FHSU Athletics
PUEBLO, Colo. - The Fort Hays State track and field teams opened the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships with several strong performances on Thursday. The Tigers lifted one All-American trophy, had three runners qualify for Saturday's finals and had two multi-athletes sitting in All-American position at the halfway point of the heptathlon and decathlon.
Ryan Stanley capped off an incredible career with his eighth All-American performance in the pole vault. The senior finished in a tie for fifth after clearing the bar at 17-2.75. The two-time national champion finished in the top eight at seven different national meets in his career and qualified for an eighth that was canceled in the spring of 2020.
He began his NCAA Championship journey with a fourth-place finish outdoors in 2019 before duplicating that finish at the indoor meet in 2021. He won his first national title in the spring of 2021 with an outdoor clearance of 17-2.75 before setting the school record and winning another national championship with a clearance of 17-9.25 at the indoor championships in 2022. The Bennington, Kan. native went on to place eighth outdoors in 2022 and seventh indoors this season before placing fifth on Thursday.
Mattie Rossi had a busy day at the track, with the senior completing the first four events of the heptathlon in the morning and early afternoon before running in the 400m hurdles prelims in the evening. Rossi sits in eighth place with 3,132 points in the heptathlon, including a single-event high of 988 in the 100m hurdles. She later advanced to the finals in the 400m hurdles after finishing second in her heat and third overall with a time of 59.48.
Nolan Churchman sits in fourth place in the decathlon with 4,025 points through five events, just 65 points back of first place. His day-one point total is eight points clear of the pace he set at last year's national championships where he set the school record with 7,192 points to finish fifth. He finished in the top four in three different events, including posting the fastest time in the 400m at 47.92 (913 points) and posting the second-best time of 10.75 (917 points) in the 100m.
Taylor Savolt is also moving on to the finals of the 400m hurdles after finishing second in her heat and fourth overall with a time of 59.66. She and Rossi will run in the finals on Saturday (May 27) beginning at 8:20 p.m. CT.
Philip Landrum also secured a spot in a final on Saturday with a time of 10.36 in the 100m dash prelims, placing seventh overall out of 24 competitors. His final is set for 7:45 p.m. CT Saturday.
Lyric Holman placed 14th in the 100m dash prelims with a time of 11.77. She will also run in the 200m dash prelims Friday evening (May 26).
Rossi and Churchman will wrap up their multi-events Friday morning before Holman and Landrum run in the 200m dash prelims that evening. Trever Medina will make his national championship debut with the 800m run prelims before Rossi completes another long day with the 100m dash prelims.
Full FHSU Results
Women
100m Dash Prelims
14th - Lyric Holman - 11.77
400m Hurdles Prelims
3rd - Mattie Rossi - 59.48 Q
4th - Taylor Savolt - 59.66 Q
Heptathlon
8th - Mattie Rossi - 3,132
100H - 13.93 - 988
HJ - 5-2.5 - 724
SP - 32-7.5 - 526
200m - 24.92 - 894
LJ -
JT -
800m -
Men
100m Dash Prelims
7th - Philip Landrum - 10.36 Q
Pole Vault
5th - Ryan Stanley - 17-2.75 @
Decathlon
4th - Nolan Churchman - 4,025 points
100m - 10.75 - 917
LJ - 23-6.25 - 854
SP - 39-6.75 - 610
HJ - 6-3.5 - 731
400m - 47.92 - 913
110H -
DT -
PV -
JT -
1500m -
@ - All-American
Q - qualified for Saturday's finals