EMPORIA, Kan. — The Pittsburg State University men's outdoor track & field team scored points in 10 different disciplines and captured four individual event national titles to hold off all would be challengers and claim the program's third consecutive NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship Saturday (May 25).

The Gorillas compiled 78 points in the three-day championship meet held Francis G. Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University. West Texas A&M University finished as the national runner-up for a second straight year with 64 points, while Harding University finished third with 50 points.

Juniors Tre Betts (triple jump), Dapriest Hogans (200m) and Daylin Williams (110m hurdles) all secured national championships Saturday after redshirt junior Hunter Jones claimed the individual crown in the decathlon for the Gorillas in Friday's day-two action.

Hogans (Opelousas, La.) set a new Pitt State record with his winning time of 20.38 seconds in the 200 meters, his third race of the day. He also placed fourth overall in the 100 meters in 10.13, two days after breaking the school record in that discipline with a fast time of 10.08 in qualifying. Hogans also teamed with freshman Braylon Thompson (Tulsa, Okla.), junior Dakari Charlton (Oklahoma City) and sophomore Xavier Carmichael (Alexandria, Va.) on a fifth-place finish (39.89) in the 4x100m relay early in the afternoon Saturday.

Betts (Mobile, Ala.) and teammate Treyvon Ferguson (Hershy, Pa.) secured 16 points for the Gorillas in the triple jump. Betts and Ferguson both posted personal best marks. Betts snared the individual crown with a leap of 52 feet, 5.5 inches and Ferguson placed third in 51-11.75.

Williams (Shorewood, Ill.) completed the season sweep of the hurdle disciplines after capturing the crown in the 60m hurdles indoors. He also clocked a PR in the 110's Saturday with a winning time of 13.52.

Redshirt junior Mason Strader and redshirt freshman Dylan Sprecker added nine points to the Gorillas scoring total by placing fourth and fifth, respectively in the 1,500 meters. Strader (Holton, Kan.) crossed the finish line in 3:54.76 while Sprecker (Gypsum, Kan.) followed close behind in 3:55.01.
 
The 4x400m relay of seniors Sam Tudor (Waterloo, Iowa), Bailey Stone (Garland, Texas), freshman Caden Williams (Katy, Texas) and Tudor closed out the meet with a national runner-up finish in 3:06.45, finishing just .04 off the Pitt State record in the discipline. Tudor also registered an eighth-place All-America finish in the 400 meters (48.31) earlier in the day.

The Gorillas, under third-year head coach Kyle Rutledge, associate head coach/meet director Brian Mantooth, assistant coaches Ben Barrows, Jesse Miller, Jason Crow, Nicolle Murphy, Louis Rollins and graduate assistant Kyle Stevison, completed the season sweep after also claiming the 2024 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship in March.

The Gorillas have now captured six national championships, winning indoor titles in 2018, 2023 & 2024 as well as three straight outdoor titles in 2022, 2023 & 2024. Pitt State has reached the top of the podium in each of the last five championship meets (2022 outdoor, 2023 indoor/outdoor, 2024 indoor/outdoor).

The Pitt State women also captured the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship Saturday at Emporia. The Gorillas become the first program to claim men's and women's outdoor titles in the same season since Abilene Christian University in 2008.