EUGENE, Ore. — Idaho State discus thrower Axel Tirado-Sanchez became the Bengals’ first track and field All-American in six years.

But his performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships here on Friday still didn’t quite live up to his expectations.

The Emmett native finished 12th with a throw of 59.21 meters (194 feet, 3 inches), which earned him second-team All-America honors. He finished 2.68 meters short of eighth place, the dividing line for first-team All-Americans. Ralford Mullings of Oklahoma won the competition with a throw of 65.81 meters (215 feet, 11 inches).

Tirado-Sanchez is ISU’s first track and field All-American since Treyshon Malone was honored for his performance in the long jump during the 2019-20 indoor season. Malone posted the ninth-best jump in the nation that year to earn the honor, since the NCAA indoor championships were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tirado-Sanchez, the three-time Big Sky Conference discus champion, became the 28th ISU male athlete to earn All-America honors in track and field.

“I really wanted to PR and make first team, but I am a proud dog of my career and what I have accomplished,” said Tirado-Sanchez in a text to the Journal.

And proud he should be of a career that included setting ISU all-time records in the discus at 60.41 meters (198 feet, 2 inches) and the weight throw at 67 feet, 3.5 inches, and ranking fourth in the shot put at 58 feet, 7.25 inches.

He accomplished a lot of that after overcoming torn pectoral muscles that led him to redshirt during the 2024-25 season, and while working with three different throws coaches during his ISU career.

“I’m very proud of how Axel competed today,” said Payden Campbell, ISU’s current throws coach. “The NCAA D-1 National Championship is a very high-pressure meet and he came out and competed from his first throw — finishing with his third best mark of the season. That’s very hard to do at this meet.”

“It has been a very fun season and he finished as an All-American,” Campbell added. “I couldn’t be more proud.”