North Dakota State track and field teams have been known lately for the excellent throwing squads. This weekend at the Husker Spring Invite in Nebraska it was once again the case.
On the men’s side, one of the best throwers in school history was at it again. Alex Renner pushed his school record in the shot put a bit further. His toss of 63-00.25 won the event and vaulted him up to No. 7 in the nation this year.
Renner finished second in the hammer throw. His mark of 204-1 was only beaten by teammate Steffan Stroh. The junior won the event with at final throw of 204-5. The pair were just two of the five Bison that cracked the top six of the event.
Matti Mortimore made it three wins out of three meets in the javelin. While the No. 1 man in the nation could not better his school record, his 252-11 mark comfortably won the event.
Senior Conrad Schwarzkopf took home second place in the shot with a throw of 57-06.25.
For the women, the story was about the same.
Katelyn Weimerskirch re-wrote the NDSU record book in the hammer throw. Her toss of 199-2 broke the school record set in 2013. That distance also places her No. 24 in the nation for the hammer.
The Bison were not done in the event, sweeping the top six. Amy Herrington earned runner-up honors. The freshman threw for 186-1, which is the seventh best in school history.
Elsewhere, Alyssa Olin was also searching for a school record. Four straight personal best throws in the javelin was not quite enough to capture the record. The junior won the event with a 169-3, second best for the all-time list.
Maddy Nilles, coming off a third-place performance in the hammer, went two better in the discus. The sophomore won with a throw of 173-9. The throw also put her in the top-30 in the nation, as well and No. 2 in NDSU history.
Joining her near the top of the NDSU discus record book was Bailey Retzlaff. The redshirt freshman’s mark of 158-9 placed her No. 4 on the list.
Maggie Schwarzkopf took home second place in the shot put. The throw of 48-07.25 was good enough for No. 10 in the Bison record book.
It was also a good showing in the pole vault, where the Bison finished 2-3-4. Anna Benke, Klara Lyon and Lauren Gietzen cleared 12-11.75, 12-08 and 12-04 respectively.
On the track, it was a quieter day for the Bison.
Landon Jochim clocked a 47.22 in the 400m to take home third place. The time put him fourth all-time in NDSU history.
Gabby Grommesh had a pair of personal bests, finishing fourth in the 100m with a time of 12.10 and 200m time of 25.12 for fifth place.
Both teams will head out to California for a multitude of meets over the next week. The Bison will return to Fargo April 21-22 for the Lyle Hokanson Classic and the Team Nodak Multis.