Small-town Kansas natives earn historic All-American honors for Wichita State track
A pair of small-town Kansas natives produced a historic day for the Wichita State track and field team at the NCAA outdoor championships Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Wamego’s Michael Bryan (hammer throw) and Arkansas City’s Taran Taylor (javelin) each solidified their place as the best in in program history with their performances on Wednesday, which earned both first-team All-American honors and the best finish at the NCAA outdoor meet for a Shocker in their event.
“Very special day for Wichita State track and field,” WSU throws coach John Hetzendorf said in a statement. “Two seniors who’ve worked very hard for a long time, both broke school records in their events and became first-team All-Americans. Both did great things in very tough competitions.”
Bryan tacked on 43 inches to his career-best mark on his opening-round throw of 234 feet, 9 inches (71.56 meters) on Wednesday to finish fifth overall in the men’s hammer throw. The personal-best throw moves Bryan up to the 14th-best mark in the men’s hammer throw by an American in 2022.
He finished his illustrious WSU career as a three-time All-American, following second-team All-American honors in the 2021 hammer throw and the 2022 indoor weight throw. Bryan left no doubt about his title as the program’s best hammer thrower, as he furthered his school record mark by more than 19 feet. He also owns the school record in the weight throw.
While Bryan had become a regular at the NCAA championships, Taylor’s breakthrough performance came in his debut on the big stage.
The two-time American Athletic Conference champion rose to the occasion, delivering the best throw of his career on his sixth and final attempt in the finals, launching a mark of 258 feet, 5 inches (78.76 meters) to jump four spots and finish fourth overall in the men’s javelin.
It was a historic throw, as Taylor improved his career-best mark by nearly 15 feet to surpass two-time All-American Aaron True’s 2018 mark of 254 feet, 3 inches for the school record by more than four feet. Taylor has the eighth-best javelin throw in the United States this year.
While Taylor was new to the stage, he’s no stranger to big-time javelin competitions. He won the 2018 USATF Junior Championships and competed in the World Junior Championships that summer before injuries and the pandemic prevented him from competing for nearly three years.
While Wednesday concluded the season for the Shockers, it marked the fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last 10 competitions that they have produced at least one All-American at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
.jpg)