TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State senior pole vaulter Will Staggs and sophomore hurdler Rachel Mehringer will represent the Blue and White at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor National Championships, which start Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Staggs will compete in the pole vault Wednesday at 7:35 p.m. ET (4:35 p.m. PT), with Mehringer’s 100m hurdles semifinal set for Thursday at 8:08 p.m. ET (5:08 p.m. PT). Should Mehringer qualify for the 100m hurdles final, that race would be Saturday at 9:42 p.m. ET (6:42 p.m. PT).
Dedicated streams for the field events will be available on ESPN+, while ESPN (Wednesday and Thursday) and ESPN2 (Saturday) will air coverage from the week’s competition.
Event Format
The pole vault will consist of 24 athletes competing on a single pit. The opening height will be 5.18m (17-0), with the progressions matching that of the NCAA East First Round (5.18m/17-0, 5.33m/17-5.75, 5.43m/17-9.75, 5.53m/18-1.75, then plus-five centimeters for every further progression). Will Staggs is 19th in the start list.
The 100m hurdles semifinals will consist of three heats, each of which will have eight athletes. The top two times from each heat will automatically advance to finals, with the next three fastest times across all three heats also earning a spot in finals. Rachel Mehringer is in lane 2 of the second heat.
Trees In The Pole Vault
Will Staggs will be making his third appearance at an NCAA National Championship, having previously represented Indiana State at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor National Championships and 2024 NCAA Indoor National Championships. He is the only men’s pole vaulter in program history with an NCAA Outdoor National Championship appearance at the Division I level and one of three men’s pole vaulters in program history to reach a national championship, alongside Tony Mescall (1996 NCAA Indoor National Championships – fifth place) and 1967 NCAA College Division Outdoor National Champion Mike Hanna (the College Division was renamed to Division II in 1973).
Indiana State has also seen plenty of success in the pole vault on the women’s side, with four-time national champion Kylie Hutson (2009-10 indoor and outdoor) and 2015 First Team All-American Kimyanna Rudolph among the notables to don the Blue and White on the national stage. Two-time All-American Nicole Hope (2012 indoor – 13th place, 2013 outdoor – 13th place) also represented the Sycamores in the pole vault at multiple national championships.
Trees In The Hurdles
Indiana State has had plenty of success on the national stage in hurdles events, but Rachel Mehringer will be the first to Sycamore to appear in the 100m hurdles at a national championship. Mehringer joins Erica Moore (2010 outdoor) and Stacia Weatherford (2012 outdoor) as women’s hurdles athletes to represent the Sycamores at the national championships, with Moore and Weatherford both competing in the 400m hurdles. Moore was a First Team All-American in the 400m hurdles and also earned All-America honors in the 800m during the 2010 indoor season.
The Sycamores boast a pair of national champions in hurdles events in their history, with Chris Lancaster (1990 110m hurdles) and Aubrey Herring (2001 60m hurdles) both winning national titles for the Trees. Four different Sycamores have won multiple All-America accolades in hurdles events for their careers, with Herring (1998 indoor, 1999-01 indoor and outdoor) being a seven-time All-American, Greggmar Swift (2012 outdoor, 2013-14 indoor and outdoor) winning five All-America honors, Lancaster (1988 outdoor, 1990 indoor and outdoor) earning three All-America honors and Adarius Washington (2014 outdoor, 2015 indoor, 2016 outdoor) being a three-time All-American. Marcus Neeley (2017 outdoor) and Max Tuttle (2014 outdoor) have also represented the Trees in hurdles events at the national championships, with Neeley’s 10th-place finish in the 110m hurdles in 2017 being the last time a Sycamore hurdles athlete reached the national championships.
How They Got Here
Will Staggs placed third at the NCAA East First Round in the pole vault, clearing a Hodges Stadium facility record of 5.43m (17-9.75) on his second attempt to secure his spot in the NCAA Outdoor National Championship field. He will be making his third appearance at a national championship, finishing 18th at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor National Championships and ninth at the 2024 NCAA Indoor National Championships. A five-time MVC Champion in the pole vault (2022 indoor and outdoor, 2023 indoor, 2024 indoor and outdoor), Staggs owns Indiana State’s indoor (5.56m/18-2.75) and outdoor (5.53m/18-1.75) pole vault records and also owns the indoor (5.46m/17-11) and outdoor (5.43m/17-9.75) facility records in the event and broke his own indoor and outdoor school and facility records in the event during the 2024-25 season. He cleared 5.43m (17-9.75) or better at six different meets during the 2025 outdoor season.
Rachel Mehringer placed 10th in the 100m hurdles at the NCAA East First Round, with her quarterfinal time of 13.08 sealing her spot in the NCAA Outdoor National Championships. She will be making her NCAA National Championship debut Thursday in Eugene. Mehringer also ran a time of 13.05 in the first round of the NCAA East First Round, and has run five times under 13.10 in across her last three meets. Mehringer owns the Indiana State and Missouri Valley Conference records in both the 60m hurdles (8.19) and 100m hurdles (13.04) and is a four-time MVC Champion between the two events (2024-25 indoor and outdoor). She owns Indiana State’s facility records in the 60m (7.52), 60m hurdles (8.20) and 100m hurdles (13.04), all of which were set during the 2024-25 season, while she also broke MVC Championship records in the 60m hurdles (8.19) and 100m hurdles (13.07).
All-America Honors
Athletes finishing in the top eight of their respective events will earn First Team All-America honors. Those finishing ninth through 16th will earn Second Team All-America honors, while athletes finishing 17th through 24th will earn Honorable Mention All-America honors.
Up Next
Indiana State has four athletes – freshmen distance runners Gnister Grant and Peyton Smith, and freshmen throwers Olivia Marshall and Emma Yoder – set to compete at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships June 19-20 in Eugene, Oregon.
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
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