Hiebert Claims All-American Honors, Wildcats Earn Three Top-20 Finishes at NAIA Outdoor Championships

MARION, Iowa – Gage Hiebert took home a seventh-place medal in the men's javelin to highlight Baker track and field's outing at the 2024 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships this past week in Marion, Iowa where the Wildcats collected three top-20 finishes overall.

The Wildcats had a total of four national qualifiers competing in three events at the NAIA's culminating meet with Hiebert and Caleb Nelson going in the javelin, McLane Rawie in the long jump and Isaiah Howard in the 110-meter hurdles.

On Wednesday, Hiebert recorded his best distance of the season on his third and final throw of his preliminary heat with a mark of 61.55 meters, all but matching his personal-best (61.56m) and giving the senior from Olathe, Kan. a podium finish in his final collegiate meet. As the only returning national qualifier for BU, he became the second Wildcat to earn a national medal in the javelin in the past three years after Hunter Krom placed fourth in 2022.

Nelson gave the Wildcats a pair of top-20 finishes in the javelin after marking a distance of 55.49 meters and taking 17th overall. In his first season on the track team, Nelson improved on his throw from the Heart Conference Championships (54.62m) where he placed fifth, but secured his spot at Nationals after hitting the NAIA 'A' standard in his first-ever collegiate throw (57.79m) at Emporia State's Midwest Classic in April.

Kicking off Thursday's action on the track, Howard clocked a time of 14.97 seconds in the 110H prelims and finished 28th among the field of 32 national hurdlers. As a transfer from Fort Scott CC, Howard finished off his first year at Baker with a bronze medal at the Heart Championships and a fourth-place finish at the KU Relays in the 110H.

Rawie, a freshman from Olathe, came in 20th in the long jump with his second attempt serving as his only official mark on a jump of 6.76 meters. He came into the meet after hitting his best distance of the season at the Heart competition (7.28m) which gave him conference runner-up honors.

The Wildcats closed the books on a 2024 outdoor season that saw both the men's and women's squad earn sixth-place finishes and collect a combined nine all-conference finishes at the Heart Championships.

To view a full list of the NAIA results, please click here.

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