PERSONAL BESTS HIGHLIGHT OPENING WEEKEND

Thursday, March 24

Emporia, KS

TBA

South Dakota State University

Emporia State Relays

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/26/2022 7:56:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

EMPORIA, KS – Many personal bests from the South Dakota State track team, including a first-place finish from Kayla Christopherson in the 3000-meter steeplechase, highlighted a successful opening weekend to the outdoor track season.

Christopherson's personal best time of 11:23.40 led her to the top finish in the event and was one of many highlights at the Emporia State Relays in Kansas.

Tori Glazier earned second place in the 800-meter run with an outdoor personal best time of 2:12.98. Jessica Christoffer was third with a time of 2:13.34, her first of two personal bests over the weekend.

In the same event, Jaide Geurts grabbed 10^th in 2:16.75 and Grace Waage took 14^th in 2:18.22

Christoffer also was runner-up in the 1500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:29.22, which is now seventh all-time at SDSU. Claire Beckman took sixth in 4:40.86 for a career best while Nicole Greyer grabbed 11^th place with a time of 4:47.62.

In the 5000-meter run, three runners finished in the top-20, led by Bailey Dergan's 11^th place finish in 18:51.13. Michaela Kelley was the next SDSU finisher in a personal-best 19:05.94 for 15^th place as Bridget Henne took 20^th place in 19:38.66.

Katelyn Darnell claimed second place in the women's heptathlon with 4295 points as Elizabeth Gillingham took fourth with a career-best 4094 points and Ciara Benson finished in sixth with a career-best 3844 points.

On the men's side of competition, Riley Bauer grabbed second place in the 800-meter run in 1:49.92, a personal best that is now third on the all-time list. Michael Schwinghamer won his heat and finished ninth overall in 1:55.32 while Andrew Moeller took 12^th in 1:55.93.

In the 1500-meter run, Ben Anteau earned 11^th place in 3:58.51 for a personal best.

Three Jacks placed in the top ten of the men's 5000-meter run, led by Lucas Caminiti, who took fourth in a personal-best 14:47.47. Alexander Auch finished sixth in 14:53.13 while Noah Stewart grabbed eighth with a time of 14:58.14.

Anteau then took second in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 9:20.51, which was a personal best. Schwinghamer also finished in fourth in 9:25.05 in the event.

Josh Donahoe finished first in four separate events and took the overall runner-up spot in the men's decathlon with 6043 points, which is a personal best and is the eighth best score all-time at SDSU.

The men's team finished in 10^th place out of 29 teams with 33 points while the women took 12^th place out of 24 teams with 35 points.

Competition was also in high gear at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, NC. The Jackrabbit success at North Carolina State kicked off on Thursday with Faith Leiseth's 16^th place performance in the shot put with a throw of 47-03.75.

Leiseth also claimed 14^th place in the discuss with a distance of 145-02.00.

On the men's side, three runners competed in the 1500-meter run that featured over 200 finishers. Daniel Burkhalter led the way for SDSU in 44^th place with a time of 3:47.52 for a personal best. Tom Breuckman finished in 109^th in 3:51.48 as Josh Becker took 130^th in a personal-best 3:52.84.

In the 5000-meter run, Ben Olson earned 39^th place in 14:09.24, which is a personal best and the eighth fastest mark all-time. Max Selbach grabbed 74^th in 14:21.85 for a personal best as Gabe Peters took 104^th in 14:29.55.

Finally, on Friday night, Joseph Minor-Williams earned himself a personal best in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:33.71. He finished second in his heat, 43^rd overall and is now fourth on the all-time list in the event.

UP NEXT: SDSU is scheduled to head to three different meets next weekend at the Mika Fanelli Distance Classic in San Francisco, CA, the Stanford Invite in Stanford, CA and the USD Open in Vermillion.

-GoJacks.com-