Listen Here
By Cameo Cedarleaf, CedarleafC@Findlay.edu
Travel is a large part of spring break. This year, the Division II Winter National Championship Festival hosted Nationals for swimming, wresting, and indoor track at the Fall Creek Pavilion. Created in 2004, NCAA Division II Winter National Championship Festivalraise awareness of NCAA Championship.
Several UF track athletes travelled to Indianapolis, Indiana to compete in the NCAA Division II National Championships from March 12-15. Five UF athletes earned All-American honors by placing in the top eight of their events.
On the women’s side, Kylie Ray had an impressive performance in the 400-meter dash. She not only earned a sixth-place finish in the event but also set the school record in the event. Ray is the first women to become an All-American in the event from the University of Findlay.
The 4×400 meter relay, consisting of Mary Ellis, Leah Smith, Jordan Taylor, and Kylie Ray raced to a great finish as National runners-up. The women set a new school record with a time of 3:37.30, just 0.006 seconds behind the winners.
“It was definitely a bitter-sweet moment, and it is a hard thing to grasp because you lose by such a small amount,” Ellis said. “But I am grateful for the experience, and I have learned a lot.”
Ray anchored the relay.
“It is definitely heartbreaking, but I am grateful that we came that close,” Ray said. “I am thankful to be able to be upset about something like that.”
On the men’s side, Leyton Nossa was the lone All-American, placing eighth in the weight throw.
Findlay earned several second team All-American honors. The women’s Distance Medley Relay team, consisting of Hailey Wilson, Taylor Ivory, Bailey Chenevey and Ava Beam, ran a time of 12:02.19, placing 12th. The men’s team, with Simon Derstine, Sherron Jones, Jaxen Durfey and Jordan Foster, placed 11th with a team of 9:52.75.
On the field side, sophomore Eyan Wilson placed 10th in the shot put with a throw of 17.63 meters, also earning second team All-American honors. Sophomore Nate Buschur placed 14th in pole vault, setting a new personal best of 5.14m after completing the height on his third attempt.
Three Oilers started their season off at Raleigh Relays at NC State University. Senior Simon Derstine placed 20th in the 800-meter run, finishing with a time of 1:50.04. This time earned Derstine the NCAA Provisional Standard and the school record in the event. Jordan Foster also competed in the 800-meter run, placing 93rd with a time of 1:53.17. Noah Fisher ran the 10K, finishing 84th with a time of 29:39.43.
Another group of Findlay track and field athletes also started their season off at Cedarville University. Freshman Zanri Black won the 400-meter hurdles and set the new meet record by over a half-second. Sophomore Jaxen Durfey won the 1500 meter run by 0.97 seconds. Sophomore Nate Buscher won the pole vault with a height of 5.11 meters and hit the NCAA Provisional Standard.
UF track and field continues the season on April 4-5 at University of Cincinnati.
