NEW ORLEANS—South Dakota men's track and field moved back into the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association's top-25 rankings ahead of the conference meet weekend. The Coyotes are ranked No. 25 for the second time in three weeks.
 
The 25th-ranked Coyotes dropped out of the top-25 last week, but climbed back in after senior Chris Nilsen's NCAA record in the pole vault.
 
Nilsen took home both the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week and Summit League Field Athlete of the Week honors following his performance. He vaulted an indoor best of 19 feet, 5 ½ inches, at the Nebraska Tune-Up last Friday. In addition to the collegiate record, the height ranks him as the No. 15 indoor performer in world history and No. 4 indoor performer in American history.
 
South Dakota continues to lay claim to the top pole vault squads in the nation on both the men's and women's side. Nilsen, Ethan Bray, Nick Johnson and Kaleb Ellis have an average height of 17-9 ¼ to lead the nation on the men's side. The women's pole vault squad of Helen Falda, Landon Kemp, Makiah Hunt and Deidra Marrison leads the nation with an average height of 13-10 ½.

On the men's side, the Coyotes also boast the nation's second-ranked high jump squad (6-11 ¾) and 16th-ranked group of 60-meter hurdlers (8.10 seconds).
 
In the women's rankings, the other top-20 squads are in the throws. The Coyotes are 16th in the weight throw (60-0 ¼) and 18th in the shot put (46-11).

The Summit League Championships are staged for this weekend in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with multi-events kicking off the action at 9:30 a.m. Friday.