MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Fort Hays State track and field teams opened competition at the 2022 MIAA Indoor Championships Friday afternoon (Feb. 25) with the women's pentathlon and the first four events of the men's heptathlon. The Tiger women had two individuals in the top six, corralling eight team points, while the men also have two athletes amongst the top six with three events remaining.
 
Mattie Rossi led the field in both running events, opening the afternoon with a provisional time of 8.72 to pick up 969 points, the top individual event score for any athlete in the championship. The school-record holder in the pentathlon then finished the day with a personal-best time of 2:21.56 in the 800m, grabbing 802 more points for a five-event total of 3,660 to finish fourth overall.
 
Taylor Savolt was sixth in the overall tally with 3,457 points. She paced the field in the long jump with a top leap of 18-1.75, good for 709 points. Her top individual event was also the 60m hurdles, where she posted a 9.11 for 887 points. Both Rossi and Savolt surpassed the provisional mark for the second time this season.
 
Both Ellie Dusselier and Hadley Williams hit personal-bests while placing 13th and 14th overall. Dusselier accumulated 2,809 points across the five disciplines, while Williams totaled 2,750 points on the day.
 
On the men's side, Nolan Churchman currently sits in second through four events with 3,129 points, 89 points ahead of the pace set when he broke the school record earlier this season and just 33 points behind first place. He started the event off with a bang, running a personal-best 6.98 in the 60m dash to rack up 889 points for the highest individual point total by an athlete all afternoon. He then led the field in the long jump with a leap of 23-3.5 (838), one-half inch off his PR, before tying for the top mark in the high jump after clearing a personal-best 6-6.25 (794). He also had a PR in the shot put at 40-feet flat (618).
 
Jack Pakkebier is slotted sixth with a day-one total of 2,732 points. His top mark was in the 60m dash when he ran a personal-best 719, good for 816 points. Malcolm Wiltshire also ran a PR in the first event of the day, crossing the line in 7.46 for 726 points. The freshman is 11th overall with 2,372 points.
 
Churchman, Pakkebier and Wiltshire will wrap up the heptathlon Saturday (Feb. 26) beginning at 11 a.m. before field event finals start at 1:30 p.m. Prelims on the track will then start at 2 p.m. before two distance finals later in the evening. A full event schedule can be found here.
 
Full FHSU Results - Day One
Women
Pentathlon
4th - Mattie Rossi - 3,660 points # - 5 team points
60mH - 8.72 - 969 #
HJ - 5-2.25 - 712
SP - 31-4 - 500
LJ - 17-9.5 - 677
800m - 2:21.56 - 802
 
6th - Taylor Savolt - 3,457 points # - 3 team points
60mH - 9.11 - 887
HJ - 4-9.5 - 577
SP - 31-6.5 - 504
LJ - 18-1.75 - 709
800m - 2:23.22 - 780
 
13th - Ellie Dusselier - 2,809 points
60mH - 10.52 - 618
HJ - 4-11.75 - 644
SP - 28-7 - 445
LJ - 15-6.25 - 487
800m - 2:36.39 - 615
 
14th - Hadley Williams - 2,750 points
60mH - 9.96 - 720
HJ - 4-7 - 512
SP - 29-7.5 - 466
LJ - 15-9.75 - 511
800m - 2:42.86 - 541
 
Men
Heptathlon
2nd - Nolan Churchman - 3,129 points
60m - 6.98 - 889
LJ - 23-3.50 - 838
SP - 40-00.00 - 618
HJ - 6-6.25 - 794
 
6th - Jack Pakkebier - 2,732 points
60m - 7.19 - 816
LJ - 20-1.75 - 673
SP - 42-02.00 - 658
HJ - 5-8.75 - 585
 
11th - Malcolm Wiltshire - 2,372 points
60m - 7.46 - 726
LJ - 19-4.25 - 597
SP - 31-07.50 - 464
HJ - 5-8.75 - 585
 
# indicates NCAA DII provisional mark