South Dakota juniors Hunter Wilkes and Amber Eichkorn wrapped up their seasons at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
The dark horse duo entered the final round after strong performances at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas, two weeks ago.
Wilkes ended up in 18th place in the pole vault. She cleared the opening height of 13 feet, 3 ½ inches on her third attempt, but missed all three attempts as the bar rose to 13-9 ¼. Wilkes finishes off her outdoor season with a Summit League title, a new career best of 13-11 that ranks third in school history and honorable mention All-America honors.
Stephen F. Austin’s Demi Payne won with a vault of 15-5, breaking Coyote alumna Bethany Firsick’s meet record in the event from 2013.
Eichkorn finished 20th in the 10,000 meters with a final time of 34:55.33, clocking 5:17.45 through the first mile. Eichkorn concludes her outdoor season with Summit League titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, four new school records and honorable mention All-America honors.
