Taylor Men Finish 15th at NAIA Indoor National Championships

Taylor Men's Indoor TF NAIA Championships Central

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Taylor men's track and field team scored in three of its four events on Saturday, picking up 14 points to finish in 15th in the team standings.

Joel Mumaw and Jared Stayte opened the day with a pair of All-American performances in the mile, with six and seventh-place finishes to collect five points for the Trojans. Mumaw crossed in 4:10.66, with Stayte just behind at 4:10.80 for the two-fastest times of the season in the event for the Purple and Gray.

Josh Forbes then earned an All-American honor of his own in the pole vault, clearing 15-11.00 in his first attempt of the afternoon to clinch a third-place finish. The height matched the best mark of the season for Forbes.

Nathan Burns, Ryan Hanak and Luke Harber kept things rolling for TU in the 3,000-meters, led by Burns setting a new Taylor record and finishing in fifth with a time of 8:12.15 for four more team points. Hanak and Harber also posted their best marks of the season, with Hanak taking 10th at 8:22.88 and Harber ending 14th with a time of 8:29.21.

Taylor's final event of the National Championships was the distance-medley relay, with Mumaw and Burns returning to the track with Bryce Noble and Wade Jones to score a 10th-place finish with a time of 10:14.19.

With the 14 combined points from the mile, pole vault and 3,000-meter finishes from Mumaw, Stayte, Forbes and Burns, Taylor ended 15th in the team standings and closed the event with four NAIA All-American awards.

The 15th-place team finish was the highest for a Taylor men's track team since matching that finish at the Outdoor Championships in 2022 and matched the program's best indoor finish since taking ninth at the Indoor Championships in 2014.

Taylor will now turn its attention to the outdoor campaign, which is set to begin on March 20 and 21 at the Indiana Wesleyan Polar Bear Invite.