JACKS MEDAL IN SIX EVENTS ON DAY ONE

Photo by: Russell Hons

2/25/2022 10:10:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – South Dakota State track and field grabbed medals in six different events and advanced 15 athletes into tomorrow's finals after the first day of competition at the Summit League Indoor Championships in the Fritz Pollard Athletic Center.

The highlight of day one came from the success of SDSU's distance medley relay teams, as each the men's and women's team medaled.

The women's DMR squad of Claire Beckman, Elizabeth Gillingham, Oksana Johnson and Nicole Greyer grabbed a silver medal, racing in for second place in 12:01.23 and the sixth fastest time in school history.

Noah Stewart, Thailan Hallman, Blake Iverson and Josh Becker were crowned Summit League champions in the men's DMR, finishing in 10:01.59, which sits as the seventh fastest time on record.

SDSU success continued on the track as Cailee Peterson earned a silver medal in the 3000-meter run, crossing the line in 9:35.71 for a career best and the third fastest time in school history.

Jackrabbit runners dominated the men's 3000-meter run, sweeping the medal stand and claiming the top five spots. Ben Olson broke the Summit League Championship Meet record in 809.82 as he grabbed first place and the gold medal.

Daniel Burkhalter took second in a career-best 8:10.20, now fifth on the all-time list, as Joseph Minor-Williams took bronze in 8:12.31 for a career best and sixth on the all-time list.

In the same race, Gabe Peters grabbed fourth place in 8:31.94 for a personal best and eighth all time and Max Selbach rounded out the top five placings in 8:17.95 for a personal best.

The final medals earned on day one came in the long jump, as each Annie Wendt and Tre Manning grabbed silver in their respective events.

Wendt finished in second with her leap of 19-01.25, narrowly missing the winning jump of 19-01.50 as Manning took second with his jump of 23-07.25.

SDSU also saw multiple athletes qualify for event finals that will take place on day two.

Rich-Ann Archer broke her own school record in the 60-meter dash qualifying round, running a blistering 7.44 seconds. Collette Wolfe and Jaiden Boomsma will also compete in the finals.

Daniel Clarke and Jared Wipf advanced to the 60-meter dash finals as Clarke ran in a PR in 6.82 seconds.

Savannah Risseeuw ran a PR of 8.57 seconds in the 60-meter dash hurdles to qualify for the next round, while on the men's side, Pierre Lear ran the second fastest qualifying time of 8.15 seconds to advance him to tomorrow's finals.

In the men's and women's 400-meter dash, Reid Pierzinski and Cerington Jones each qualified to compete in the finals, respectively.

Four runners qualified for the women's 800-meter run finals, led by Oksana Johnson, who finished with the overall fastest time. Claire Beckman (2:12.11), Tori Glazier (2:12.12) and Jaide Geurts (2.12.94) all ran personal bests in the qualifying round and will compete in the finals.

Riley Bauer will represent SDSU in the 800-meter run finals after he qualified with the third fastest time in the prelims of 1:52.06.

After five scored events, the South Dakota State men lead the championships with 61 points—a slim two points ahead of South Dakota. North Dakota State (41), St. Thomas (20), Western Illinois (6), North Dakota (4) and Oral Roberts (3) round out the remaining placings.

On the women's side, North Dakota State leads all teams with 54 points heading into day two, eight points ahead of South Dakota (46). North Dakota (41) South Dakota State (31), Oral Roberts (11), St. Thomas (5), Western Illinois (4) and Omaha (3) sit in third through eighth place, respectively.

Tomorrow's competition will return at 9:30 a.m. with the remaining multi events. Field events kick off at 11 a.m. as track events are slated to start at 1 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-