Hesting Earns All-American Honors in Discus

Outdoor National Championships Central

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Taylor men's track and field team had two athletes compete on the second day of the NAIA Track and Field National Championships. Both men had exciting performances, as Liam Hesting clinched All-American honors and Derek Van Prooyen advanced to the 5,000-meter finals in an exhilarating prelim.

Liam Hesting outperformed his seed by 13 places, as the sophomore finished eighth overall in the discus throw. Hesting recorded a lifetime-best mark of 48.08-meters. Hesting ended his impressive sophomore campaign by collecting his first All-American award of his career.

After the sun went down and the hot Alabama air cooled, Derek Van Prooyen competed in the 5,000-meter trials. The top-four places in each heat automatically advanced to the finals, and Van Prooyen grabbed the fourth place in his heat by 0.01. The junior recorded a time of 14:50.22 and will enter the finals tomorrow with the fifth-fastest time.

The Trojans will conclude the 2021 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on Friday with four athletes set to compete. Damon Knowles will start off the day in the pole vault at 2:00pm (ET), followed by Connor White and Sam Hardy in the steeplechase finals at 3:20pm and Van Prooyen in the 5k finals at 6:55pm.