The South Dakota track and field teams swept South Dakota State, North Dakota and Omaha in The Duels at Howard Wood Field on Saturday.
“I want to thank Mark Meile and his crew for all of their hard work today,” said Director of Track and Field Lucky Huber. “They helped make this meet possible and give our athletes a chance to compete close to home.”
South Dakota’s women defeated South Dakota State 117-81, Omaha 135-61 and North Dakota 121-62.
The Coyotes swept the top two spots in every event from 800 to 5,000 meters. Sophomore Nicole Schmidt ran a new career-best time of 2 minutes, 13.18 seconds to take the 800 meters, while junior teammate Katie Wetzstein finished runner-up. Wetzstein added a win in the 1,500 meters in 4:31.98. Junior Amber Eichkorn recorded a career best time of 4:33.12 for runner-up.
In the first win of her collegiate career, senior Emily Feyereisen clocked a time of 12:09.90 in the 3,000 steeplechase. Sophomore Lottie Grimshaw was second.
Eichkorn, freshman Bethany Kozak and junior Kelsey Barrett traded off leading laps of the 5,000 meters. Eichkorn was victorious in 17:22.07, Kozak was runner-up and Barrett placed third.
In the high jump, senior Megan Glisar easily cleared the first three heights on her first attempt and bested the competition at 5-11 ½. She then attempted to improve her school record, but missed all three attempts at 6-1 ¼.
Sophomore Emily Brigham won the long jump and the pole vault. She leaped 18-5 ¼ to capture the long jump and took the pole vault by clearing 12-5 ½.
A true multi-eventer, freshman Shanice Cannigan placed in the top-three of three different events. She won the 100 hurdles with a wind-aided career best of 14.78, finished runner-up to Brigham in the long jump and placed third in the 400 hurdles.
Sophomore Danielle Waldner won the shot put in 47-1 ¾.
The Coyote men took down South Dakota State 113-83 and North Dakota 125-40.
Three men captured wins in two events. Senior Cody Snyder threw 185-10 to win the discus and 56-4 ½ to take the shot put. Senior Erik Hill was victorious with times of 15.06 seconds in the 110 hurdles and 53.27 seconds in the 400 hurdles. Sophomore Jack Thony clocked career bests of 10.81 in the 100 meters and 21.99 in the 200 meters to win both.
South Dakota swept the top-three pole vault spots. Senior Kevin Sarehkhani vaulted a career best 17-1 to take the title, while junior Peter Chapman and freshman Jake David took second and third, respectively.
Sophomore Tyler Frank won the high jump with a season-best leap of 6-8 ¾.
The men’s distance runners also captured the win in every event between 800 and 5,000 meters. Sophomore Mach Dojiok captured the 800 meters in 1:52.07. Senior Taylor Chapman blew away the competition in the 1,500 meters when he finished in 3:51.39, 12 seconds ahead of second. Chapman added a third-place finish in the 800 meters.
Juniors Isaac Allen and Mubarik Musa won the 3,000 steeplechase and 5,000 meters, respectively. Allen clocked 9:22.30 and Musa finished in 15:11.37.
With two new career bests, senior Lukas Bernard won the 400 meters in 47.89 seconds and finished runner-up with a time of 22.02 in the 200 meters.
Junior Connor Fitzsimmons won the long jump with a leap of 21-9 ½ and placed second in the triple jump at 44-4.
The 4×400-meter relay teams concluded the meet with a pair of impressive wins. The women’s relay of freshman Brooke Ireland, Cannigan, senior Amber Watson and junior Analisa Huschle took the lead from the gun with North Dakota nipping on their heels. Huschle held on in the final stretch to seal the win with a time of 3:48.94. The men’s relay consisted of Hill, freshman Alex Williams, Dojiok and Bernard. In the anchor leg, Bernard took the lead on the back stretch and never let up, capturing the win in 3:15.96.
The Coyotes travel to Lincoln, Neb., next Saturday for the Husker Spring Invitational.
