PITTSBURG, KAN. -- Senior Emma Hertz and sophomore Tyler of the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Team will compete at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Indoor Championships on Friday and Satruday March 11-12 at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kan. 

The championships will be held March 11-12 in Pittsburg, Kansas at the Harvey Dean Track. Pittsburg State University and Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau will serve as co-hosts of the championships.

Hertz will open the competition for USF in the weight throw at 4:55 pm on Friday. On Saturday, Hiatt's first appearance at the NCAA DII Championships will be in the men's shot put at 2:30 pm. Hertz will compete in the women's shot put at 5:05 pm on Saturday.

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Hertz and Hiatt ready to take shot at DII nationals

Hertz of Sioux Falls (O'Gorman High School) qualified in both the shot put and weight throw with top seven rankings in each of the events. She is ranked fifth in the weight throw with her school record toss of 19.70 meters – 64-7.75 in Jan. 28 at the Mark Schuck Multi and Open in Mankato, Minn. She is seventh in the shot put at 15.15 meters – 49-8.5 which she made at the SDSU Holiday Multi and Open on Dec. 3-4. At the most recent NSIC Indoor Championships, she was third in the weight throw and fourth in the shot put to help the Cougars finish sixth in the team standings with 37 points. 

Hiatt, who will make his first appearance at the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships is ranked 16^th in DII with his school record throw of 17.63 meters – 57-10.25 in finishing second at the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 25. Hiatt helped the USF Men's Team finish ninth in the NSIC Indoor championships with 25.5 points.

After Hertz and Hiatt were announced as invites to the national competition, USF Director of Track and Field Doug Petersen said both student-athletes have opportunities in front of them.
 
"We are very excited for Emma (Hertz) and Tyler Hiatt to get the opportunity to go to the NCAA DII indoor championships," said Peterson. "For Emma, this will be her fourth time to compete at the championships which is a great accomplishment. Tyler will be making his first. Both Emma and Tyler have both had great indoor seasons and should have an awesome experience at nationals," he said.

In her career, Hertz, a four-time All-American and the 2021 indoor NSIC shot put champion, has compiled the nine of the top 10 indoor weight throws in school history. Those marks include setting the school record twice this year in the weight throw. A native of Sioux Falls, S.D., Hertz, who prepped at O'Gorman High School, has 13 top-4 weight throw placements in her career with four titles and was seventh at the NSIC Championships in 2021.

In the shot put indoors, Hertz is even better. She has the top 10 throws all-time indoors in the shot put with 13 titles and three top four finishes at the NSIC Championships. She has also accumulated 21 top-5 finishes. This year, she has three titles with her throw of 15.15 meters - 49-8..5 fourth all-time at the SDSU Holiday Open in December. At the Mount Marty Opener she also won the competition with a throw of 14.01m-45-11.75. Her top throw is 15.90 meters - 52-2 on Feb. 12, 2021 at the Minnesota State Triangular.  Indoors overall in her career, Hertz has 16 titles in the shot and weight throw with 36 top-five placements.  Hertz is the school record holder in both the weight throw and shot put indoors and the discus, hammer and shot put outdoors for five total school records.

Hiatt has had a strong start of his career since transferring to USF from NDSU. The Sioux Falls native and Lincoln High School standout, has 13 top-six placements in 10 meets, including four titles, with nine combined throws in the shot put and weight throw that rank top 10 all-time at USF.  In terms of indoor shot put throws all-time, Hiatt has six of the top 10 throws including his school record mark of 17.63 meters – 57-10.25 at the NSIC Championships. In the school's top 10 list all-time, he also ranks third at 17.15 meters  56-3.25; fourth, 16.73 meters – 54-10.75 and 5^th, 16.68 meters – 54-09.75 in just his first indoor season at USF.
 
A total of 540 participants, 270 men and 270 women, will compete in the championships. Student-athletes qualified for the championships by reaching a provisional standard established for each event.