Women’s Track and Field Opens Outdoor Season Strong with Four Meets Across the Nation

Springtime is here! Outdoor Track and Field events have begun, and the NDSU team started the season with a busy weekend, participating in four events. These meetings took place across the country. The Bobcat Invitational, hosted by Texas State, took place in San Marcos, Texas, on Thursday and Friday. The other three meetings all took place on Friday and Saturday. The Bison traveled to Louisiana State University, Stanford, and the University of San Francisco.

Starting with individual performances in San Marcos, Elisee Magaard finished third in discus throwing in the B section, with a distance of 43.62 meters. In the same section, Ashley Rustoven placed twelfth with a distance of 38.92 meters. In the A section of the discus competition, Adison Kapitzke placed eleventh with a distance of 36.68 meters. Riley Quinn finished 16th with a distance of 34.51 meters.

In hammer throwing, Kapitzke would place sixth in the first section, with a throwing distance of 54.94. Ashley Stewart would also finish in the top ten, with a distance of 50.37 meters. The Bison would see two top ten finishers in the second section of hammer throwing, with Grace Steffen placing third, throwing a 53.17 meters, and Ashley Rusthoven finishing eighth with a distance of 49.82 meters.

In the first section of javelin throwing, all three Bison placed in the top ten. Firstly, Alexandra Seagris placed third, throwing 45.85 meters. Secondly, Camille Deringer placed seventh with a 43.95-meter distance. The final Bison in this section was Jenna Shcutt, who finished tenth with a distance of 42.55 meters.

In the shot put, NDSU had four top-five finishers with Kapitzke finishing fourth and Quinn in fifth in the first section. Kaptizke threw 14.63 meters, narrowing out Quinn’s 14.39 meters. Magaard placed sixteenth in the first section with a distance of 12.27 meters. In the second section, Grace Steffen finished first overall with a distance of 14.07 meters. Rustoven placed fourth with a distance of 13.29 meters.

Moving to Stanford, NDSU only sent two women to participate in the meet, with both women finishing in the top ten in the 1500m. Reagan Berg finished third with a time of 4:28.22. Jaelyn Miller ran a 4:34.98.

Staying in the Bay Area, Jade Rypkema and Mia Hoffman ran in the 5000m for the Bison. Rypkema ran a 16:53.25 and Hoffman ran a 16:57.04. In the 3000m, Kylie Nelson ran 11:08.58. Aleah Miller ran an 11:18.42. In the 800m, Reagen Berg ran a 2:11.22 for the Bison, Jaelyn Miller ran a 2:12.38, and Kate Leblanc ran a 2:14.65.

Finally, in the Bayou, NDSU participated in 12 events. Some highlights of this meeting were Arienne Brich finishing sixth in Women’s high jump, with a 1.71-meter jump. The Bison also finished tenth in the 400m relay with a time of 3:49.16. Jorydn Davis ran the tenth fastest women’s 100m hurdle in Bison history with a 13:90. Grace Van Erp notched her personal best in long jump with a distance of 5.82 meters.

An overall successful outing for the Bison to start the spring season. This upcoming weekend, the Bison will host the NDSU Spring Classic here in Fargo, as well as participating in the Bryan Clay held in Azusa, California.