It was a successful home return for the North Dakota State track and field teams. It was the first home outdoor meet of the year and the Bison were in good form.
Landon Jochim set the tone for the Bison. The junior won the 400m with a time of 47.10. For Jochim, it was the second fastest 400m in his career, just behind the 47.07 mark at the Summit League Indoor Championships, and fourth fastest in school history.
J.T. Butler took the 200m title with a time of 21.66, a personal best. The win was one position better than the 100m, where the junior finished second with a time of 10.74.
The Bison swept the podium in the 1500m, led by Derek Warner. The sophomore ran a personal best 3:57.05 to finish in front of teammates Camron Roehl and Elliot Stone.
The NDSU men took home two more events on the track, with Tim Heikkila winning the 800m and Aron Klos taking the 400m hurdles.
Off the track, Steffan Stroh had a good weekend. The junior won the hammer throw Friday night with a toss of 209-0. Saturday saw him also win the shot put with a 58-01.00 mark. He capped off the successful weekend with a third-place finish in the discus.
Though competing unattached, NDSU junior Payton Otterdahl won the discus title. The 182-2 toss would have broken his own record if he had been competing as a Bison.
For the women, the weekend got off to a shattering start.
The facility record for the women’s hammer throw at the Ellig Sports Complex was Emily Lesser’s toss of 195-9. Now, the record belongs Katelyn Weimerskirch. The senior set the new mark at 207-4, which extended her own school record for the fourth time in two weeks. Weimerskirch jumped into No. 13 in the nation with the throw.
Maddy Nilles moved into No. 2 in NDSU history in the event with a throw of 200-11. She also jumped up to No. 28 in the nation.
Nilles and Weimerskirch swapped places for the discus. Nilles took the title with a toss of 163-6 to beat Weimerskirch by 17 inches.
The Bison added yet another throwing event to the list of titles on the day. Shelby Gunnells won the shot put with a throw of 50-10.00. The mark moves the sophomore into the top 50 in the nation.
Alyssa Olin continued her performances in the javelin, being the top collegiate finisher with a throw of 166-8.
Lauren Gietzen led a Bison 1-2 in the pole vault. The junior cleared 13-05.50 in win in front of teammate Klara Lyon, who finished at 12-09.50.
NDSU then swept the jumps, led by Bailey DeMar in the triple jump. The redshirt freshman took the triple jump title with a 40-04.00 jump. She moved up to No. 6 in NDSU history and was the best mark by a Bison in seven years.
Lexy Wittmayer moved to No. 10 in school history in the high jump, winning the event after clearing 5-08.50.
The jump sweep was completed by Rose Jackson, who took the long jump title with a bound of 19-09.50.
Jackson was back in action on the track, teaming up with Morgan Milbrath, Gabby Grommesh and Alexis Woods in the 4x100m. The group won with a time of 45.76, placing them at No. 6 in NDSU history.
It was the second victory of the day for Grommesh, who won the 100m with a time of 12.02.
Elsewhere on the track, Jenny Guibert and Annika Rotvold finished first and second in the 800m for the Bison. Taylor Janssen added a 1500m title for the Bison.
Both teams will now travel to Des Moines for the Drake Relays next weekend.