varsity athletics at NCAA championships
- Hayward Field | Eugene, Oregon
- 8th-11th June 2002
EUGENE, Arch. – Darius King earned his fourth All-America honor with a fifth-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Division I track and field championships.
King secured a place in the finals and his spot with the night’s first throw, throwing 20.04 meters (65 ft, 9 in).
King is the first Panther to earn Division I First Team All-America honors in the shot put. UNI has awarded several Panthers in Division II including Mike McCready who won in 1971. Justin Baker competed in the shot put in 2015 and placed 20th. Justin Romero was 19th in shot put in 2012.
He competed in the NCAA championships with the country’s fifth highest mark in the shot put with a throw of 20.33 meters (66 ft, 8.5 in).
King holds UNI indoor and outdoor school records in the shot put. He has broken his own record twice this year after setting the original mark in the 2021 outdoor season. He finished the West preliminary round 2022 with the current record of 20.33 meters.
This was his third outdoor appearance at the NCAA championships. He finished 10th at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the shot put and finished seventh at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
King narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships in discus. He finished 13th with a throw of 54.83 meters (179-10). His personal best at the event is 57.09 meters (187-4).
UNI Athletics has sent its most competitors to the shot put and NCAA championships since 2016 with King Tom Yezek in the discussion Friday.
King in NCAA competitions
- 2022 outdoor: 1st team AA (5th place – 20.04 meters)
- 2022 Halle: 2nd team AA (10th place – 19.58 meters)
- 2021 outdoor: 1st team AA (7th place – 19.69 meters)
- 2021 Halle: 2nd team AA (12th place – 18.69 meters)
- 2020 Outdoor: cancelled
- 2020 Indoor: Qualified as No. 14 when Championships were cancelled
- 2019 Outdoor: 23rd place
- 2019 Indoor: not qualified
- 2018 Outdoor: 23rd at the West Prelims
- 2018 Indoor: not qualified
NEXT
Tom Yezek will compete Friday at 7:35pm CT. He is No. 32 in the nation in the discus. His throw of 58.21 meters (191-0) is third on UNI’s all-time list for the best discus throws in program history.
This is his first appearance at the NCAA championships. He competed in the NCAA West prelims in 2022, 2021, 2018, and 2017.
At the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Championships, he finished second in the discus throw to teammate King.
Yezek by year
- 2022 Outdoor: MVC – 2nd Discus / 3rd Shot Put
- 2021 Outdoor: MVC champion in the discus (55.76 meters) | 55.42 m in the heats
- 2021 Indoor: Single start
- 2020 Halle: MVC – 2nd shot put
- 2018 Outdoors: Participated in shooting and targeting at the West Prelims
- 2018 Indoor: Participated in shot put at MVC Championships
- 2017 Outdoors: Discus Contest at the West Prelims
UNI’s top marks in discus fish
1. Brent Lower 199-6 (60.81 m) 1979
2. Jordan Williams 193-5 (58.95m) 2013
3. Tom Yezek 191-0 (58.21m) 2022
4. Isaac Holtz 190-8 (58.12m) 2017
5. Matt Haven 187-10 (57.26m) 1984
Matthew Schiffer 187-10 2014
Yezek is a graduate student from Northwood, Iowa.
UNI NCAA HISTORY (CURRENT)
- 2022 – Darius King – 5th (shot put)
- 2021 – Darius King – 7th (shot put)
- 2020 – cancelled
- 2019 – Darius King – 23rd (shot put)
- 2018 – Jacob Smith – 6th (400 hurdles)
- 2017 – Brandon Carnes – 13th (100m)
- 2016 – Paige Knodle – 8th (Heptathlon)
- Justin Baker – 15th (Hammer)
- Brandon Carnes 18th (100m)
- 2015 – Justin Baker (shot put)
- 2014 – Paige Knodle – 4th (Heptathlon)
- 2013 – Jordan Williams – 12th (discus)
- Paige Knodle – 17th (heptathlon)
- Daniel Gooris – 12th (decathlon)
- 2012 – Olimpia Nowak 12th (Heptathlon)
- Daniel Gooris – 10th (decathlon) / 22nd (pole vault)
- Jordan Williams – 14th (discus)
- Justin Romero – 19th (shot put)
Comments are closed.