INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Senior Dylan Felger highlighted the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships for the Foresters by winning the 600 meters. Not only did his PR time of 1:16.12 earn him the title of national champion but also set a new NAIA indoor record.
It’s his second individual title at the national level with his first coming last spring when he crushed the competition at outdoor nationals in the 400 meter hurdles.
Felger was also a member of the distance medley relay team that finished second in 9:58.71. He along with sophomore Reece Gibson and seniors Josiah Sovine and Elijah Chesterman were tabbed All-Americans for their outstanding performance. The foursome broke the school record in the DMR prelims by turning in a 9:59.58.
Like Felger, Chesterman was a two-time All-American over the weekend by taking fifth in the mile. In addition to his time of 4:10.71 being one of the best in the nation, it also broke his own school record by four seconds.
The Foresters turned in several other solid performances at North Dakota State University’s Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Kent Yoder (14:55.00) and Austin Liepe (15:17.99) ran to a 13th and 25th place finish respectively in the 5000M.
Gibson (4:17.40) and Aaron Hendryx (4:28.15), who entered the mile seeded 39th and 45th respectively, significantly outran their ranking to finish 16th and 22nd. Cameron Worsham posted an 8.36 in the 60 meter hurdles to take 24th.
Representing Huntington in field events, Noah Bise made it to the finals of long jump where he tied his PR with a leap of 7.20 meters to finish ninth overall, missing All-American status by 2 cm. He then wrapped up the weekend with a 24th-place finish in triple jump with a mark of 13.80 meters.
Three Foresters on the women’s side also garnered a pair of All-American praises. Shelby Christman ran to a sixth place finish in the 3000M in 10:03.67 to secure her first piece of track hardware. The rookie also earned All-American status in cross country this fall with her 19th place finish, a feat no other freshman in program history has done.
Sophomore Sydney Lambert and freshman Abigail Mays toed the line of the 1000M where they finished fourth (2:54.97) and seventh (2:59.74) respectively to be tabbed All-American. Both moved up in HU’s record books, Lambert to fourth and Mays to seventh.
The trio along with Emily Tedder teamed up to claim third in the DMR in 12:08.36 to be handed All-American medals.
When all was said and done, Coach Childs’ crew secured a national title and collected 13 All-American honors. The HU men finished ninth as a team with 22 points while the women took 16th with 16 points.
Posted By: Joanne K Green