The Meet
South Dakota is slated to compete in the two-day Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare held in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Action begins at 8:30 a.m. (CT) both Friday and Saturday inside the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse.
The Coyote Men
No. 25 South Dakota will look to veterans
Chris Nilsen and
Zack Anderson to pave the way this weekend. The duo are defending champions in their respective events, breaking the league championship's pole vault and high jump records last season. Both also posted career indoor best marks last Friday at the Nebraska Tune-Up. Nilsen vaulted 19-5 ½ to break the NCAA indoor record, while Anderson nearly simultaneously tied his indoor school record of 7-3 ¾ to move to ninth in the NCAA standings. Behind Nilsen in the vault, redshirt-junior
Ethan Bray's vault of 18-1 also ranks ninth in the nation. This will be the first league meet for freshman
Brithton Senior, who tied South Dakota's indoor school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a 7.77 clocking at the Iowa State Classic. The Coyotes' fourth league-leader is redshirt-sophomore
Kenneth McMahan in the heptathlon with a score of 5,354 points, placing him 23rd nationally. South Dakota has five of the nine Summit League men ranked in the top-25 nationally in their event.
The Coyote Women
South Dakota has the nation's top-ranked pole vault squad with five women in the top-32 of the NCAA standings and topping the first five spots in the Summit League. The Coyotes look for their seventh championship in the event in the last eight years. Senior
Helen Falda, the 2018 champion, leads the group with the nation's ninth-best height of 14-3 ½. The Coyotes also return the reigning Summit Field Championship MVP
Samara Spencer, who also earned the award in 2017. Spencer is scheduled to compete in the 60 meters, long jump, triple jump and high jump this weekend. Junior
Holly Gerberding leads the league in the pentathlon entering the weekend with 3,554 points. On the track, junior
Abby Ripperda will be dueling with NDSU's Kelby Anderson throughout the weekend. The pair hold the league's top-two marks in the mile, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters.
The History
The Coyote men won three-straight indoor titles from 2013-15, but have placed third the last three seasons. The Coyote women have finished runner-up at seven of eight Summit League meets, including the past six straight.
One Last Thing
Did you hear?
Chris Nilsen broke the NCAA indoor record in the pole vault last weekend with a vault of 19 feet, 5 ½ inches. Nilsen took home USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week, Saturday's SportsCenter No. 1 play and Summit League Field Athlete of the Week honors for the performance.
