Two Weber State University track athletes received national honors during the recent NCAA Track National Championships in Austin, Texas.
Seniors Tawnie Moore and Nathan Dunivan were named as second team All-Americans for their efforts at the four-day competition, took place at the University of Texas.
Sophomore Kate Sorensen, a runner in the 400-meter hurdles, received an honorable mention All-America honor for her efforts in the national event.
Moore completed her WSU track career with an 11th overall finish in the 100-meter hurdles, but her time of 13.03 seconds qualified as both a Weber State and Big Sky Conference record.
Dunivan received his All-American accolade by finishing 10th overall in the men’s discus with a career-best distance of 189 feet and 5 inches. The distance improved his previous school record and ranks as 10th-best all time in the Big Sky Conference.
Moore and Dunivan are the first Weber State track athletes to earn All-America honors since 2015. Moore was named Big Sky Conference women’s track athlete of the week three times this season while Dunivan received the men’s field honor once.
Moore became the first Wildcat track athlete to earn an All-American honor for hurdles and finished her time at Weber State as a four-time Big Sky Conference champion.
Moore began her track career in middle school as a distance runner, but switched to hurdles because her team didn’t have any.
“I ended up falling on my face over the first [hurdle],” Moore said. “But that was kind of the jumpstart I needed to fuel my competitive drive. It started at a young age. I find myself competing at almost everything.”
Coach Tiffany Hogan, who has coached Moore for the entirety of her Weber State career, commended Moore’s work ethic and drive.
“She wants to achieve so much,” Hogan said. “She will work for it. She’s always looking for more.”
Moore described her experience at the Nationals competition as unreal and a great opportunity.
“It was really cool to be there with the best of the best in the nation,” Moore said. “Just to be at that level with everybody and to push myself to be one of the best. I loved it.”
Dunivan became the first All-American from Weber State in the discus and the second ever to earn the honor in a throwing event. Dunivan became the first Weber State athlete to win Big Sky titles in both discus and hammer throw in the same season.
Dunivan started throwing in his sophomore year of high school.
“Luckily for me, I had a teammate who constantly pushed me to continue to keep throwing, even over the summer,” Dunivan said. “I was fortunate enough to have good coaches that kept me interested and I kept improving.”
After he arrived at Weber State, Dunivan’s desire to improve never wavered.
“Every day that I knew I had practice, it got me excited,” Dunivan said. “I genuinely enjoyed going to each and every practice and going to lift weights and throw with my teammates. The highlight of my career was just having practice every day.”
Dunivan said he found the competition a little overwhelming at first, but that he enjoyed participating in a large competition with high-level athletes.
Although Dunivan still plans to train and throw in future competitions, he intends to focus on life after graduation. “For five years, I’ve been so locked into doing track. It just means I have to do more in the real world now,” Dunivan stated.
Meanwhile, Moore said that she plans to compete in the USA Track and Field Championships this July in Des Moines, Iowa. She also plans to continue running professionally and practicing and training with Coach Hogan. Her goal is to qualify and participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
