Morningside earned All-America honors with a fifth place finish in the men’s 3200-meter relay at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships

Morningside College earned NAIA All-America honors in the men’s 3200-meter relay with a fifth place finish during Friday’s action at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Johnson City, Tenn.

The Mustangs’ quartet of Kyle Hiser, a senior from Shenandoah, Iowa; Drew Schiltz, a senior from Hinton, Iowa; Alec DeVries, a junior from Merrill, Iowa; and Jacob Green, a junior from Sioux Falls, S.D., combined for a time of 7:44.69.

Cardinal Stritch University finished first with a time of 7:37.97 to upset Siena Heights University, which had the fastest time in the event during the regular season and in Thursday’s prelims. Indiana Tech, last year’s NAIA national runner-up in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, finished as the runner-up again with a time of 7:39.12. Siena Heights was third with a time of 7:41.98 and Rocky Mountain College finished fourth in 7:43.94.

Hiser, Schiltz and Green earned NAIA All-America honors in the 3200-meter relay twice last year when they helped lead the Mustangs to a seventh place finish indoors and a sixth place finish outdoors.

Green was one of four Morningside athletes who advanced from Friday’s individual event prelims into Saturday’s finals.

Green and Jason Kenny, a junior from Schaller, Iowa, ran in the same heat in the men’s 1000-meters and finished second and third to advance to Saturday’s final. Green had the fifth fastest time of 2:30.07 and Kenny was the seventh fastest qualifier with a time of 2:31.41. Brian Blaylock of St. Francis ran a 2:28.47 for the fastest time in the prelims.

Michelle Mumm, a junior from Neola, Iowa, advanced to the final in the women’s 1000-meters when she finished second in her preliminary heat with the seventh fastest overall time of 2:58.12. Anna Shields of Point Park was the fastest qualifier with a time of 2:52.08.

Tiffany Shepherd, a senior from Corning, Iowa, qualified for the finals in the women’s 3000-meters after she ran the eighth fastest time in the prelims with a 10:21.41. Emily Kearney of Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta was the fastest qualifier from the prelims with a time of 10:14.45.

Payton Boer, a sophomore from Sioux Center, Iowa, finished 17th in the women’s 600-meter prelims with a time of 1:37.79 and Eleka Joseph, a junior from Saint John’s, Antigua, finished 23rd in the women’s 60-meter dash prelims with a time of 7.91 seconds.

Results