INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

The Forester track and field program collected three national titles and were handed 20 All-American badges at the 2021 NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Brookings, S.D. over the weekend where the women finished 8th with 32 points while the men claimed 13th with 18 points.

Sophomore Emma Wilson headlined Childs’ crew by stockpiling a pair of individual titles, running a leg of the winning distance medley relay team and earning All-American honors for her role in the prelims of the 4×800 meter relay. Most impressive about the University of Illinois transfer’s performance was logging all three of her first place finishes within a five-hour span on Friday.

Her first national title came in the mile where she clocked in at 4:48.94. She followed up that performance by winning the 3000 meters in 9:58.89.

Wilson wrapped up the afternoon less than an hour after the 3K by running the 1600-meter leg of the DMR. She along with Sydney Lambert, Mia Ostopovich and Jessica Chojnacki teamed up to blow away the competition, winning in 11:56.94 which proved 20 seconds faster than second place Milligan.

Earlier that morning, the foursome of Lambert, Chojnacki, Carmen Trier and Olivia Von Gunten earned All-American praises for their 7th-place finish (9:35.20) in the 4×800 meter relay. In addition to running in both relays, Chojnacki also toed the line in the mile semifinals on opening day where she finished 11th in 5:29.47.

Saige Norris rounded out Huntington’s performances over the weekend with a 12th-place finish (10:54.37) in the 3000 meters on Friday.

When all was said and done, the HU women, the defending national champions, racked up three national titles and a total of 11 All-American accolades.

Indiana Tech ran away with the team title with 111 points. Rounding out the top ten included William Carey (63), Concordia (Neb.) (49), Friends (36), Dordt (35), Hastings (34), Wayland Baptist (33), HU (32), Southeastern (25) and Milligan (24).

On the men’s side, the Foresters collected four All-American honors in two races. Their first set of hardware came in the mile when Aaron Hendryx finished sixth in 4:19.29 and Elijah Chesterman, despite taking a hard spill with two laps remaining, took eighth in 4:22.02.

HU’s other two individual All-American badges were had in the 3000 meters. Adrien Gentie ran to a fourth place finish in 8:37.63. Two spots later, Reece Gibson crossed the line in 8:43.29 for sixth.

An hour later, the Forester team of Haile Stutzman, Josiah Sovine, Hendryx and Chesterman outran their #5 seeding in the DMR to earn third place in 10:11.02 and wrap up their stay in South Dakota with another set of All-American medals. Gibson was also awarded an All-American honor for having ran in the DMR prelims on Thursday.

Cameron Worsham, in his national championship debut, clocked in at 8.30 in the 60 meter hurdles to finish 13th. Also making his first trip to the big stage, Noah Bise finished 12th in long jump with a mark of 6.71 meters.

The Huntington men piled up nine All-American designations.

Dordt claimed the men’s title with 47 points to slip past Indiana Tech (45.5). Rounding out the top five included Oklahoma (42) in third followed by IWU (39) and Marian (34.5).

The Foresters now turn their attention to the outdoor portion of their schedule which kicks off March 27 at the Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open.