HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State men's and women's track and field team broke two school records, posted 14 national qualifying marks and won 13 events Thursday (April 23) at the 2026 Alex Francis Classic.
 
Katie Linenberger broke the outdoor school record in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5-10 on her second attempt to win the event. The freshman now ranks fourth in Division II this season after matching her indoor personal best that helped her qualify for the indoor national championships where she was a second team All-American.
 
Emma Slade broke her own school record in the discus for a second time this season, recording a toss of 163-11 on her third attempt of the day. That mark helped her move up to 11th on the DII descending order list this season and was good for third place in the event. She also improved her national qualifying mark in the hammer throw, finishing in first place with a top toss of 182-3 on her second try to climb to 15th in the country.
 
Two pole vaulters improved their national qualifying status, with Annabeth Baalmann clearing a season-best 13-9.25 to move into third in DII and Josiah Ball climbing to 12th in the country with a winning clearance of 16-11.
 
Reba Mader won the 400m hurdles with a national-qualifying time of 1:00.62.
 
Nakari Morrical-Palmer ran the 100m in 10.39, good for third place on the day, sixth at FHSU during the DII era and 31st on the DII national qualifying list this season.
 
Morrical-Palmer later teamed up with Brock Deterding, Avrey Albright and Drew Tolar to win the 4x100m relay in a national-qualifying time of 40.64.
 
Dean Clark finished in second place with a leap of 24-4.5, which would be good for a national qualifying mark had it not been for an elevated wind reading.
 
Five other throwers also hit national qualifying marks on the day, including Natalee North who finished fifth in the discus with a toss of 158-7 which ranks second at FHSU during the DII era. Liberty Booker placed second in the hammer throw with a heave of 176-9, while Macy Nachtigal was second in the javelin with a top throw of 141-5.
 
The men had two throwers post national qualifying performances, with Jackson Rumford placing second in the javelin at 209-3 and Guy Tubbs finishing third in the same event with a toss of 196-4.
 
Additional first-place finishes for the Tigers included Esther Clark-Pavlovich who won the 1,500m in 4:57.15 and Makenzie Premer who won the 3,000m steeplechase in 12:23.43. The 4x100m relay team of Ellie Harper, Hailey Brown, Amelia Foster and Donna Jackson placed first with a time of 46.56 while a pair of Tigers won the horizontal jumps in Jayme Hagerman (long jump, 19-2.5) and Alonnah Gage (39-3.25).
 
Two other men took home first-place finishes, including Hayden Nemechek in the 1,500m with a time of 4:02.73 and Bradley Nkosi in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.57.
 
Next up for the Tigers is the MIAA Championships, set for May 1-3 in Pittsburg, Kan.
 
Full FHSU Results
Women
100m
2nd - Amelia Foster - 11.73
8th - Hailey Brown - 12.10
11th - Ellie Harper - 12.39
13th - Alonnah Gage - 12.66
15th - Kendra Blaylock - 12.77
16th - Joslyn Scheck - 12.78
17th - Chloe Mader - 12.79
 
200m
3rd - Amelia Foster - 24.41
9th - Hailey Brown - 25.43
11th - Ellie Harper - 25.85
15th - Kendra Blaylock - 26.41
20th - Joslyn Scheck - 27.48
 
400m
4th - Madelynn Nichols - 1:03.55
5th - Addy Fields - 1:04.88
 
800m
4th - Janae Fugitt - 2:22.76
 
1,500m
1st - Esther Clark-Pavlovich - 4:57.15
2nd - Abbye Hudson - 4:57.63
3rd - Cate Wiese - 4:58.79
4th - Ashlyn Harbaugh - 5:02.30
5th - Keziah Bachman - 5:05.22
8th - Eva Cortes - 5:16.19
 
5,000m
3rd - Margaret Browning - 19:19.13
 
100m Hurdles
4th - Donna Jackson - 14.62
6th - Chloe Mader - 14.80
 
400m Hurdles
1st - Reba Mader - 1:00.62 *
4th - Breanna Wells - 1:06.38
 
3,000m Steeplechase
1st - Makenzie Premer - 12:23.43
2nd - Brenna Murphy - 12:31.11
 
4x100m Relay
1st - Ellie Harper, Hailey Brown, Amelia Foster, Donna Jackson - 46.56
 
4x400m Relay
3rd - Madelynn Nichols, Makenzie Premer, Janae Fugitt, Keziah Bachman - 4:24.21
 
