Kearney, Neb. – Senior Wes Ferguson won his fifth 800-meter national title and the Nebraska-Kearney men’s track and field team ended up with six All-Americans at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in Emporia, Kan.
The three-day meet ran from Thursday morning until Saturday night with MIAA-member Pittsburg State winning both the men’s and women’s team national championships. The Gorillas already had won league titles earlier this month.
To wrap up UNK’s 2023-24 athletic season, Ferguson (Fremont) paced the 800 field pretty much from start to finish and won by almost a full second. Hoping to challenge the D2 all-time record (1:45.24) that has stood since April 1995, Ferguson managed a 1:47.84 on a day with temperatures in the 80’s and the winds gusting at 15 miles per hour.
Now a nine-time All-American, he follows John Kemboi of Abilene Christian, Texas (2000-02) and Drew Windle of Ashland, Ohio (2013-15) as D2 men to win three straight 800 outdoor titles. ACU’s Freddie Williams won four straight titles between 1984-87. Next, Ferguson also won 800 indoor titles in 2024 and 2022 and was indoor runner up in 2023. Finally, he’ll run again June 27 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. There is an opening round on the 27th, the semifinals on June 28 and the finals on June 30.
Earlier on Saturday, sophomores Rylan Basart (Stockton, Kan.) repeated as an AA in the javelin with true freshman Wyatt Hammond (Long Island, Kan.) earning his first such honor. Basart had a top throw of 217-5 which came on his second attempt. That was good for eighth place and first-team accolades. He was 11th last May. Hammond, in his first national meet, had a career-best heave of 215-0. That was good for 10th place with his big throw coming on the second of three attempts. The MIAA had five AA’s with Jordan Davis of Southern Connecticut having a rather impressive 277-1 to take the title.
Also on Saturday, Stamford sophomore Brianna Russell tied for 17th (5-5.25) and Dannebrog freshman Sydney Davis tied for 20th (5-3.25) in the high jump with Creighton junior Alex Homan (15-9) tying for 18th in the pole vault. Russell (one) and Homan (two) were aiming to add to their AA career totals while this was the first national meet for Davis.
