Strong showing at nationals for eight Mustangs

MARION, Ind. -- Mount Mercy's eight national qualifiers made a strong showing at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan at the Wildcat Track & Field Complex.

Women's standouts Abby Hill and Bre Nail competed for the Mustang women's squad. Hill improved upon her national ranking in the 5,000 meter race walk and the javelin. Seeded 16th in the race walk coming in, she placed 14th with a time of 30:52.20. Ranked 21st in the javelin, she jumped to 17th with a toss of 39.52 meters at nationals. Nail, a two-time outdoor qualifer in the shot put, placed 16th this time around with a throw of 13.31 meters.

Six Mount Mercy men's qualifiers competed as well, including Keegan Thompson in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash. He finished 18th in both events, crossing the finish line in :10.52 in the 100 meters and :21.26 in the 200 meters.

In the men's field events, Caleb Rutherford was Mount Mercy's highest finisher, placing 14th in the shot put with a distance of 15.71 meters. He was seeded 20th entering nationals. Kaden Schilling and Mitch Miller, ranked 17th and 20th coming in, finished 15th and 17th, respectively, in the hammer. Schilling threw it 52.73 meters, Miller 51.75.

Morgan Batten and Ollie Wear competed in the javelin, with Batten placing 25th with a toss of 52.52 meters and Wear ending up 30th with a 46.14 meter throw.