Last weekend was again full of record-breaking events for the North Dakota State track and field student athletes competing in both the Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.
- NDSU Sophomore Matches 31-Year-Old Record
April Fool’s Day was no joke for Bison sophomore Payton Otterdahl, who was able to match a discus record of 53.57 meters tying a 1985 school record set by Mike Stratton. While this was a big enough throw to break NDSU’s records, Otterdahl took third overall in the discus at the Stanford Invitational.
- Winning Women
Both Friday and Saturday were successful days for the NDSU women’s track and field team who continuously added to the NDSU record books.
Winning the long jump at the Stanford Invitational was junior Allie Lahren. This doubled as her personal best. Also recording a personal best was junior Courtney Pasiowitz, whose 15.64 meters shot put performance put her at second in NDSU’s record books.
Saturday was a big day for the relay team of Melissa Kitching, Morgan Milbrath, Rose Jackson and Alexis Woods who received second place in the Stanford meet for the 4×400 meter relay with a time earning them a rank among the top schools in the NCAA for this event.
- Bison Performances at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival
While things were impressive at the Stanford Invitational, performances were just as consistent at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival. Starting off the Bison men’s success was sophomore Brant Gilbertson, who set a personal record of 9:11.11 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event. Now ranked No. 2 in the Summit League was junior Dalton Herding who ran his second-best time ever in the 800-meter event. Redshirt freshman Derek Warner and Branden Scheel each showed promising talent in their events, proving that the Bison have a bright future in front of them.
On the women’s side, one runner who all year has showed impressive times was Taylor Janssen who performed in her first 3,000-meter steeplechase of the season. She completed this event in the second-fastest time of her career while teammate junior Sydney Bork set a personal record of 4:44.72 in the 1500-meter event.
Saturday also brought positive results for the Bison the hurdles as sophomore Matt Bedard recorded his best score of the season for a third place finish in the 400 meter hurdles. In the 100-meter hurdles on the women’s side, junior Lexy Boschee took third while freshman Dakota Wood finished fourth. This is a season best for Wood.
- Record-Setting Renner
The second day of competition at the Stanford Invitational was a big one for junior Alex Renner who recorded yet another school record for the shot put. Previously setting records earlier in the season in indoor track and field events, Renner is now ranked in the Top 20 in the NCAA for the outdoor shot put event.
Setting another personal record for his own event was junior Conrad Schwarzkopf who earned the fifth spot in NDSU history in the hammer throw. This record setting throw was a 10-foot improvement off his previous record.
- Teschuk Wins Stanford Invitational
Shattering records as she has all season, senior Erin Teschuk set a new NDSU record for the 1500-meter on Friday, winning the Stanford Invitational for the event. With a time of 4:15.30, she was able to hold her title as she was also the winner of this event at the Invitational last year. The time recorded in this event also comes in second in the NCAA overall for this season.