Jacks' TF Split for Two Meets this Weekend

Friday, February 2

Lincoln, Neb.

Fri: Noon | Sat: 9:30 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Husker Invitational

1/31/2018 4:08:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Majority of Jackrabbits will travel to the Dakota Realty, hosted by South Dakota, while the some of the distance runners, along with Vanessa Lane, will go to the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, hosted by Nebraska

MEETS 6 & 7: South Dakota State (Men & Women) at Husker Invite & Dakota Realty Invite

When	Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational When Jackrabbits will compete. (Tentative) See Full Schedule Here (Page 9-10) Friday, Feb. 2 Saturday, Feb. 3 Multi-Events: 12:30 p.m. Track Events: Noon	Dakota Realty invitational Saturday, Feb. 3 Field Events: 1:45 p.m. Track Events: 2 p.m. See Full Schedule Here (Page 11)
Where	Bob Devaney Sport Center Facility Map \| Google Maps \| Lincoln, Neb.	DakotaDome (Hillenbrand Track) Facility Info \| Google Maps \| Vermillion, S.D.
Live Stats	DeltaTiming.com \| No Live Stream	DakotaTiming.com \| No Live Stream
Teams Competing	Number of Teams: TBA Schedule \| Heat Sheets (For Fri.) \| Heat Sheets(Early Sat.) \| Heat Sheets(Late Sat.)	Number of Teams: TBA Schedule \| Heat Sheets (Sat.)
Meet Notes	Meet Notes \| Nebraska Home Meet Info Page \| South Dakota Preview Facility/Meet Records: Men \| Women \| 2018 Performance List: Men \| Women
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GoJacks

South Dakota State will split to two meets this weekend; part of the team will travel to Lincoln, Neb. to compete in the 43rd Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. The rest of the team will compete in Vermillion, S.D. at the Dakota Realty Invitational.

43rd Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational
The Husker Invitational will be a two-day meet, starting the men's heptathlon, women's pentathlon, and some of the track and field events.

The Jackrabbits plan on having senior Vanessa Lane compete in the pentathlon on Friday, with her first event being the 60m hurdles at 12:30 p.m. The tentative schedule for all the pentathlon events is here:

12:30 p.m. 60m Hurdles
1:15 p.m. (est.) High Jump
3:00 p.m. (est.) Shot Put
4:00 p.m. (est.) Long Jump
5:00 p.m. (est.) 800m

The rest of the Jackrabbits that are expected to compete at the Husker Invite will begin competition on Saturday. The starting times will depend on the heats SDSU student-athletes are entered in.

There are 17 Jackrabbits scheduled for six events on Saturday. The schedule of events and the expected SDSU student-athletes to compete can be found at this link (Click Here - See Page 9-10).

To keep up with the results on Friday or Saturday, click here.

Many of the State student-athletes that are going to the Husker Invitational are middle/long distance runners.

Headlining the trip will be junior Kyle Burdick, who is expected to make his season debut in the mile. It will be his first on the track since competing at Eugene, Ore. in preliminary round of the outdoor track and field championships in the 1,500m.

Also, junior Chase Cayo will run at his second meet of the 2018 campaign. The Summit League's male cross country athlete of the year, is anticipated to run in the 3,000m for the second time in the indoor season.

For the women, junior Rachel King is projected to run in the 3,000m on Saturday. King, The Summit League's female cross country athlete of the year, will run in her third event of the year, second time running the 3,000m.

Junior Renae Dykstra and senior Mackenzie Schell are scheduled to run in two events Saturday. Dykstra will run in the 800m then compete in the mile. Schell will join Dykstra in the mile then run the 3,000m.

Notable schools South Dakota State will see at the invite will be: Nebraska, Drake, Fort Hays State, North Dakota State, Sioux Falls, Missouri State, Pittsburgh State, Maryland, Iowa Central, Arizona State, UCF, Nebraska-Kearney, Concordia (Minn.).

A Year Ago
In 2017, the distance crew traveled to Nebraska and returned with school records and personal bests.

Junior Emily Donnay starred at the meet, setting the school record in the mile (4:50.45). Fellow teammate, Rachel King notched the school's third-best time in the event (4:52.39). In her first mile time of this season, King recorded 4:54.51 minutes.

Junior Kyle Burdick recorded his personal-best time in the mile (4:08.12), which carved his name into sixth place on the school's all-time list.

Graduate Joel Reichow moved into third all-time in the 3,000m after finishing in 8:13.93 minutes.

