OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD

The 2021 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships saw the Foresters turn out two national champions and rack up 13 All-American badges at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala.

Sophomore Emma Wilson lived up to her No. 1 seeding in the 1500 meters by cruising in at 4:28.60 to be deemed a national champion. A few hours later she toed the line of the 5000 meters where she clocked in at 16:44.50 to take 2nd. The University of Illinois transfer finished with a pair of All-American honors and earned 18 of her team’s 37 points.

Not long after Wilson stood atop the podium, junior Dylan Felger did the same as the national champion of the 400 meter hurdles. The Ossian native, who entered the meet as the #1 seed, posted a winning time of 51.18 which proved a new PR and half a second fastest then his nearest competitor.

Senior Aspen Dirr wrapped up her Forester career by adding two more All-American honors to her collection by placing 2nd in the 1500 meters in 4:32.09. She also teamed up with Sydney Lambert, Jessica Chojnacki and Hannah Wappes to run to a 2nd place finish in the 4×800 meter relay. Their time of 9:08.91 set a new school record by five seconds.

Dirr leaves Huntington as one of the NAIA’s and HU’s most decorated athletes having piled up 12 All-American honors over the course of her time in green and white. The breakdown of her All-American hardware includes four in outdoor track, seven in indoor track and one in cross country.

Wappes rounded out an incredible showing by the Foresters in the 1500 meters by finishing 6th in 4:37.49. When all was said and done, HU took 1-2-6 in the 1500 meters to account for 21 points and the Manchester transfer brought home two All-American accolades.

Sophomore Haile Stutzman also garnered two All-American praises. After earning 5th in the 1500 meters in 3:56.00, he finished 7th in the 5000 meters in 14:54.52 to accumulate both badges within a three-hour timeframe.

Senior Elijah Chesterman turned in an All-American performance in the 1500 meters by crossing the line in 3:55.06 good for 3rd  place. Olivia Von Gunten also earned All-American status by running in the prelims of the 4×800 meter relay on Wednesday.

Mark Kouchoukos had in strong showing in the marathon by out-running his No. 27 seeding by coming in 10th in 2:56:25.00. Noah Bise and Cameron Worsham also out-performed their seeding. Bise entered the three-day meet as the 15th-seed in long jump and came away with 10th place with his leap of 7.23 meters. Worsham beat his seeding by two spots by finishing 22nd in the 110 meter hurdles in 14.72.

Other Foresters competing on the big stage included Adrien Gentie in the 5000 meters (24th, 15:08.18) and 10,000 meters (24th, 33:19.65) and Kent Yoder in the 5000 meters (34th, 15:29.43) and 10,000 meters (12th, 31:56.86).

The 4×800 meter relay team (Haile Stutzman, Aaron Hendryx, Josiah Sovine and Chesterman) set a new school and narrowly missed out on the finals with their 9th place time of 7:40.53.  The 4×400 meter relay team consisting of Riley Meek, Heath Atkins, Sovine and Felger clocked in at 3:31.44 to finish 18th.

As a team, the Forester women finished tied for fifth with Southeastern. Indiana Tech ran away with the women’s title with 84 points. Rounding out the top five included William Carey (65), Concordia (Neb.) (63.5), Wayland Baptist (39), HU (37) and Southeastern (37).

The HU men placed 13th with 22 points. The top five finishes on the men’s side included Doane and Madonna with 44 points each followed by Indiana Tech (43), Westmont (38) and Southeastern (34).