The Herd found some success in Fort Wayne

Men’s

After Friday’s performance at the two-day, 2020 Summit League Indoor Championships in Fort Wayne, IN, the North Dakota State men’s track and field team earned a first-place bid in the team standings.

With all NDSU throwers placing in the top three positions, the Herd’s shot putters helped the team come out on top through day one. Kristoffer Thomsen took first, Alex Talley recorded a second-place finish and Maxwell Otterdahl received third. It’s worth noting that all three throwers threw personal bests.

The Herd received first place in the distance medley relay with a time of 10:12:74. Guillaume Viault had a fantastic day qualifying in both the 60-meter and the 200-meter events.

NDSU’s own Alex Talley was crowned with the Most Outstanding Championship Performer award on Saturday after winning the weight throw with a toss of 73-11.50. Sophomore Jacob Rodin won the 800-meter race with a time of 1:52.66. Tim Heikkila won the mile race at a 4:11.46 pace. NDSU scored 211 points to win the team competition.

South Dakota State finished in second place with 179 points. The University of South Dakota took third with 156.5 points, and Oral Roberts received fourth place honors netting a total of 74.5. The University of North Dakota took fifth with 21.5 points. Western Illinois brought home sixth place with 11 points. Purdue Fort Wayne received seventh place honors with seven points.

Women’s

The NDSU Women’s track and field team remained in first place after Friday’s performance at the two-day, 2020 Summit League Indoor Championship meet in Fort Wayne, IN.

NDSU was the points leader with 79. South Dakota received a close second with 36 points, and South Dakota State stands in third with 29. The Bison shot putters dominated Friday, finishing in places 1-2-3-4-5-7. Junior Kelby Anderson took first in the 3000-meter event, winning by a solid 19 seconds.

The Bison also ran their way to a first-place finish in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:52:46. The medley team featured Alaysia Freetly, Katie Bye, Peyton Frolek as well as Erin Valgardson. Junior Jenna Kes scored 3,554 points in the pentathlon to earn third place. Jocelyn Dinius and Kendra Kelley advanced to the 200-meter final. Dinius also advanced to the 60-meter final.

Senior Shelby Gunnels earned the meets Field Championship MVP by winning the shot put. Gunnels also received third place in the weight throw with. Junior Kelby Anderson was also the meets Track Championship MVP with wins in the 3000-meter race, the mile and the 5,000-meter race. Maddy Nilles won the Weight throw competition with nearly a 71-foot throw.

Jodi Lipp won the triple jump with a leap of 40-05.50 feet. Lucy Steinmeyer sprinted her way to the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.15 seconds. Peyton Frolek also finished with an 800-meter win with a time of 2:11.32 minutes. NDSU also won the 4×400-meter Relay race with a time of 3:48.12 minutes. This was the 13th consecutive indoor title for the Bison.