Sayen named USTFCCCA Second Team All-America
NEW ORLEANS - All-America honors for the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field season were announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and Michigan Tech junior Clayton Sayen was named to the second team in the men's 1,500 meters.
Student-athletes earned First-Team USTFCCCA All-American honors by virtue of finishing among the top-eight in their respective events – including as a member of a relay team – at this past weekend's outdoor championship meet. Second-team selections were given to those athletes who finished in spots Nos. 9-12 in individual events.
Sayen placed 11th on Saturday with a 1500 meter time of 3:51.64. On Thursday, He earned his position in the finals by finishing seventh in heat two of the men's 1500 meter prelims with a Michigan Tech and GLIAC record time of 3:43.84. Sayen became the 12th Michigan Tech men's track and field athlete to make an NCAA appearance and is the first to make the final 12 in the 1500 meter event.
Earlier this spring, he won the 1500 meter GLIAC Championship in Allendale, Michigan. Sayen's impressive season began in fall cross country, where he won the Roy Griak Invitational 8K in St. Paul, Minnesota in September. He set his first 1500 meter provisional mark at the Raleigh Relays with a time of 3:45.84 and continued to improve leading into the NCAA Championships, also setting a provisional time in the 800 meter event.
He is the sixth Michigan Tech men's student-athlete to garner All-America outdoor track & field honors, joining Chris Klaes (1990 - 3,000 Steeplechase), Justin Blake (2005 - Hammer), Jani Lane (2015 - 1,500 Meter Run), Braden Reichl (2019 - 3,000 Steeplechase), and Matthew Pahl (2019 - 10,000 Meter Run).
Michigan Tech's outdoor track and field season ended team competition at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships May 4-6. The Husky men placed sixth and the women came in seventh under head coach Kristina Owen.