Six Emporia State track and field athletes will be in action next week representing the Black & Gold at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. The six Hornets will compete in seven different events. Four men and two women made the cut to nationals. It will be the most events represented for the program at a national meet since the 2015 National Championships in Allendale, Mich. The national qualifiers are:
Travis Morrison (Sr.) – ranked fifth in the nation in shot put; he finished sixth at this year’s NCAA Indoor National Championships and swept the MIAA Indoor and Outdoor titles in the event and finished eighth last year to earn All-American status.
Mele Taula (Fr.) – ranked 10th in javelin and 16th in shot put; she set the school record in the javelin earlier this year and finished 10th in the country in the shot put at this year’s NCAA Indoor National Championships.
Trendan Collins (Fr.) – ranked 12th in the high jump; he jumped 7 feet-1/4 inch at the Concordia Twilight Qualifier in the last meet before the National Championship field was set.
Jake Johnson (Jr.) – ranked 14th in the 400m hurdles; the Emporia native ran a 51.65 at the MIAA Championships to qualify.
Ty Anderson (So.) – ranked 16th in the men’s 100m dash; ran a 10.29 at the Midwest Classic hosted by ESU in April and won the MIAA championship in the event earlier this month.
Abigael Reid (Jr.) – ranked 19th nationally in the women’s 400m hurdles; recovered from significant injury last season to run a 1:00.33 at the MIAA championships.
Emporia State will host the National Championships at Welch Stadium beginning Thursday, May 23.
