The Kent State track team sent seven athletes to the NCAA National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. last weekend and saw two of its performers earn First Team All-American honors with top-five finishes.

On the first day of the competition, sophomore Matthias Tayala finished fifth in the weight throw after a toss of 72-6 1/4, earning him First Team All-American honors. The toss, which broke the Kent State record Tayala set earlier this season, came on his final throw of the night.  

Tayala was bested only by Michigan State’s Antonio James, Purdue’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Oklahoma State’s Nick Miller and Wisconsin’s Michael Lihrman, whose best throw went for 76-3 1/2.

On Saturday, sophomore Dior Delophont took third place in the high jump after topping off at 6 1/2. Delophont made three attempts to break both her personal best and the Kent State record at 6 1/2 before finishing third behind South Carolina’s Jeannelle Scheper and Georgia’s Leontia Kallenou.

The five other Flashes competing at Nationals all took home Second Team All-American honors. Sophomore William Barnes ran a 7.86-second 60-meter hurdles prelim, good for 14th place. In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Wayne Gordon finished 10th overall with a time of 20.84 seconds. Junior Jackie Leppelmeier finished 14th in the women’s weight throw. Sophomore Danniel Thomas and senior Joh’Vonnie Mosley took 11th and 13th, respectively.

Next up for the Flashes is the outdoor season, which is set to begin March 29 at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville.

Contact Tyler Kieslich at [email protected].