Taylor Track and Field participated in The Indiana Little State Championships and absolutely showed out on both days of the meet. The men’s team placed second out of 10 on day one and placed fifth out 15 on day two.
All eyes were on senior Sammy Sommers, as he shocked everyone in attendance by setting a new TU program record while winning the long jump. Sommers jumped 7.82 meters. The previous record for long jump was 7.59 meters, which was set by Scott Gill in 2009.
With his record breaking jump, Sommers now holds the longest jump in NAIA for the season. This is also the second week in a row for Sommers, hitting the NAIA A-standard for long jump.
“I’m just grateful that I jumped what I did and God really rewards hard work and when you work for him and for the right purpose,” Sommers said.
Sommers was not the only one for Taylor who shined in the long jump. Junior Jake Thompson also hit the mark for NAIA A-standard for long jump, leaping an impressive 7.27 meters. Thompson also performed well in the high jump event, finishing third out of seven with a height of 1.90 meters.
The throwers also shined for Taylor at the event. Senior Liam Hesting hit two NAIA A-standards in the hammer throw and discus. His hammer throw also set a new TU record. The record that Hesting broke was actually his own that he set back in 2021. His old record was 180 feet and seven inches, the new record that he set was 186 feet and 10 inches. Hesting also placed well in the discus throw. His discus flew 53.20 meters and was well above the A-standard mark for NAIA.
The women’s track and field team held their own as well placing a respectable sixth out of 10 on day one and fifth out of 14 on day two.
Senior Audrey Altum had a great day. She hit the NAIA A-standard with a time of 14.4 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
Freshman Kiana Siefert performed very well in the triple jump hitting NAIA A-standard with a leap of 11.03 meters, good enough for second place in the event. Her teammates, junior Brooke Russell and freshman Kali Seimers also placed in the top eight of the event with jumps of 10.15 and 9.64 meters respectively.
The 4x100-meter relay was good for the Trojans as well. The runners were junior Patience Sakeuh, Audrey Altum, Kiana Seifert and freshman D’Arjha Davis won the relay and hit the NAIA A-standard with a time of 47.76.
Sophomore Betsy Underwood has a season best pole vault with a height of 2.95 meters. Senior Kenley Blake also did well enough to tie eighth place in high jump with a height of 1.50 meters.
Both the men’s and women’s teams next meet will be the Crossroads League Championships. It will be a two day event that goes from May 4 through May 5.
