Yankton, S.D. - The USD women placed four throwers in the top six of the hammer throw to put South Dakota in a tie for the lead after the first day of the 2010 Great West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Williams Field. Competing under cool and cloudy conditions, the Coyote women earned 30 points to tie with Utah Valley, while the USD men claimed one team point. Houston Baptist leads the men's side with 26 points.

After amassing big team points at the GWC Indoor Championships, senior Danielle Dornbusch (Papillion, Neb.) and the USD women throwers came up big again on Thursday with 23 points in the hammer. Dornbusch led the way by winning with a personal-best 173-8, to finish just four feet short of the school record. Freshman Kate Wellensiek (Cook, Neb.) claimed third with a toss of 151-2 for a personal best, while sophomore Darci Youngstrom (McCook Lake, S.D.) earned fifth in 136-5. Junior Erica Krull (North Butler, Iowa) rounded out USD's finishers in sixth after a personal-best throw of 134-6.

Senior Ramsey Fitzsimmons (Yankton, S.D.) finished third in the 10,000 meters in 36:01 for six team points and senior Kelsey Maloney (Sioux Falls, S.D.) earned another point with a 39:52 for eighth.

Junior Crystal Schiernbeck (Ida Grove, Iowa) leads the heptathlon through four events with a first-day, personal-best of 2,759 points. She started with a win in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.04 for 836 points and picked up 555 points in the high jump with a leap of 4-8 3/4. She threw 33-6 3/4 for second in the shot put and 545 points, before finishing the first day with a 25.71 to win the 200 meters with 823 points.

On the men's side, sophomore Tyler Maxwell (Tekamah, Neb.) fared well in his first attempt at the decathlon, as he is fourth through the first day with 2,935 points. He notched 608 points with a 12.22 in the 100 meters and posted 18-6 for 510 points in the long jump, before turning up the intensity in the final three events. He earned back-to-back personal bests in the shot put and high jump. His toss of 37-3 3/4 won the shot put with 568 points and he cleared 6-0 for third in the high jump with 653 points. He concluded the day with 596 points in the 400 meters by running 55.07. Fellow sophomore Tanner Willard (Belle Fourche, S.D.) is right on his heels in fifth with 2,744 points.

Freshman Ethan Marquardt (Albert Lea, Minn.) posted a 32:25 to finish eighth in the 10,000 meters and claim one team point. Sophomore Brock Brewster (Butte, Neb.) was one place away from earning points, as he finished ninth in the hammer.

Competition resumes tomorrow starting with the multi-events at 11 a.m. (CT), while field events commence at noon and running events begin at 5:30 p.m.

Notes: The women's pole vault, which was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday, was pushed back to the same time on Friday....Utah Valley's Mary Nothum ran a 35:30 in the women's 10,000 meters to break the previous meet record of 37:19 by USD's Heather Kuhlman....Houston Baptist's Maximo Mendoza ran a 30:41 in the men's 10,000 meters to break his meet record of 32:27.