Burdick Adds a League-Best to Open Drake Relays

DES MOINES, Iowa - Senior Kyle Burdick attempted his first 5,000m race of the season, now sitting atop The Summit League outdoor performance list.

The Rapid City, S.D. native scored the league's No. 1 mark of the season by 16.27 seconds, still 2.97 seconds from his personal-best and No. 3 all-time SDSU mark (his mark tonight would be No. 3 all-time as well), with a fifth-place overall finish (14:03.76) in the seeded race.

Burdick was the third-best college competitor in the race and helps the Jacks dominate the league's top-five 5,000m performers as four of the are in Yellow and Blue uniforms (1. Burdick, 3. Fr. Joseph Minor-Williams, 4. Jr. Micah Mather, 5. Jr. Lukas Nelson).

As of tonight, the senior is also 49th in the NCAA West Preliminary performance list, one spot out of the top-48 that compete in Sacramento, Calif. in late May for a chance to the NCAA Track and Field Championships in June. He's qualified for the 5,000m race at the West Prelims since 2017.

For the women, the Jackrabbit duo in senior Emily Berzonsky (11th, 36:33.86) and sophomore Anna Donnay (14th, 36:58.24) ran personal-best marks in the open 10,000m at Iowa's capital.

Berzonsky cut 15.30 seconds off her previous-best in her third 10,000m attempt at Drake (previous-best mark was set at the 2017 Drake Relays), sixth overall attempt. The Lincoln, Neb. native also recorded her best place-finish at the Blue Oval, finishing 18th overall both in 2016 and 2017.

Donnay cut 1.28 seconds in her second-ever attempt (2018 Summit League Outdoor Championships) as both are within a minute of the school's all-time top-10 list (10th-best, 36:13.82), last entered in 2015 (Jenna Grossenburg).

Freshman Riley Bauer tallied the lone Jackrabbit win at the Distance Carnival in Des Moines, scoring his second career win in the unseeded 800m on Thursday night.

Bauer tallied the No. 10 all-time mark for SDSU to get the individual crown on the distance carnival night at the Blue Oval (won, 1:51.50). He bumped off teammate Wyatt Gatrost's personal-best mark off the list, which he added at the Mike Fanelli Classic to kick off the season.

Freshman Joseph Minor-Williams record his first 10,000m for the men at the distance carnival, 7.44 seconds from the school's top-10 all-time list (fifth, 30:18.34).

Sophomore Gabe Peters and senior Mackenzie Schell added two more personal-best marks to the Jackrabbit ledger. Peters finished fifth in the first heat of the unseeded 1,500m (3:54.73), 11th overall, to complete his third PR reset out of four attempts this season.

Schell posted her career-best mark in her first appearance at Drake, finishing 13th (17:32.35) in the unseeded 5,000m. She recorded her previous-best a year ago on the same weekend at the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

Fellow Jackrabbit alum Joel Reichow was present in the unseeded men's 5,000m race. He completed 3,800m of the race in first place (11:05.10) before dropping out of the competition.

REMAINING JACKRABBIT WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday - The Jacks will continue to compete at the Drake Relays and open competition Kip Janvrin Open. South Dakota State will begin Drake on Friday with the women's 4x1,600m relay while the Jacks at Simpson will kick off at 1:15 p.m. with the 110m hurdles.

The meet at Simpson will be a rolling schedule, with the 5,000m tentatively scheduled to begin around 8:10 p.m. SDSU will have their last scheduled event at Drake at 8:12 p.m.

Saturday - Jacks will finish the weekend on Saturday back at the Blue Oval, starting at 10:30 a.mm and finishing with the men's 4x400m relay at 3:49 p.m.

FOLLOW ALONG
There are select live results and live stream options available in the links above. You can also follow Jackrabbit-specific action on the SDSU track and field's Twitter account (@GoJacksTFXC). A meet recap will be made available following the conclusion of each day on GoJacks.com.

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).

UP NEXT
The regular season wraps up with a weekend in Sioux Falls at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays while some Jackrabbits may compete at the Nebraska Invitational in Lincoln.

Once the regular season is over, South Dakota State will pack up and head to Macomb, Ill. to compete in The Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships, looking to defend their 2019 indoor men's title.

