Allendale, MI. – The NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships rolled on Friday with the field events wrapping up. Wheeling University Track & Field saw sophomore Andrew Taylor compete in his first National Championship event, competing in the High Jump. He finished just below his PR, jumping 2.13 meters, and finished in a tie for eighth plac to round out the second day of competition.

Taylor came into the event in the 14th spot out of 19 jumpers and began with a height of 2.02 Meters. Taylor cleared that height on the first try of the day and moved on to the 2.07 meter height, advancing along with 18 of the other 19 jumpers. At the 2.07 meter mark, Taylor missed the jump on his first try, but came back with a successful jump on the second try. This second height sent three more jumpers out of the competition, lowering the field to 15 competitors. The next height was 2.10, a mark that Taylor cleared just one time prior to the National Championship event. He cleared it on the first jump of the day and moved into the top ten of the event. The next task was the 2.13 meter mark, which of cleared would put him just .02 meters below his PR.

He missed on the first try, but came back with a successful jump on the second try to move him to 2.13 meters. The next height would put Taylor in uncharted territory as the height was moved to 2.16 meters. Taylor's PR coming into the event was 2.15 and he would need to add atleast .01 meters to that to move on. He missed on the first two jumps of the day, and had one last shot on the third jump. Unfortunately, he missed the mark, ending his day along with three other competitors. When all was said and done, Taylor ended up finishing second in the field and was named a second team All-American.

The NCAA Outdoor Track & field National Championships wrap up on Saturday when Jabez Reeves runs in the finals of the 100-Meter Dash at 3:25 PM.