KSU's Rogers wins national championship in weight throw

Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
·2 min read
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Mar. 14—Isaiah Rogers can now call himself a national champion.

The former Campbell High School standout and current Kennesaw State thrower, earned the second national championship in the university's Division I era over the weekend at the NCAA indoor championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Rogers grabbed the early lead in the weight throw with a toss of 75 feet, 10 1/4 inches. He held the lead until the fifth throw, when Alabama's Bobby Colantino grabbed the lead with a toss of 76-9 1/4 . Rogers, though, secured the victory on his final throw with a toss of 79-6.

Rogers, a 2016 graduate of Campbell, previously competed for the track and field teams at TCU and Virginia Tech before transferring to Kennesaw State before this season.

He follows the path of Daniel Haugh, a Marietta native who won the NCAA outdoor championship in the hammer throw in 2019, then went on to compete in the Olympics two years later.

"This is what we prepped for," Rogers said in a release. "All the tough days and rehab sessions came down to one throw. One attempt just to show the world what KSU and I are capable of. I join a great teammate and friend, Daniel Haugh, in the title of NCAA champion at KSU, which is special to me. Since I arrived at KSU, I believed one mantra. You give me a chance and I'll give you a ring. I like to think I accomplished that for this indoor championship."

Rogers was not the only member of the Owls' roster to shine at the national championships.

Former Allatoona High School standout Sarah Hendrick ran a time of 2 minutes, 3.21 seconds to finish fifth in the finals of the 800-meter run.

The finish earned Hendrick first-team All-America honors for the third consecutive season in the event, and her finish was the second-highest by a Kennesaw State woman at the NCAA indoor championships.

"I was happy to represent the Owls one last time on the indoor oval for a third season in a row here at the NCAA Championships," Hendrick said in a release. "I am happy to consistently be making finals but there's a lot more to be done."