Pittsburg, KS – The Indian Hills Women's Track & Field program earned its highest finish in school history at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Indoor National Championship on Saturday, placing 19th overall, nine spots better than its previous best finish in 2021.
The Warriors were led by its first-ever individual national champion Aliyah Simmons (Miami, FL/North Miami) who took home the women's 800-meter run event with a personal best and school record time of 2:10.55. Simmons, who entered the meet with the top time in the nation, won the race by nearly two seconds.
For her efforts throughout the year, Simmons was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Regional Female Track Athlete of the Year.
Simmons was joined by a series of All-American performers to help the Warriors to its best team finish in program history. Two individuals both received All-American honors in the jump events as Haleigh Hadley (Gilbert, IA/Gilbert) fell just shy of a personal-best mark with a 1.65-meter effort in the high jump to place sixth overall. Sophomore Siby Yao (Leesburg, VA/Riverside) far-exceeded her personal best mark in the triple jump after leaping to a seventh-place finish with a 11.81-meter mark to place seventh overall.
One day after setting a school record in the 60-meter dash preliminary round, sophomore Kayla McCray (Miami, FL/North Miami) broke the mark on Saturday with a time of 7.52. The mark was good enough for a fourth-place finish and All-American honors.
Khaliyah Anderson (Texarkana, TX/Texas) placed seventh overall in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 56.12 to earn All-American status for the Warriors.
The women's 4x400-meter relay squad of Aimaya Drummond (San Antonio, TX/San Antonio Brennan), Simmons, Temira Goods (Des Moines, IA/Des Moines Hoover), and Anderson placed fifth overall to break their own school record time of 3:47.82. The Warriors earned a spot on the All-American podium for their efforts.
As a team, the Warriors collected 26 team points to earn the top-10 finish.
FIRST EVER! @IHCCrunning picked up its first-ever women's indoor individual @NJCAA National Championship today as sophomore Aliyah Simmons took the 800-meter title by nearly two seconds, clocking in at 2:10.55! #WeAreHills #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/XtXRF30vpn
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) March 5, 2022