JACKRABBIT PERSONAL-BEST MARKS RESET
- MEN -
Fr. Riley Bauer (800m - No. 10)
So. Gabe Peters (1,500m)
- WOMEN -
Sr. Mackenzie Schell (5,000m)
Sr. Emily Berzonsky (10,000m)
So. Anna Donnay (10,000m)

JACKRABBIT EVENT WINNERS
- MEN -
Fr. Riley Bauer (800m Unseeded)

JACKRABBIT INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Recaps: Thursday Recap | Friday Recap | Saturday Recap
800m Unseeded - Men - Drake Relays
1. Bauer, Riley (1:51.50)
10. Lawton, Cal (1:53.57)
20. Goehring, Josh (1:54.58)
22. Boekelheide, Derek (1:55.18)
--. Gatrost, Wyatt (DNF)

Freshman Riley Bauer posted his second career outdoor win in the 800m (also won the South Dakota Challenge 800m), adding a personal-best mark by 0.28 seconds in the unseeded 800m. His mark will go down as the No. 10 all-time mark for SDSU, knocking out teammate Wyatt Gatrost out of the list (he reset his PR at the Mike Fanelli Classic to begin the season at No. 10, 1:51.73).

800m Unseeded - Women - Drake Relays
2. Covey, Oksana (2:08.82)
11. Steele, Krista (2:14.07)

Sophomore Oksana Covey posted a runner-up finish in the second heat that held up to be the second-best mark out of the two unseeded 800m heats. It's her fifth career top-three finish outdoors, first of the 2019 campaign. Covey's time would be the third-best all-time mark for SDSU if she didn't already have the school record from the Bryan Clay Invite last weekend.

Both Covey and senior Krista Steele added their first career 800m at the Drake Relays as Jackrabbits.

1,500m Unseeded - Men - Drake Relays
11. Peters, Gabe (3:54.73)

Sophomore Gabe Peters ran his third personal-best reset out of four attempts this season, this time trimming his mark by 0.80 seconds. He finished fifth in the first of two heats in the unseeded event.

1,500m Unseeded - Women - Drake Relays
24. Friesen, Ellie (4:43.22)

Freshman Ellie Friesen, from Crestwood, Iowa, ran her fourth 1,500m of the season for the Jackrabbits.

5,000m Seeded - Men - Drake Relays
5. Burdick, Kyle (14:03.76)

Senior Kyle Burdick posted his first 5,000m attempt of the season, finishing fifth in the seeded event, third among college competition. His mark is 2.92 seconds from his personal-best and No. 3 all-time mark (his mark tonight would be also ranked No. 3 all-time).

Among Summit League competition, he jumps to the top of the performance list by 16.27 seconds, totaling four Jackrabbits in the top-five of the event (1. Burdick, 3. Fr. Joseph Minor-Williams, 4. Jr. Micah Mather, 5. Jr. Lukas Nelson). He is also 49th in the NCAA West preliminary performance list as of Thursday evening as the top-48 qualify for the NCAA West preliminaries in Sacramento in late May (he's qualified for the NCAA West Prelims in the 5,000m since 2017).

5,000m Unseeded - Women - Drake Relays
13. Schell, Mackenzie (17:32.35)

Senior Mackenzie Schell reset her personal-best mark in the 5,000m at her first Drake Relays appearance in the unseeded event. She posted her previous-best mark on this weekend a year ago at the Kip Janvrin Open.

10,000m Open - Men - Drake Relays
5. Minor-Williams, Joseph (30:18.34)

Freshman Joseph Minor-Williams notched his first career 10,000m attempt, finishing fifth in the open 10,000m among 22 other competitors. His mark was 7.44 seconds from the school's top-10 list.

10,000m Open - Women - Drake Relays
11. Berzonsky, Emily (36:33.86)
14. Donnay, Anna (36:58.24)

Both senior Emily Berzonsky and sophomore Anna Donnay reset their personal-best marks, Berzonsky by 15.30 seconds and Donnay by 1.28 seconds.

It was Donnay's second career attempt in the event (first was in the 2018 Summit League Outdoor Championships) while Berzonsky ran her sixth, third at Drake (her best place-finish at Drake, finished 18th both times previously ... previous-best mark was from the 2017 Drake Relays). The school's 10th-best mark all-time is 36:13.82, last touched in 2015 (Jenna Grossenburg).

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Riley Bauer

Emily Berzonsky

Kyle Burdick

Anna Donnay

Ellie Friesen

Wyatt Gatrost

Oksana Johnson

Micah Mather

Joseph Minor-Williams

Lukas Nelson

Gabe Peters

Mackenzie Schell

Krista Steele

Completed Event: Men's Track and Field at NCAA Championships on June 11, 2025 , , No Team Score

Completed Event: Men's Track and Field at NCAA West First Round on May 28, 2025 , , No Team Score

Completed Event: Men's Track and Field at Summit League Championships on May 15, 2025 , , 1st of 6 -- 197

Completed Event: Men's Track and Field at Cyclone Twilight on May 9, 2025 , , No Team Score

Completed Event: Men's Track and Field at USD Last Chance on May 9, 2025 , , No Team Score

Completed Event: Men's Track and Field at USD Invite on May 3, 2025 , , No Team Score

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