Friday Results | Saturday Heats and Lanes

BROOKINGS, S.D.–South Dakota freshman Chris Nilsen broke the Summit League record twice en route to capturing his first league title at the Summit League Championships at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex on Friday.
 
Nilsen cleared 18 feet, 5 ½ inches, to capture South Dakota's only event title on the first day of the championships. The Coyotes swept the podium in the event with freshman Ethan Bray's runner-up performance in 16-11 ½ and junior Jake David's third-place finish in 16-5 ½. Nilsen's personal best of 18-8 ¼ leads the NCAA this season.
 
Senior Amber Eichkorn set a new Coyote program record with a 9:36.46 clocking to finish runner-up in the 3,000 meters. A pack of Coyotes in freshman Julia Noah, sophomore Megan Billington, sophomore Madeline Huglen and junior Lindsay Joyce took fourth through seventh.
 
Junior Shanice Cannigan improved her own South Dakota school record in the pentathlon. She scored 3,968 points to finish runner-up. NDSU's Rose Jackson won the event with a Summit League record 4,077 points. Cannigan captured the first two segments of the multi-event with a time of 8.58 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and a clearance of 5-5 ¼ in the high jump.
 
The school record in the men's weight throw was broken by a pair of athletes. Junior Jacob Barents earned all-Summit honors with his third-place throw of 64-8. Sophomore Ethan Fenchel's mark of 63-11 ¾, which placed him fourth, also bettered the program record. Senior Danielle Waldner took sixth in the women's weight throw.
 
South Dakota's women's distance medley of senior Nicole Schmidt, freshman Ellie Wilson, sophomore Mallory Fine and junior Rachael Zeiger finished runner-up in 11:59.96. The men's distance medley relay of sophomore Eldon Warner, sophomore Mario Magana, senior Mach Dojiok and sophomore Jacob Simmons took third in 10:17.67.
 
Freshman Samara Spencer earned all-Summit honors with a third-place finish in the long jump. Spencer leaped 19-6 ¼. Cannigan and senior Emily Brigham added fifth and sixth place finishes. Sophomore Joe Reagan took fifth in the men's long jump.
 
The top three athletes in each event earn all-Summit League honors.
 
In the team races, South Dakota sits in second on the women's side with 54 points and third on the men's side with 45 points after day one.
 
A majority of the running events on Friday were preliminaries for Saturday's finals.
 
A trio of Coyotes advanced in both the men's and women's 60 meters. Junior Gawain Williams notched the top qualifying mark of 6.77 seconds while senior Jack Thony and sophomore Joe Reagan also advanced. Sophomore Karina Dufoe posted a personal best 7.69 seconds to advance with freshmen teammates Tasheka Gordon and Samara Spencer. Dufoe was also USD's only qualifier in the 200 meters.
 
Additionally, a pair of Coyotes advanced in both of the 60-meter hurdles. Senior Jay Cooper tied his personal best of 8.29 seconds to post the top spot on the men's side, while Cannigan had the best mark on the women's side. Freshmen Dennis Parsley and Britny Kerr also advanced.
 
In a competitive women's 800-meter field, Schmidt clocked an indoor personal best of 2:12.63 to earn the final qualifying spot. Warner won his heat to qualify automatically, while Simmons also earned a spot in tomorrow's final based on time.
 
Junior Brooke Ireland and sophomore Brennan Schmidt both advanced in the 400 meters.
 
Williams, Reagan and sophomore Jovane Parkinson all advanced in the 200 meters.
 
Saturday's events start with the men's heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. Field events are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m. and running events kick off at 1 p.m.