EUGENE, Ore. – Two of the toughest men in the throws game had lumps in their throats here on Wednesday night.
 
Daniel Reynolds took off his brown and gold uniform for the last time after a long, emotional day at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
 
The Bunyanesque senior from Granby, Colo., earned All-American first team honors in the hammer throw after finishing seventh in the final. Reynolds ran out of steam in the nightcap and finished 22^nd in the shot put final.
 
"It's a weird feeling," Reynolds said. "I've had a jersey on my back for a long time and going forward it will be good but it's kind of a life changing moment right now. I'm just trying to process all that and soak it all in right now."
 
Longtime UW throws coach Paul Barrett, who has mentored a long list of All-Americans during his career, embraced his star pupil with a bear hug after their remarkable ride together ended.
 
"He has been pretty special," Barrett said. "He's super passionate, dedicated, and he loved being a Cowboy. We've had a great time together. It has been a lot of fun; it's been kind of a match made in heaven. …
 
"He's the best guy I've coached at Wyoming or anywhere for sure. Legendary status."
 
Reynolds was eighth in the hammer after the prelims before moving up a spot with a throw of 228 feet, seven inches on his fourth attempt of the day.
 
Minnesota's Kostas Zaltos (256-2) and Angelos Mantzouranis (252-6) finishes 1-2. Air Force's Texas Tanner, the Mountain West champion, was fourth with a throw of 246-9.
 
"A little disappointed, not exactly what I was going for. We had some really good warm-up throws and just missed on some things technically in the competition," Reynolds said. "But I was happy to be able to get into the final and improve. I gave it what I had today and was able to get some points for the team. I'm happy about that."
 
Reynolds, who was the final athlete to begin throwing in the hammer during the prelims, didn't have much time to recover from the physical final before taking the stage for the shot put. His best mark was 58-5 ¾.
 
The good news is Reynolds will not be leaving Laramie quite yet. He will do some coaching for Barrett while training to make a push for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
 
"We're going to miss him a lot, he means a lot to the program but he's going to stick around and help us coach next year a little bit," Barrett said. "He'll keep throwing and see if he can break some more records."
 
Earlier this season, Reynolds shattered the UW hammer throw record that stood for 26 years. His mark of 239-5 finally knocked Kevin Mannon (226-6 in 1999) out of the top spot.
 
Reynolds also set the program's shot put record (64-1 3/4 ) while winning the Mountain West Championship this season. Jason Gervais (63-11 ¾) and Jason Hammond (63-5 ¾) had been one-two since 2000.
 
Current Cowboy Cameron Burkett, who narrowly missed out on joining Reynolds in Eugene, is fourth on the all-time list with a personal record of 63-1 set this season.
 
Back on March 14, Reynolds won UW's first national title since 2005 when he posted a facility- and meet-record mark of 82-3 ½ to finish first in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
"I can't complain too much," Reynolds said. "It has been a long journey to get here, and this year has just been wonderful working with Coach Barrett. Wyoming has just been a real pleasure for me and really special to me."
 
Reynolds' fantastic UW career in the field has concluded, but the future on the track is bright for the Pokes.
 
In the 3,000-meter prelims, Ryker Holtzen finished seventh in the first heat and 15^th overall with a time of 8 minutes, 38.09 seconds. The junior from Twin Falls, Idaho, earned All-American second team status.
 
"Moving forward I've got another year to make it back and learn from this," Holtzen said. "It goes quick right off the bat. It was fast, and you've got to be able to hang. There's a lot of good guys through the whole race you're running with."
 
Holtzen was in fifth place in his heat for stretches, which would have earned automatic qualifying spot in the final, but he lost touch with the lead pack late in the race before making a late push during the bell lap.
 
"(The pace) definitely started to pick up and I feel like I didn't quite have it right then," Holtzen said. "It got away from me a little bit. Some guys came back to me, and I tried to work on them the last lap but just not quite enough."
 
At the regional in College Station, Texas, Holtzen reset his own UW record with a time of 8:34.95 to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
 
The 2024 Mountain West champion will lead the Cowboys next season in cross country and track along with teammate Jacob White, who will compete in the 5,000 meters final on Friday.
 
"It's awesome to experience this together and to get to come see this amazing facility," Holtzen said. "It's awesome that we're both coming back next year to take a stab at it again."
 
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