High Jump
1st - Katie Linenberger - 5-10 ! *
Bella Hudson - NH
 
Pole Vault
1st - Annabeth Baalmann - 13-9.25 *
6th - Liz Moore - 10-11.75
7th - Lillian Finke - 10-11.75
 
Long Jump
1st - Jayme Hagerman - 19-2.5
6th - Annabeth Baalmann - 17-9.5
7th - Alonnah Gage - 17-8.25
 
Triple Jump
1st - Alonnah Gage - 39-3.25
2nd - Brynlee Frank - 37-5.75
 
Shot Put
3rd - Natalee North - 43-11.25
4th - Liberty Booker - 41-10.75
9th - Blake Dansel - 34-3.5
 
Discus
3rd - Emma Slade - 163-11 ! *
5th - Natalee North - 158-7 *
11th - Blake Dansel - 125-6
13th - Carly Hutfles - 114-9
 
Hammer
1st - Emma Slade - 182-3 *
2nd - Liberty Booker - 176-9 *
6th - Natalee North - 156-4
10th - Carly Hutfles - 129-0
11th - Blake Dansel - 128-0
 
Javelin
2nd - Macy Nachtigal - 141-5 *
 
Men
100m
3rd - Nakari Morrical-Palmer - 10.39 *
7th - Avrey Albright - 10.48
13th - Brock Deterding - 10.72
17th - Kenny Fritsch - 10.84
22nd - Dylan Velasco - 10.95
26th - Wyatt Probst - 11.02
31st - Mayan Paz - 11.08
34th - Brody Burns - 11.20
 
200m
3rd - Drew Tolar - 21.42
5th - Avrey Albright - 21.59
10th - Brock Deterding - 21.81
18th - Mayan Paz - 22.21
22nd - Wyatt Probst - 22.32
23rd - Dylan Velasco - 22.40
29th - Brody Burns - 22.74
31st - Kenny Fritsch - 22.82
 
400m
10th - Bret Jones - 50.19
16th - Luke Wessel - 51.63
 
800m
10th - Emery Wolfe - 1:59.71
12th - Taran Castro - 2:00.13
29th - Braylon Moore - 2:08.31
 
1,500m
1st - Hayden Nemechek - 4:02.73
2nd - Quade Smith - 4:06.05
4th - Cole Krug - 4:08.19
10th - Ty Raulston - 4:16.26
13th - Zach Moore - 4:18.49
14th - Kaiden Esfeld - 4:19.06
24th - Andrew Waller - 4:43.06
 
5,000m
3rd - Brady Conway - 16:53.70
 
110m Hurdles
1st - Bradley Nkosi - 14.57
2nd - Brett Eckhardt - 14.92
3rd - Jayden Michaelis - 15.25
9th - Spencer Rich - 16.43
 
400m Hurdles
4th - Lucas Kirk - 55.78
7th - Bryce Steffan - 56.96
 
4x100m Relay
1st - Brock Deterding, Avrey Albright, Nakari Morrical-Palmer, Drew Tolar - 40.64 *
4th - Kenny Fritsch, Dylan Velasco, Mayan Paz, Jayden Michaelis - 41.92
5th - Ervin Fierro, Wyatt Probst, Lucas Kirk, Brody Burns - 43.47
 
4x400m Relay
3rd - Bret Jones, Emery Wolfe, Quade Smith, Luke Wessel - 3:27.14
 
Pole Vault
1st - Josiah Ball - 16-11 *
2nd - Brady Deges - 15-11.25
4th - Mason Younger - 15-5.5
6th - Rylan White - 15-5.5
9th - Will Wegerer - 14-11.5
11th - Kurtis McCormick - 14-5.5
12th - Aiden Heidari - 14-5.5
15th - Ben Pahls - 13-5.75
Trevor Christensen - NH
Hunter Angove - NH
 
Long Jump
2nd - Dean Clark - 24-4.5 *
3rd - Drew Tolar - 23-6
Ervin Fierro - Foul
 
Triple Jump
Dean Clark - Foul
 
Discus
3rd - Kaeden Kasselman - 162-1
 
Hammer
18th - Kaeden Kasselman - 115-4
 
Javelin
2nd - Jackson Rumford - 209-3 *
3rd - Guy Tubbs - 196-4 *
4th - Dalton Meyers - 190-5
 
! indicates school record
* indicates NCAA Division II national qualifying mark