Mitchell, S.D. – Two Tigers, both on the women's side, are getting prepped to head to Marion, Ind. for the 2024 NAIA National Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Abbigail Magnuson will be competing in both the discus and shot put while Taliyah Hayes will be participating in the triple jump.
Abbigail Magnuson will be making her return to the NAIA National Outdoor Championship stage for a second straight season. Last season Magnuson qualified for Nationals in just Shot Put with her distance of 13.36m but shattered that mark this season with a career-best toss of 14.26m which is now the school record. When asked about her return and mindset going into the championships Magnuson said, "My main mindset and focus is doing what I already know how to do. I've done what I needed to do to be prepared and have the experience. Now I just need to go out and execute."
Magnuson hit her career mark in the discus this season as well with a 44.62m throw, qualifying her for nationals in two events. "I've been practicing both events all season, so my training hasn't changed much over these last two weeks. Once it's time to compete I plan to give all focus to shot put on the first day and then treat discus the next day new competition," Magnuson commented on her approach to competing in two different events at nationals.
Abby will compete in the shot put on Thursday, May 22 at 1:30 p.m. while the discus will be on the following day at noon. When asked about his superstar thrower, head coach Matt Rosado had this to say, "When you talk about growth and hard work you think of Abby Magnuson. I've watched all year her growth as a fierce competitor, role model and teammate, and relentless worker." Rosado added, "It's been great to see all of her hard work pay off and even better watching in my opinion one of the best women thrower's this program has seen."
Taliyah Hayes will be making her debut at the National stage after qualifying for the triple jump at the last meet of the season at the UNK Loper Twilight Meet with a distance of 11.64m which now ranks second all-time. "I was super excited to finally hit the National standard mark that I thought showed the hard work I was putting in all season," said Hayes. With her 11.64m mark Hayes qualified with "B" standard, just barely missing the "A" standard at 11.70m.
Hayes earned All-Conference honors at the GPAC Outdoor Championships with a third-place finish in the triple jump. "Taliyah has literally gotten leaps and bounds better since last season. She came into this season with the fire to make it to nationals with just missing the cut last season," Rosado commented. Hayes last season's best mark was 10.98m which at the time ranked fifth all-time. "Taliyah has become more of a vocal leader which has translated to her jumps and confidence." Added coach Rosado.
With any sport going into your debut on a big stage can cause you to over stress the task at hand, change things you have done all season, or second guess yourself. When asked about the mindset going into her NAIA Nationals debut Hayes commented, "I just want to have fun and just be competitive against the competition. My goal is to make the finals and hopefully become an All-American, but ultimately, I want to stay within myself and trust my training and know I gave it everything I have."
Head Coach Matt Rosado –
When hitting the road and competing at a big stage like the NAIA National Championships distractions, stress, and other factors can begin to set into the athlete's normal preparations and performance. When asked about how to navigate this and what the conversations are like with his two-star athletes Rosado commented, "It's the same conversations we've had all year which is to execute and be the best version of yourself. We've been to some pretty big meets this year to prepare for a meet like this mentally, it may be the national championships, but we feel we have been prepared for this way before we qualified."
"The goal is pretty simple; we want to come home with some hardware. We don't work this hard to not put ourselves in positions to walk away empty handed, so we are excited to compete and leave it all out there this week." Rosado said.
The Meet –
When- May 22/24
Where- Marion, Indiana
Host School- Indiana Wesleyan University
Events- Abbigail Magnuson ~ Shot Put- 5/22 | 1:30 p.m.
Taliyah Hayes ~ Triple Jump 5/22 | 4:30 p.m.
Abbigail Magnuson ~ Discus- 5/23 | 12:00 p.m.