For the final indoor meet of the year, the North Dakota State track and field teams headed to Grand Forks on Friday to compete in the UND Turn-Up. Both teams claimed victory in a series of events.
Women
Sydney Arndt took home first place in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking a personal-best time of 8.32 seconds. Her performance ties for the third-fastest time in school history. Marvelous Onwualo also impressed, securing third place with a time of 8.61 seconds. In the 60-meter dash, unattached Bison freshman Kendra Mehrkens recorded a time of 7.69 seconds to take third place. Freshman Carsyn Brady ran a season-best time of 2:15.25 to place second in the 800-meter race. Acey Elkins followed close behind, securing fourth place at 2:16.22.
In the field events, sophomore Arienne Birch reached a season-best and Summit League-leading height of 5-9.25 (1.76m) to claim the top spot. Her mark places her among the Top 60 competitors in the NCAA this season. The pole vault event saw a great performance from Allison Otto-Fitzsimons, who cleared a personal-best 13-2.25 (4.02m) to take first place. Her jump ranks eighth in NDSU’s indoor history. Teammate Jacee Johannsen also cleared the same height, finishing as the runner-up. Senior Grace Emineth soared to a season-best mark of 20-0.25 (6.10m) to win the long jump event. Makenna Vollmer and Ella Gardner followed closely, both reaching 19-6.25 (5.95m) to secure third and fourth place, respectively. Vollmer’s mark was a new indoor personal best. Joy Nnantah claimed the triple jump title with a mark of 39-1.75 (11.93m), while Grace VanErp finished third with a leap of 38-8.25 (11.79m).
Men
Leading the way for the men was school record holder Jarod White, who claimed victory in the pole vault by clearing 16-3.25 (4.96m).
Unattached freshman Carl Rekow excelled in the mile, clocking a personal best time of 4:11.91 to take first place. Close behind him was sophomore Quinn Roehl, who also claimed a personal best, finishing in 4:12.21 while competing unattached as well. The 800-meter event saw another standout performance from redshirt freshman Jonah Dafoe, who ran a personal-best 1:53.30 to claim third place. Teammate Jacob Renz secured a fifth-place finish with a time of 1:56.63.
The meet served as final preparation for the Bison before the Summit League Indoor Championships, which is set to take place at SDSU in Brookings on Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, March 1.