Track teams take first, set new school records

SKYLER JACKSON Co-Sports Editor (He/Him)

South Dakota State track and field competed in the SDSU Indoor Classic last weekend at the SanfordJackrabbit Athletic Complex with both the men’s and women’s teams taking first place at the event.

Along with both teams finishing first, there were individual event wins and many school and personal records set during the two-day meet.

“What we did in Brookings I think was very productive,” coach Rod DeHaven said. “When you look at not only the people that won and set school records, but across the board a lot of personal bests.”

Here are some highlights of how each team did last weekend.

Men

The Jackrabbit men’s team finished the event with 107.5 points in 19 scored events. Iowa Central finished second with 80 points while South Dakota took third with 64 points.

In the 400-meter dash, Reid Pierzinski took runner-up with a time of 47.42 seconds. Thailan Hallman placed fourth in the event with a personal best of 47.77. Reggie Slaba also achieved a personal record with a time of 49.20 and finished 14th in the event.

Slaba, Hallman, Pierzinski and Kudra Nzibariza broke the school record in the 4x100-meter relay, finishing with a time of 3:13.18 to win the event and place them atop the all-time SDSU list.

“Largely that’s a different lineup than what we did earlier in January,” DeHaven said. “So, it was good to see that depth within that event group.”

Jared Wipf took fifth place in the 60-meter dash finals in 6.85 seconds and Evan Henderson finished seventh in 6.88. Wipf also achieved a personal best in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.86, good for eighth in the event.

In the men’s mile, Carter Knaus was the runner-up, clocking in at 4:10.17 while Will Lohr finished in 11th with a personal best time of 4:12.15.

Matthew Katz was the runner-up in the pole vault with a mark of 16-07.00, which is now second all-time in school history. Jaden Peters finished fourth with 16-01.00, now fifth all-time.

Dominick Etherington won the shot put with a throw of 58-04.00 while Wyatt Seagren took third with a throw of 52-10.00.

Women

The Jackrabbit women’s team also finished first with 149.5 points. Northern Iowa took second place with 111.6 points and North Dakota State was third with 68.5 points.

The main headliner of the meet was Cerington Jones, who broke a school record in the 400-meter dash. She clocked in with a time of 54.63 seconds for second place in the event, which is also the second-fastest mark in the Summit League this season.

Lauren Van Dyke finished fourth in the same event with a personal-best time of 55.85, good for third on the SDSU all-time list.

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“It was kind of a breakout day for (Jones) breaking the school record in the 400, and really smashing it pretty distinctly,” DeHaven said. “And (Van Dyke) obviously ran well in that event as well.”

Jones, Van Dyke, Hannah Whitbread and Erika Kuntz teamed up in the 4x100-meter relay, and won the event with a time of 3:45.48, now the second-fastest in school history.

SDSU also took the top two places in the 800-meter run as Claire Beckman won the race with a time of 2:12.58 and Tori Glazer took second in 2:14.15. Harley Fischer rounded out the top five with a time of 2:15.01, a personal record.

In the women’s mile, Grace Waage earned a runner-up finish with her personal best time of 4:52.16, the sixth-best in school history.

Brielle Dixon won the 60-meter hurdle finals in 8.55 seconds, while Savannah Risseeuw finished fifth in 8.82. Rich-Ann Archer won the 60-meter dash in 7.53 seconds. Taylor Jochum won the women’s high jump with a personal best mark of 5-05.00, while Layne Kirkendoll tied for second with a 5-03.00.

Faith Leiseth finished in third of the shot put finals with a throw of 50-09.50 and Paige Haakenson earned a personal record in the event with a mark of 41-06.50.

Up Next

SDSU will host the Last Chance meet Saturday at the SJAC with a start time set for 1:15 p.m. After that, the Jackrabbits will get ready for the Summit League Indoor Championships Feb. 24 and 25 in Vermillion.