GULF SHORES, Ala. – The 2021-22 Mountaineers Track & Field season came to a close on Friday as the team wrapped up the final day of competition of the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. Eastern Oregon closed out the year with two more All-American performances on day three.

Garnering All-America honors was Morgan Bayes in the 400-meter hurdles and Darrian Walker in the pole vault. With their top-eight finishes, the Mounties return to La Grande with four All-Americans for the outdoor season and eight total for the 2021-22 season. The team now has totaled 230 All-Americans (Indoor and Outdoor) under head coach Ben Welch.

Bayes was guaranteed All-American status having qualified for finals back on Wednesday but needed to race again to see where she finished. The senior entered finals ranked eighth, but ultimately finished seventh overall in a time of 62.58. For Bayes, this is her first career All-America honor.

Walker entered the pole vault ranked in the top four and battled from start to finish to secure a top-eight finish. Weather was unkind to everyone and it was an exceptional challenge in the bar clearing event. Nonetheless, Walker was able to tie for seventh with a height clearance of 15-9. For Walker, this is his third All-American award in the pole vault and his first for the outdoor season.

Running in a pair of finals events was also Hunter Nichols and Justin Ash. For Nichols, he qualified on Wednesday in the 1,500-meter run but had to run against 12 other distance harriers for a shot at a podium finish. Early on, Nichols was in the bottom three due to grouping on the track and never had a chance to contend. He ultimately finished 12th overall in a time of 3:58.93.

For Ash, he ran in the 5,000-meter run. Originally scheduled to be a prelims and finals event, weather forced the race to move from Wednesday and Friday to just one day. The true freshman was corralled into the middle of the pack against 20 other runners. Hot humid weather made for a tough race all around as he placed 20th in a time of 16:05.59.

In the field events, Maggie Ledbetter looked to secure her second All-America status of the outdoor season but fell short. The senior competed in the discus throw a day after earning a podium finish in the shot put. She was unable to make it out of prelims and finished 28th overall with a throw of 122-4. Allexander Kosel was set to compete in the triple jump, but unforeseen circumstances once again kept him from doing so.

With the season wrapped up, coming home as All-Americans are TJ Davis (decathlon - 2nd), Maggie Ledbetter (shot put - 5th), Morgan Bayes (400 hurdles - 7th), and Darrian Walker (pole vault - T-7th).  For the Mountaineers, the men finished 36th with 9.5 points while the women tied for 38th with six points.

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