Willem Den Hartog concluded the 2026 season for the Dordt University men's track and field team with an All-American finish in the pole vault on the final day of the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. The 3-day championship was held at the Karl Straus Track on the campus of UNC Asheville in North Carolina.Â
For the third consecutive day, the athletes had to deal with inclement weather as rain continued to pour down at the stadium and delayed the start of the pole vault by an hour. Due to the uncertainty of the conditions, all of the 21 qualifiers in the pole vault elected to enter the competition at the opening height of 4.65m / 15-03. Den Hartog was one of just two vaulters to clear the opening height on the first attempt and one of 10 to advance to the next height. Den Hartog then cleared 4.80m / 15-09 on his final attempt to match his personal-best mark, one of five to clear the height. The junior followed with three misses at 4.90m / 16-00.75 and only Tyler Shipley (Mount Vernon Nazarene) cleared the height to win the title.Â
Den Hartog, based on the number of misses, finished tied with Jayden Packer (Indiana Tech) for second overall, becoming the first Defender to earn All-American honors in men's program history. Den Hartog finished his career as the program's record holder and a two-time national qualifier (1 indoor, 1 outdoor).Â
Dordt totaled nine points for the championshp and finished in a three-way tie for 31st place with Southern Oregon and Spring Arbor (Mich.). They were the highest finisher among GPAC teams; Concordia - T37th, Doane - T40th, Hastings - T40th, Northwestern - T40th.
Cumberlands (Ky.) won the team championship with 79 points, the second title in three years for the Patriots.Â
Dordt finished the championship with two All-American entries and five total All-Americans:
In addition to the above results, two other entries also competed at the 3-day championship:
