INDIANAPOLIS - Fort Hays State track and field had four student-athletes selected to compete in the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships, announced Tuesday by the association.
Matthew Pieper and Ryan Stanley will represent the men's team, while Alexandra Hart and Lyric Holman will compete for the women's team March 11-13 in Birmingham, Ala.
Alexandra Hart enters the national meet with the top mark in the country in the high jump thanks to her school-record clearance of 5-10.5. The freshman won the MIAA Championship last week, her fifth victory in the high jump in five tries this season.
Lyric Holman will compete in the 60m dash after taking home the MIAA title in the race over the weekend. The junior broke the school record in the race with a time of 7.59 in the prelims and then matched that time to finish first in the finals. Holman's time is tied for ninth on the declared list. This is the Junction City, Kan. native's first trip to the NCAA Championships.
Matthew Pieper is set to compete in the heptathlon after breaking his own school record en route to an MIAA title last weekend. The senior compiled 5,258 points in the event at the MIAA Indoor Championships, good for sixth-best on the national championship declaration list. He recorded personal-bests in six of the seven disciplines this season, including clearing a provisional distance of 23-7.5 in the long jump. This will be Pieper's first appearance at the national championships.
Ryan Stanley qualified for the national meet for the third time in the pole vault with a top mark of 16-9.25. He took home first place in six of his seven competitions this season and tied for the top height but placed second at the MIAA Championships on a judge's decision. He is a two-time All-American, placing fourth at the outdoor meet in 2019 before qualifying for the 2020 indoor meet that was canceled last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pieper will be the first Tiger to compete, opening the heptathlon on March 11 before competing in the final three events on March 12. Holman will run in the prelims on Friday with hopes of advancing to the finals on March 13. Hart will compete in the high jump Friday afternoon, while Stanley's pole vault competition is slated for Saturday afternoon.