EMPORIA, Kan. - Four student-athletes from the Fort Hays State men's and women's track and field teams competed on day one of the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships Thursday (May 23), with one earning second-team All-America honors and two advancing to the finals in track events.
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Making his debut at the national meet, freshman
Keamonie Archie garnered second-team All-America status by finishing 11th in the long jump with a top leap of 24-2.5. The Hays native opened the day with a foul before posting a distance of 24-1.75 on his second attempt. Archie saved the best for last, adding two centimeters to his official mark to move up one spot in the standings.
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Grant Bradley secured a spot in tomorrow's 3,000m steeplechase finals with a fourth-place finish in his preliminary heat, posting a time of 9:05.28. Bradley sat in the sixth position with two laps to go before moving into fifth by the start of the bell lap and finally overtaking fourth with just over 200 meters to go. He finished off the race with his fastest lap of the evening, clocking 1:05.86 over the final 400 meters. The Aurora, Colo. native finished eighth overall in the prelims and is one of 12 that will run in the finals Friday evening.
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Taylor Savolt will run in the finals of the 400m hurdles for a second-consecutive season after finishing fifth overall and second in her heat with a lifetime-best time of 59.15. Savolt finished eighth at the 2023 Outdoor Championships, earning her first All-American trophy.
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Earlier in the day Savolt completed the first four events of the heptathlon, sitting in 15th with a day-one total of 3,012 points. Her top event of the day was the 200m dash, where she finished seventh with a time of 25.18 to accumulate 870 points.
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Competing at her second national meet of the season, indoor All-American
Annabeth Baalmann placed 16th in the pole vault after safely clearing the bar at 12-1.5 on her first attempt. She nearly cleared the next height at 12-7.5 on her final jump, but narrowly clipped the on the way down.
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Savolt will compete in the final three events of the heptathlon Friday morning (May 24) beginning at 10:30 a.m., while
Dayton Williams joins the competition in the high jump at 3:30 p.m. Bradley will round out the day with the finals of the 3,000m steeplechase beginning at 7:15 p.m. Three more Tigers will join the competition on Saturday (May 25) with
Jacob Clark in the pole vault (12:30 p.m.) and
Rhyann Brown and
Addie Berens in the javelin throw (1:30 p.m.). Savolt will round out the weekend with the finals of the 400m hurdles at 4:20 p.m.
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Gallery: (5-23-2024) 2024 NCAA DII Outdoor T&F Championships
Full FHSU Results
Thursday
Women
400m Hurdles Prelims
5th -
Taylor Savolt - 59.15 Q
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Pole Vault
16th -
Annabeth Baalmann - 12-1.5
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Heptathlon
15th -
Taylor Savolt - 3,012
100mH - 14.92 - 852
HJ - 5-1.75 - 701
SP - 35-9.5 - 589
200m - 25.18 - 870
LJ -
JT -
800m -
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Men
3,000m Steeplechase Prelims
8th -
Grant Bradley - 9:05.28 Q
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Long Jump
11th -
Keamonie Archie - 24-2.5 %
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% - Second Team All-American
Q - Qualified for Finals
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