[Track & Field] Rio senior closes career with national title
Rio Grande Sports Information
GULF SHORES, Ala. - Talk about going out in style.
Senior Tyanna Petty-Craft gave the University of Rio Grande its first national championship in more than a decade by capturing the women's high jump title at the 67th annual men's and 38th annual women's NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, which wrapped up its three-day run on Saturday afternoon at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.
Petty-Craft set a new school record by clearing 1.77m - or 5'-9.75" - to edge Chelsea Baker of Friends (Kan.) University (1.74m) and Indiana Tech's Candella Guijarro (1.71m) for the championship.
The title was the first for an athlete representing Rio Grande since Matt Boyles won the second of his two championships in the men's 5,000-meter race walk in 2005.
The championship was also just the second in school history for a Rio female athlete. The other came from Anne Marie Hynes, who won the 10,000-meter run crown in 1997.