Asheville, N.C. – Junior Connor Whalen (Burbank, Ill./Reavis) became just the second thrower in program history to earn NAIA All-American honors after he broke his own school record in the Hammer with a sixth-place distance of 58.91m for the Saint Xavier University men's track & field team at the 74^th annual NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Asheville, N.C. It was the third time this season that Whalen topped his previous best, and he owns the Top 11 throws for the Cougars since setting the record in April of 2025. It was also his second consecutive appearance at nationals.

He joins former teammate and current graduate assistant coach Ayobami Arokoyo (2021-25) as the other thrower for SXU to be an NAIA All-American when Arokoyo became the first men's track & field athlete for Saint Xavier to win a national championship in the Discus last year. Whalen's finish earned the Cougars three points, tying with seven other schools for 55^th out of 75 scoring teams. It is the fourth time in the last five seasons that SXU has recorded points at the national meet. University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) won the 'Red Banner', collecting 79 points for its second national title.

• Whalen competed on Day one of the meet on Wednesday morning. He saved his best for last, recording his new personal record (PR) throw in the sixth and final flight.
• Senior Sean Harris (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower) also saw action on the first day as he ran in the preliminaries of the 200m. He posted his sixth-fastest career time at 21.66 seconds, and the seventh-quickest in team history, but did not qualify for the finals. It was the second year in a row that Harris ran in the event at nationals.
• Harris, along with junior Brandon Ferguson (Rockford, Ill./Viterbo/Auburn) ran in the prelims of the 110m Hurdles on Thursday. Ferguson booked his second-best career time at 14.46 seconds, the seventh-fastest all-time at SXU, in Heat Two. Harris, running in Heat Three, was a step behind his teammate with a time of 14.51 seconds. They are the first pair of teammates for Saint Xavier to qualify for the 110m Hurdles in the same season, and just the second and third, overall, joining Lendale Franklin (2021-25) who qualified in 2023 and 2024, respectively.