FHSU Athletics
KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State had four student-athletes improve upon or gain NCAA qualifying marks over the weekend in last-chance meet action for the 2026 season. Three of the improvements occurred at the Loper Twilight meet hosted by Nebraska-Kearney Sunday, while one earned a mark at the Concordia Twilight meet in Seward, Neb. Friday.
Liberty Booker and Jackson Rumford made improvements to potentially get into the NCAA Championships. Booker won the women's invitational hammer with a career-best throw of 184'11", pushing her up to 16th on the national performance list in the event. Rumford placed second in the men's javelin with a throw of 218'11", also a career best which put him right on the bubble of the national performance list at 20th.
Dean Clark produced a personal best in the triple jump with a 48'4.75", which was enough for an NCAA qualifying mark and a win in the event. However, it will not be enough to get into the NCAA Championships in that event.
The Tigers had eight champions of events at the Loper Twilight overall, including Booker and Clarks's victories. Natalee North won the other division of the women's hammer throw (166'6"). Hunter Angove topped the men's pole vault at 16'11.5", while Annabeth Baalmann put her final tune-up work in for the NCAA Championships with a winning effort of 13 feet, 9 inches in the women's pole vault. Amelia Foster topped the women's 100 meters in 11.87, Jayden Michaelis won the men's 400 hurdles in 52.89, and Reba Mader won the women's 400 hurdles in 1:00.98.
SEWARD, Neb. - Noah Morenz gained a qualifying mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by running a time of 9:10.33 at the Concordia Twilight meet on Friday (May 8), but the mark ranks 47th nationally.
Emma Slade won the women's hammer throw and discus at the Concordia meet. Her hammer throw of 181'6" was just a little shy of her best attempt of the year. She won the discus with a throw of 156'1".
Natalee North finished second in the discus with a throw of 145'10" and second on the unseeded hammer throw field at 157'5". Liberty Booker competed in the seeded hammer throw and was sixth at 163'5".
Overall, Fort Hays State student-athletes produced 10 NCAA qualifying marks over the weekend. The Tigers will now await the announcement of the qualifiers for each event from the NCAA in a couple of days.
At the time of this article, the FHSU men had five top-20 performances nationally. That list includes Hunter Angove and Josiah Ball in the pole vault, Dean Clark in the long jump, Jackson Rumford in the javelin, and Drew Tolar in the decathlon. The FHSU women also have five top-20 performances nationally, which includes Annabeth Baalmann (pole vault), Katie Linenberger (high jump), Emma Slade (discus), Liberty Booker (hammer), and Emily Diercks McCullough (10,000m). Natalee North is right outside the top 20 in the discus, while Slade is right outside the top 20 in the hammer. If athletes in front of them on the list are unable to compete at nationals, they may still have a shot of getting in.