The North Dakota State men’s track & field team dominated several events this past Saturday, with the Bison athletes split between the UND Open in Grand Forks and the Jack Johnson Classic in Minneapolis.
Junior Jacob Rodin ran 2:27.25 to win the 1000m at the UND Open – the fastest time by a Bison in 16 years. He now ranks fourth in school history for the event. Josh Samyn was second to Rodin in the 1000m, clocking 2:30.07.
The Bison men swept the top four places in the shot put at Minnesota’s Jack Johnson Classic, with Kristoffer Thomsen winning at 60-6 (18.43m). Trevor Otterdahl was second at 58-6 (17.84m), Clayton Hannula was third at 55-6 (16.92m) and Levi Rocky took fourth at 54-5 (16.58m)
Otterdahl also won the weight throw with a mark of 70-10.75 (21.61m). He stands at No. 9 on the NCAA performance list in the event.
The Bison claimed the top three places in the 400m dash at UND. Senior Cody Roder won in 48.08, sophomore Jacob Levin placed second in 48.72, and junior Josh Knutson finished third in 49.24.
The NDSU men also finished 1-2-3 in the 60m hurdles, with Trent Davis taking first in 8.12. Freshman Logan Mathieu was the runner-up in a personal-best 8.18, and freshman Brock Johnsen placed third in 8.20. Dante White took the 60m dash title, winning in 6.87 seconds to match his personal best. He is tied for eighth-fastest in NDSU history. Sophomore Adrian Harris won the 600m in 1:21.96. Keiser Freetly was second in 1:23.01. Senior Alex Brosseau ran the third-fastest indoor 200m of his career, winning the event in 21.87. Levin took third place with an indoor PR of 21.95.
Eric VanErp won the heptathlon at the UND Open, scoring 4,313 points. Redshirt freshman Parker Ellis took second with 4,258 points. Sophomore Payton Smith, running unattached, won the 3000m in a personal-best 8:40.15.
The Bison women, also competing in UND Open in Grand Forks, set many personal bests, and brought home several wins. The women also swept the top four spots in the 200m. Leading the way for the Bison was redshirt freshman Angel Pratt with a time of 24.86, the 11th best mark in NDSU history. She was joined by Nell Graham second in 25.05, Christiana Collins third in 25.06 and Bonet Henderson fourth in 25.76. In the 400m, Pratt and Graham switched places with Graham coming in at a 55.56 pace followed by Pratt in second at 56.53. Graham’s time was the 11th best in NDSU history.
Winning the 800m for a second straight week, Bison freshman Kaci Cooper ran a 2:15.12. Bailee Dierks took first in the 60m hurdles, clocking a season-best 8.86 seconds. Alissa Melvin claimed the triple jump title, posting a new season-best mark of 38-06.00 (11.73m).
Bison freshman Aaliyah Heine was the runner-up in the 60m dash, clocking 7.78. Bison freshman Makenna Vollmer had a long jump season-best of 18-1 (5.51m) for fourth place. Freshman Allie Niska registered an indoor personal-best of 57.70 in the 400m for fourth place.
At the Jack Johnson Classic in Minneapolis, Amy Phillips was the weight throw runner-up with a mark of 67-04.25 (20.53m). Amanda Anderson took third in the shot put, throwing 47-7 (14.50m).
Both men’s and women’s squads will return home this weekend to host the Bison Open on Feb. 4-5.