By: Connor Rowland | Contributor
Taylor's track and field team stole the show last Saturday at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Johnson City, Tennessee. Five All-American honors were awarded to four runners in the Trojan squad to conclude the 2015-16 indoor track and field campaign.
The meet began with junior Tanner Dye suiting up for the mile-run finals. The New Castle native was ranked No. 17 before the race-an apparent long shot to win in nationals. However, the junior runner emptied out the tank in his final lap, surmounting several competent athletes to ultimately take to Upland an All-American honor by placing sixth with a time of 4:21.87. Dye fired up his team, and his strong performance paid major dividends in the early going of the meet.
"Going into Nationals being ranked 17th, and being the underdog, you have to have a lot of guts to overcome all of those other guys," said senior Brandan Wilchcombe. "He just stayed behind the pack, and he just executed well, passing them one by one. Just watching it was incredible. I'm just proud of him."
The city of Freeport in the Bahamas proved to be pivotal in a Trojan victory on Saturday afternoon. The island off the coast of Florida boasted two All-American honors on Saturday for the purple and gold.
Wilchcombe dominated his final indoor heat in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.18 second time. When the dust settled, Wilchcombe's hurdles effort was good enough for a national runner-up finish. The Freeport native's breathtaking time was the second fastest in his career.
"We're putting our country on our back, you know. We're supporting the Bahamas. A lot of people are proud of us," Wilchcombe said. "It feels good to know that you come from a small country, you're in the NAIA and you're dominating."
The second Freeport All-American native, junior Leslie Romer, pulled a double whammy on Saturday, competing in two separate events: the 60-meter and 200-meter dash. The Bahamian shattered his previous personal and school record with a time of 6.79 seconds-good enough for an All-American honor.
Romer gutted out his final race while nursing a sore hamstring. Despite the banged-up wheel, Romer coasted to a seventh-place finish with a time of 23.50 seconds, claiming his second All-American honor of the afternoon.
To conclude the barrage of All-American honors, junior Matt Hall ran his way to his second career All-American badge with a strategically executed game plan. With 400 meters left in the race, Hall pulled away from five competitors to end the competition in third place with a season-best time of 14:57.79.
On the women's side of the track and field events, the representatives for the Trojans in Johnson City were sophomore Alex Berends and freshman Miriam Wood. Berends had her eyes set on a third All-American honor in the 3000-meter run. However, a health issue inhibited the sophomore in achieving the coveted status.
"Our team is truly dedicated to be the best we can be. We talk about the word 'grit' a lot to remind us to think about our performances," Berends said. "We've definitely got a good start going into outdoor season. We will use the indoor season as fuel to our motivation to compete really well in outdoor."
Regardless of injury, Berends' competitive spirit drove her to finish the race, barely missing All-American status by just two places. The Hudsonville, Michigan native finished 10th with a time of 10:14.16.
Additionally, Wood capped off her freshman campaign with her first collegiate national championship appearance, leaping 10.99 meters to finish 18th in the triple jump. Throughout the course of the year, Wood set a school record in the triple jump with a leap of 11.13 meters.
When the final contest of the meet concluded, the Trojans finished collectively with seven participants in nationals, along with five All-American honors. Taylor's efforts were good enough for ninth place overall.
"In the meet, we did really well. They've been training hard and really put their all on the line," said head coach David Neville. "We had some people accomplish some performances that were above what we expected. It was awesome."
TU will quickly transition into the outdoor season in Tampa, Florida. The date is slated for March 17 and 18 in the South Florida Invitational.
Photograph provided by TU Sports Information Department
