Tyler Hiatt is off to a fast start in his first track and field season at the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota.

Hiatt is following in the footsteps of his mother, Seminole Tribe of Florida member Stephanie Bowers Hiatt, who is in the university’s athletics hall of fame for volleyball.

Tyler Hiatt starred in the Mount Mary Opener indoor meet on Jan. 15 in Yankton, South Dakota. He won two of his team’s four individual titles. He captured the weight throw with a throw of more than 58 feet (17.81 meters). He also finished first in the shot put with a heave of nearly 53 feet (16.09 meters).

Through the first two meets of the season, Hiatt already has three wins and a second place finish. In a December meet, he recorded the second-best shot put throw all-time at USF with a throw of 54 feet, 10.75 inches (16.73 meters).

As a senior at Lincoln High School in 2019, Hiatt was named South Dakota’s Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Hiatt is the grandson of the late Stephen Bowers, who was a longtime leader of military veterans for the Seminole Tribe.