FHSU Athletics
PUEBLO, Colo. - The Fort Hays State men's and women's track and field teams opened the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships with several strong performances Thursday. Seven athletes competed in five events on day one of the national meet, with the Tigers breaking one school record and clinching a spot in Saturday's finals and another locking up second team All-America status.
The men's 4x100m relay team of Hayden Albright, Toby Wahlmeier, Avrey Albright and Drew Tolar combined to complete one lap around the track in 39.71, breaking one of the oldest school records in program history by two tenths of a second (39.91 - 2002). The squad finished third in the opening heat and fifth overall, securing one of nine spots in the finals on Saturday which is scheduled to open the running portion of day three at 6:20 p.m. CT.
Nolan Churchman sits in third place at the halfway point of the decathlon with a personal best opening day point total of 4,035 points, five points higher than his previous five-event best. The seven-time All-American opened the decathlon with a wind legal personal best of 10.69 in the 100m dash, taking the early lead with 931 points.
After adding 828 points in the long jump (23-2) and 569 points in the shot put (37-4.5), the senior matched his outdoor personal best in the high jump with a top clearance of 6-6.25 (1.99m) to accumulate 794 points. He did not miss a bar in the lead up to his top clearance. Churchman then concluded the day with the fastest time in the 400m dash, clocking 47.93 to add 913 points to his total and finish the day in third place, 111 points back of first place and just 17 behind second place.
Churchman also competed in the open long jump competition, finishing in 20th place with a top leap of 23-1.25.
Emily Diercks narrowly missed the podium in the 10,000m run, finishing in ninth place and securing second team All-America honors with a time of 35:37.29. The junior entered the race with the 20th best time in the field, but moved up more than 10 spots from that ranking to take home second team All-America recognition. Diercks found herself in the middle of the 22-person field for much of the race but was able to pass four runners over the final 4,000 meters to climb up to ninth.
Competing at his first national meet, Josiah Ball finished 18th in the pole vault competition with a top clearance of 15-9.75 (4.82m). The true freshman cleared that bar on his third and final attempt but was unable to cleanly surpass the next bar at 16-3.5.
Two Tigers that competed on day one will be back out on the track on Friday for day two, with Churchman completing the final five events of the decathlon beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT. Wahlmeier will run in the 200m prelims at 6:45 p.m. CT, while Emma Slade will compete in the women's discus at 3 p.m. CT.
Full FHSU Results
Day One
Women
10,000m Run
9th - Emily Diercks - 35:37.29 %
Men
4x100m Prelims
5th - Hayden Albright, Toby Wahlmeier, Avrey Albright, Drew Tolar - 39.71 q !
Long Jump
20th - Nolan Churchman - 23-1.25
Pole Vault
18th - Josiah Ball - 15-9.75
Decathlon
3rd - Nolan Churchman - 4,035
100m - 10.69 - 931
LJ - 23-2 - 828
SP - 37-4.5 - 569
HJ - 6-6.25 - 794
400m - 47.93 - 913
110mH -
DT -
PV -
JT -
1,500m -
! - indicates school record
% - indicates second team All-American
q - qualified for finals