Bison men come up short for fourth straight
The North Dakota State track and field teams put in some dominant performances this weekend at the Summit League Indoor Championships.
The weekend was highlighted by the Bison women winning their 12th straight championship and men’s thrower Payton Otterdahl becoming the all-time collegiate recorder holder in the shot put.
The Bison women were dominant, racking up 214.5 points, winning by 68 points over South Dakota State.
Macy Denzer got the Bison off to a quick start with a victory in the pentathlon. The junior led the Bison, who placed 1-4-5-6 in the event, for 22 points early Friday.
Saturday was a day for Kelby Anderson. A day after finishing third in the 3,000m, the sophomore took the mile title with a time of 4:45.28, a personal best. Anderson added a fourth-place finish in the 5,000m to rack up 21 points over the three events to earn Most Outstanding Performer of the meet.
Despite not taking the shot put title, the Bison women gained 34 points in the event. The Herd took second through sixth with Akealy Moton leading the Bison charge with a throw of 55-02.25.
The Bison weight throw team also racked up plenty of points, with Maddy Nilles throw of 70-03.50 leading a 3-4-5-6 finish.
Bailey DeMar claimed the triple jump title for the Bison with a leap of 40-03.25. Jodi Lipp followed with a third-place jump of 39-05.25. The result was the second bronze medal for the freshman after placing third in the long jump the day prior, which earned her the Newcomer of the Championship honors.
While the men came up short for a fourth straight indoor crown, NDSU still grabbed the headlines.
One day after dominating the weight throw field, winning the event by more than 8.5 feet, Payton Otterdahl etched his name into the record books. His shot put mark of 71-06.75 is the longest in NCAA indoor history by over 3 inches. It ranks 17th in the world for indoor throws.
Otterdahl’s win in the event led a Bison sweep of the top six spots in the shot put after 1-3-4-5 performance in the weight throw on the opening day.
In the heptathlon, Ryan Enerson collected his third straight title in the event, also winning in 2016 and 2017. Overall, NDSU collected 26 points in the event.
Enerson and Otterdahl were the only champions for the Bison at the meet. NDSU did get number of runner-up finishes.
In the triple jump, Kelle’Mon Hinton led a Bison 2-4-6-8 finish with a jump of 49-04.25.
Also finishing second was Marcus Walton with a 6-10.25 mark in the high jump.
On the track, Alex Bartholomay finished second in the mile at 4:11.44. NDSU finished with three in the top five in the event.
NDSU finished with 207 points, 13 short of South Dakota State, who won the meet.
The indoor season draws to a close in two weeks with the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. The outdoor season for the Bison opens March 15-16, with NDSU planning to take part in a pair of meets.