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Tigers at national meet
8/29/2007
By NICK McQUEEN
Hays Daily News
Earlier this week, traffic was already starting to build up in anticipation of NASCAR's Coca Cola 600 in Concord, N.C.
But just a short distance down the road at Irwin Belk Complex on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., 10 Fort Hays State University track and field athletes will be in the All-American race as competition begins in the 2007 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.
The Tigers were set to board a plane Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo., to head for Charlotte and meet up with Tiger coach Dennis Weber, a member of the national games committee, who already was in Charlotte.
Action gets underway Thursday with Tiger junior Brady Maska competing in the hammer throw, one of three events the transfer from Barton County Community College qualified in. The former Hays High School standout is ranked 14th in the nation in his first event and will compete in both the discus and the shot put, going in with No. 4 and No. 5 rankings in those events, respectively.
Maska is joined by freshman javelin thrower Garrett Edgar, junior javelin thrower Kevin Jilka, sophomore Kyle Reed (discus) and sophomore runner Dan Yoder on the men's side. Yoder enters the nationals with a No. 13 ranking in the 800-meter run.
The men's shot put is scheduled for Friday and the men's discus and javelin is Saturday.
"We have a nice mixture with some good seniors and also some younger kids that are going to get a good early taste," Weber said.
On the women's side, senior Amanda Poore hopes to get over the top in the high jump after three second-place finishes combined between indoor and outdoor national meets. Poore ranks fourth in the event.
"It will be interesting to see how everyone responds to being out here for this,"¬Weber said. "With the younger kids, you never really know, and with the seniors who have been here before, sometimes the nerves get to them."
Senior Casey Wanger qualified in the pole vault for the Tigers and is ranked 10th at 12 feet, 6 inches. The women's pole vault will be Friday.
"It's just a matter of going out, relaxing and enjoying being out here," Weber said.
Also competing Friday will be junior Crystal Harden, who qualified in the triple jump with a No. 16 ranking.
Junior Lindsey McCormick and sophomore Jayci Peters also qualified for the Tiger women, both in the javelin. McCormick is ranked 12th in the nation, while Peters is 14th. The women's javelin is set for Saturday.
"(The rankings) are generally fairly accurate," Weber said. "For the most part, it comes out that way, especially in the top six or eight.
"Usually the top-ranked person comes out on top," he added.
The Tigers were to attend the Hall of Fame banquet today and events being Thursday morning.
"As far as facilities go, this is probably up there with the best I've ever seen. The surface on the track should be pretty fast. The nice thing is that all the events are inside the stadium. Fans and coaches can sit and watch everything,"¬Weber said. "It's supposed to be good weather and the stage is set for a pretty good meet¬-- as long as we can endure the traffic. Should be exciting out here."
Sports reporter Nick McQueen can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 128 or by e-mail at
nmcqueen@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/11 | Central Missouri | L 4-2 |
| BB | 5/10 | Missouri Western | W 4-3 |
| BB | 5/09 | Emporia State | L 6-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
