MEN WIN SUMMIT LEAGUE INDOOR TITLE

Friday, February 25

Grand Forks, N.D.

TBA

South Dakota State University

Summit League Indoor Championships

Photo by: Russell Hons

2/26/2022 10:54:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The South Dakota State men's track team were crowned the 2022 Summit League Men's Indoor Track & Field Champions on Saturday, earning the title after beating South Dakota in the final event of the day.

Heading into the men's 4x400-meter relay, SDSU and USD remained tied at 167 points each. Emmanual Phoulom-Smith, Pierre Lear, Thailan Hallman and Reid Pierzinski claimed third place for a bronze medal in 3:15.16 as USD finished in fifth, giving SDSU the two point advantage to win the championship. The time is also now the third fastest mark in school history.

The championship is the second league title in the last four years for the Jackrabbits.

Many other SDSU athletes helped contribute to the win, including Ben Olson, who was named the championship's track MVP after gathering three medals over the weekend, two gold and one silver.

Day two of competition featured a fair share of top three finishes and new school records.

On the men's side, Daniel Clarke blazed his way into third place in the 60-meter dash finals, earning bronze in 6.84 seconds.

Pierre Lear broke the school record for the 60-meter hurdles and became the first Jackrabbit to run the event in under eight seconds. Lear earned the individual Summit League title and the gold medal in a blistering 7.98 seconds.

In the mile run, SDSU swept the medal stand as Olson grabbed gold in 4:07.22, Daniel Burkhalter earned silver in 4:07.35 and Tom Breuckman finished with bronze in 4:08.11 for a PR and the tenth fastest time on record.

The stand was again swept in the 5000-meter run, this time led by Joseph Minor-Williams, who grabbed gold in a career best 14:12.33 that broke the league record. Olson earned silver in 14:12.41 for a personal best and third fastest all-time and Max Selbach took third in 14:26.27 for a career best and tenth fastest all-time.

SDSU men finished the weekend with 173 points, narrowly edging South Dakota who had 171 points as North Dakota was close behind with 157 points. Oral Roberts (63.5), St. Thomas (48.5) Western Illinois (30) and North Dakota (17) rounded out the final score standings.

On the women's side of competition, Rich-Ann Archer broke two school records she had previously made within an hour. First in the 60-meter dash, Archer earned gold in 7.32 seconds that also broke the Summit League Championship Meet record.

Archer then continued the success in the 200-meter dash, earning a silver medal while breaking the school record she just broke yesterday. She became the first female Jackrabbit to run the event in under 24 seconds, finishing as runner-up in 23.93 seconds.

Savannah Risseeuw gathered another silver medal for the Jacks as she claimed second place in a close 60-meter hurdle finals race.

Oksana Johnson was crowned Summit League champion in the 800-meter run, grabbing gold in 2:10.02 while Cailee Peterson earned another medal with a first place finish in the mile run, claiming gold in 4:49.55.

In the 5000-meter run, it was Leah Hansen who took first place in 16:48.63 to claim the gold medal.

The 4x400-meter squad of Johnson, Elizabeth Gillingham, Tori Glazier and Cerington Jones rounded out the running events with a third place finish for bronze in 3:49.92, a time that sits in seventh on the all-time list.

Faith Leiseth represented SDSU in the field competition, earning second place with a career-best throw of 50-07.50 for the second farthest throw in school history and the silver medal.

South Dakota won the women's conference championship with 200.5 points while North Dakota State finished as runner-up with 152 points. South Dakota State ended in third place with 135.5 points as Oral Roberts (72.25), North Dakota (67.5), St. Thomas (18.5), Omaha (11.75) and Western Illinois (5) rounded out the final placings.

UP NEXT: Should South Dakota State have any national qualifiers, athletes will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama on March 11 and 12.

-GoJacks.com-