Dakota Realty Invitational
The rest of the team will travel to Vermillion, S.D. and compete in the Dakota Realty Invitational on Saturday.

The field events for the men will begin at 1:45 p.m. at the pole vault. Track events for the men are starting at 2:10 p.m. with the mile.

Women's long jump is the first field event on the schedule for the women, scheduled for 2 p.m. The women's mile also begins at 2 p.m., starting the track events.

The 4x400m relays, the last scheduled events, are set for 4:50 p.m. for the women and 4:55 p.m. for the men.

To see the full schedule, click here. For live results, click here.

A Year Ago
In 2017, sophomore Jaymie O'Connor finished second in the 60m hurdles, notching 8.84 seconds.

Junior Kasie Vollmer lead the Jacks and finished second in the shot put with a personal-best mark at that time (45-05.75). She now has a PR mark of 47-04.25, which is eighth all-time on the school's all-time list.

In the men's triple jump, State posted the top three marks with junior Josh Dotson setting the best mark at 46-02.75. Sophomore Jake Lieberg followed Dotson with a 46-02.50 jump and junior Ephram Albrecht tied up the third spot with a 45-03.50 jump.

Jackrabbit Rankings
The USTFCCCA released the second round of national and regional rankings for the 2018 indoor season. The Jackrabbits fell in the regional rankings from the first week of rankings on both sides. The men are now ranked 22nd in the Midwest Region, while the women are ranked 29th.

The men's team has two individuals ranked in the top-eight of their respected events. Sophomore Bryant Courter is ranked fifth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump. He has broken the school's triple jump record twice already this season, once at the beginning of the season at the SDSU Holiday Open, earning Summit League Athlete of the Week, and then again at the Jim Emmerich Invite.

Senior Colton Bender sits at eighth place in the weight throw after setting the school record in the event last weekend.

Junior Krista Steele was ranked in the region last week for her performance in the 800m. Her time of 2:11.00 was ranked fourth in the region and second on the school's indoor all-time marks.

New this week was the #EventSquad rankings, by USTFCCCA. It is where each team is ranked based on the student-athletes' performances. To be eligible for ranking, there must be a minimum of four student-athletes in the event.

The men's team had eight of the 11 eligible events ranked in the top 100. The highest ranking was high jump, ranking 29th. The next highest was shot put at number 33 in the country.

The women's team had 10 of the 13 eligible events ranked in the top 100, with two in the top 25. The highest ranking was the pentathlon group at 12th. Next was the shot put group at 22nd.

To see the all the Jackrabbit events ranked in the USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings, click here (Page 7-8).

Men Top 200 Nationally

Sr. Colton Bender (Weight Throw, 41st)
So. Bryant Courter (Long Jump, 45th; Triple Jump, 51st; High Jump, 184th)
So. Evan Hieber (Hepthalon, 97th)
Fr. Trent Francom (Pole Vault, 101st)
Jr. Peter Bates (Hepthalon, 112th)
Sr. Brady Brockel (Heptathlon, 139th)
R-Fr. Anthony Andera (Pole Vault, 168th)
So. Sam Zenner (60m, 180th)
Fr. Daniel Clarke (Long Jump, 185th)
Sr. Mason Leiseth (Shot Put, 185th)
R-Fr. Mitchel Acker (800m, 191st)
R-Fr. Max Reinke (Shot Put, 192nd)
Jr. Wyatt Gatrost (800m, 200th)

Women Top 200 Nationally

Sr. Vanessa Lane (Pentathlon, 63rd)
Jr. Krista Steele (800m, 83rd)
Jr. Abby Sudbeck (Weight Throw, 106th)
Jr. Kasie Vollmer (Shot Put, 124th)
So. Jaymie O'Connor (60m Hurdles, 163rd)
Fr. Madeline Moorhouse (Shot Put, 170th)
Jr. Rachel King (Mile, 177th)
So. Kayla Neff (Pentathlon, 187th)
Jr. Savannah Dolezal (400m, 192nd)

Up Next
Following the two meets this weekend; the Jackrabbits host their biggest meet of the year, the SDSU Indoor Classic. It will feature over 1,500 student-athletes from 40-plus schools. If fans cannot make it to the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex, they can watch it online via FloTrack with a subscription.

Social Media
For more information on the South Dakota State cross country and track and field teams, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksTFXC) and Instagram (@GoJacksTFXC), and like us on Facebook (/GoJacksTFXC).