Jared Kern placed ninth in the men’s shot put to earn All-America Second Team recognition while Warren Hazel (400m) and Ricky Hurley (hammer throw) each took home All-America Honorable Mention honors at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Kern put the finishing touches on a terrific senior campaign at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as he threw 65′-5.50″ (19.95m) to take home Alll-America Second Team honors in the men’s shot put.

The now three-time All-American opened his series with a respectable toss of 64′-4.50″ (19.62m), which put him in fourth after first attempts. The Machesney Park, Ill. native fell to seventh despite a slight improvement at 64′-9.75″ (19.75m) on his second toss and threw his best mark on his fifth attempt.

Kern concludes a strong senior campaign in which he broke both the school and the conference shot put records, won his second MVC title and claimed the MVC Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete award. 

Denzel Comenentia of Georgia won both the NCAA shot put and hammer throw titles. It marked only the third time in collegiate history and the first time since 2008 that a thrower has accomplished the feat.

Hazel ran 46.25 to finish 17th in the 400 meter dash. Running out of lane seven, Hazel took eighth in the second semifinal heat of the 400m Wednesday night. The Old Roads, St. Kitts native needed to run a sub-45 second quarter-mile to advance to Friday’s final, as Will London of Baylor scooped up the eighth, and final, spot with a time of 44.98. Michael Normal of USC had the top qualifying time at 44.66.

Hazel, a three-time All-American, wrapped up a strong senior campaign in which he won his third-straight MVC Outdoor 400m title, becoming just the sixth male in Valley history to accomplish the feat.

Hurley finished 20th in the men’s hammer throw to earn All-America honorable mention. The first-time national qualifier from Fox River Grove, Ill. threw 206′-11″  on his third attempt. He gradually improved with each of his three throws, as he opened at 206′-5″ (62.93m) and followed with a mark of 206′-10″ (63.04m). He ended with a slight improvement at 206′-11″ (63.07m) to sit in ninth at the end of the first flight. 

Comenentia, who finished fifth in the hammer a year ago, was not to be denied Wednesday. The Amsterdam, Netherlands native led from start to finish. He opened with a toss of 244′-11″ (74.65m), a mark that would’ve won the event by more than two feet. The now seven-time All-American bettered that mark on his fifth attempt at 250′-8″ (76.41m).

The curtain comes down on stellar sophomore campaign for Hurley. He was named the Most Valuable Male Athlete at the 2018 MVC Outdoor T&F Championships after he became just the third male thrower in MVC history to win the discus and the hammer throw at the same conference meet. He is just the second Saluki male to do so and the first since 1987.