SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—South Dakota junior Chris Nilsen has been named the Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the period ended April 28. Nilsen garners a weekly league award for the 21st time in his career.

Nilsen cleared 19 feet, 2 ¼ inches, in the elite pole vault section on Saturday at the 110th Drake Relays. The victory earned him the 2019 Maury White Award for the Drake Relays Most Outstanding Performer as voted on by members of the media. Nilsen became the first pole vaulter to garner the award since 1991.
 
The competition marked the second time in Drake Relays history that a collegiate athlete upset a reigning World Champion and Olympic medalist, as Nilsen defeated 2017 World Champion Sam Kendricks. It was the first time Nilsen topped Kendricks in five head-to-head meetings.
 
The height is a half-inch off Nilsen's all-time personal best set a year ago at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays. He has vaulted over 19 feet three times this spring and nine times for his career.
 
Nilsen and the Coyotes resume action at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this weekend. The men's pole vault is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Friday.