VERMILLION, S.D.–South Dakota freshman Chris Nilsen cleared a nation-leading 18 feet, 2 ½ inches to win the pole vault at the Jack Johnson Classic on Saturday in Minnesota Fieldhouse. The Coyotes captured six events at the meet.
 
Nilsen's height improves his own school record by 1 ½ inches and sets a new Minnesota Fieldhouse record. Nilsen has also likely punched his ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships. The height would have won an NCAA title in 2016 and over the past five seasons the best final qualifying mark was 17-11.
 
Freshmen teammates Nick Johnson and Ethan Bray completed the Coyote sweep in the pole vault. Johnson jumped a personal best 17-2 ¾ to move to third on USD's all-time charts while Bray ties his season best of 16-10 ¾ which ranks fifth on USD's charts.
 
Another South Dakota program record was broken in the throws. Senior Danielle Waldner crushed her own record by more than a foot with a throw of 53-4 ¼ in the shot put. Waldner's toss ranks 14th nationally this season. She also took sixth in the weight throw.
 
Senior Amber Eichkorn captures South Dakota's fifth-straight 5,000-meter run title at the Jack Johnson Classic with a meet record time of 17:02.14. Eichkorn also won the race back in 2014. The Coyotes swept the top four spots in the race with sophomore Megan Billington, junior Erin Wetzstein and freshman Julia Noah following Eichkorn. Billington also surpassed the meet record with a personal best 17:03.76. Eichkorn and Billington have the top two marks in the Summit and rank 26th and 29th, respectively, in the nation.
 
Freshman Samara Spencer won the triple jump in 39-0 1/2. Spencer also took third in the long jump with a leap of 18-7 ¾ and placed fifth in the 60 meters in 7.76 seconds. Freshman Britny Kerr and junior Colette Christensen took third and fourth in the triple jump.
 
Sophomore Mario Magana finished runner-up in the 400 meters with a time of 50.01 seconds. He also took fifth in the 200 meters in 22.87.

Junior Jacob Barents surpassed his own school record in the men's weight throw for the second time this season with a toss of 63-6 3/4. He finished third overall and was the second collegiate.
 
In a field of professional athletes, sophomore Madeline Huglen was the third collegiate in the women's 3,000 meters. Huglen crossed the finish in a personal best 10:01.83, which ranks fourth in the Summit League this season. Huglen was followed by teammates Lindsay Joyce and Kianna Stewart in 10:04.77 and 10:07.80, respectively.

Last night, junior Shanice Cannigan won the pentathlon and junior Emily Brigham won the pole vault.
 
The Coyotes host the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet next Saturday in their home opener on the Hillenbrand Memorial Track inside the DakotaDome.