FHSU Athletics
PITTSBURG, Kan. - The 24th-ranked Fort Hays State men's track and field team opened competition at the 2026 MIAA Outdoor Championships Friday (May 1) by claiming three trips to the finals in running events and posting one national qualifying mark. The Tigers are currently in sixth place with seven team points.
Farrin Mangelson ended the day with a fourth-place finish in the 10,000m, completing the 25 laps in 30:09.41 to collect five team points. The junior's time is fourth-best at FHSU during the DII era. He stayed with the front pack for the entirety of the race, leading at the halfway point and sitting just one second behind the leader with one lap to go before finishing 11 seconds off the pace.
Dean Clark earned two team points with a seventh-place finish in the long jump, posting a national-qualifying leap of 24-2.5 on his second attempt. Drew Tolar narrowly missed advancing to the finals, finishing in 10th with a top mark of 23-6.
Three runners moved on to Sunday's finals, including two in the 400m hurdles and one in the 100m. Jayden Michaelis ran the 400m hurdles in 53.09 to finish seventh, while Mayan Paz claimed the ninth and final spot in the finals with his time of 53.82. Nakari Morrical-Palmer was seventh in the 100m prelims, completing the straightaway in 10.54.
The Tigers will continue competition at the league meet on Saturday (May 2) with the prelims of the 200m, 800m and 110m hurdles and the finals in the 3,000m steeplechase and discus.