Wheeling, W. Va. - Since early December, the Wheeling University Track & Field team has been training for a chance to reach the National Stage. Through the trials and tribulations of both indoor and outdoor season, the time has come for the top Cardinals athletes to put their talents on display at the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. This season, two Cardinals will be making the trip to Allendale, Michigan as sophomore Jabez Reeves will compete in the 100-Meter Dash and sophomore Andrew Taylor will compete in the High Jump.
The 2021 season will be the third straight NCAA Championship event where the Cardinals have at least one representative competing. However, for the Men's Track & Field team, Taylor and Reeves will be the first representatives at the event since Darius Berry competed back in 2019. Joining Berry in 2019 was former Cardinal Anna Massa while the 2021 NCAA National Championship featured former Cardinal Liz Flemming. Both Taylor and Reeves picked up Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championships in their respective events and look to try and bring home National titles this coming weekend.
The National Championship will kick-off on Thursday when Jabez Reeves gets things started on the track competing in the 100-Meter Dash Qualifier. While he also competed in the 200-Meter Dash during the season, the 100-Meter has been his specialty. He broke the school record in the event when he ran a 10.34 at the Jesse Owens Classic earlier this season, breaking a record that has stood since 1998. It is one of four school records that the sophomore has already broken this season and he looks to expand upon his efforts this year. Reeves is coming off a run at the Lee University Last Chance meet where he posted a time of 10.44 seconds in the qualifier, followed by 10.58 seconds in the finals as he looks to better those times on the National stage.
Andrew Taylor will have to wait an extra day before getting his start in the Men's High Jump on Friday afternoon. After the 2021 MEC Championships, where Taylor did not place in the High Jump, he went to work this off-season and has become one of the top jumpers in the conference. He took home the first MEC Championship of his career and fell just .03 meters shy of the Wheeling University school record jumping 2.15 meters. The jump made him the first athlete in the history of the MEC Championships to clear the seven-foot mark as he broke the MEC Championship meet record. In his most recent outing, he took home another win at the Lee University Last Chance Meet when he cleared 2.00 meters to tie with teammate Brian Vandusen.
The 2022 Outdoor Track & Field National Championships are set to take place at the GVSU Track & Field Stadium in Allendale, Michigan. This is the second straight season that Allendale has held the National Championships but will be the first time that either Cardinal's athlete has competed there. Both enter the event nationally ranked with Taylor sitting tied for fifth in the nation in High Jump while Reeves sits 14th in the Nation in the 100-Meter Dash. For Reeves, it will be his second NCAA National Championship event of the season, after he competed in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships earlier this month, while Taylor will be in his first National Championship event.
Event Details
The 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships kick off on Thursday with the multis beginning at 10:30 AM. The Cardinals will wait to compete until just after 6 PM when the qualifier for the 100-Meter Dash begins. Day two features a field heavy day with events beginning at 9:30 AM and the Men's High Jump going at 3:25 pm. Day three of the event will wrap up on Saturday with the finals of all the track events running. The top nine finishers from day one will move on to the Championship, so depending on Reeves' performance on day one the Cardinals could compete on the final day as well.
The Details
Follow along throughout the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships with coverage provided by NCAA.com. You can follow along with Live Results by clicking HERE.
