m Dash Prelims
t-3rd - Lyric Holman - 7.53Q #
60m Dash Finals
7th - Lyric Holman - 7.60 @
Pole Vault
4th - Ryan Stanley - 16-11.5 @ #
! indicates NCAA DII National Champion
@ indicates first team All-American
# indicates school record