Track and Field | 2/29/2012 5:34:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – The 47
th Men’s and 32
nd Women’s NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships are scheduled to begin March 1
st in Geneva, Ohio. Derrick Toney, a Salinas, California native, will be the lone representative of McPherson College and enters the meet with the second ranked high-jump mark of the year in the NAIA.
Coach Cameron Magnall had this to say about Derrick and his journey to nationals. “The McPherson College Track & Field Program is excited to have the opportunity to add a second national champion high jumper to McPherson in the past three years. Derrick worked very hard this year and he now has a great opportunity to achieve many of the goals he had set for himself when he came to McPherson. Coach Spies and I are eager to see him perform at one of the best indoor venues in the country, SPIRE Complex.”
Toney, a graphics design senior, will be competing in the SPIRE Institute Track and Field Sports Complex for the second time, having gone as a junior last year. In the 2011 NAIA Indoor meet, he tied for third in high-jump with a season best 2.05m (6’ 8.75”) jump. Toney also qualified for the 2011 NAIA Outdoor Championships as well but wasn’t able to get past 2.0m (6’ 6.75”), placing him 16
th in the event.
This season, Toney set the standard for the NAIA high jumpers with his 2.11m (6’11”) clearance at the inaugural KCAC Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 12
th. His mark has since been passed by the 2.14m (7’ 0.25”) leap of Indiana Tech’s Herb Gary, moving Toney to second in the nation. Toney’s hop at the KCAC meet is the top jump in the conference this season and ties Antowine Lamb for the highest jump in McPherson College history; Lamb took first in high-jump at the 2010 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships with a jump of 2.11m.
Toney had this to say about reaching the 2.11m height, “I really thought that I was going to get it last year so it felt really good to finally get it. I was also happy because it tied me with Antowine who is a good friend.”
Toney will jump at 2 p.m. (CT) on Friday, March 2.
