VERMILLION, S.D.—Four members of the South Dakota track and field program have qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships slated for March 13-14 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
 
Three-time NCAA Champion Chris Nilsen broke the NCAA indoor pole vault record earlier this season with a vault of 19 feet, 5 ½ inches. The height leads the field by four inches. He captured a Summit League title in the vault last weekend and vaulted past 19-feet three times in February. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Nilsen is a six-time All-American in the pole vault, placing in the top-three in every national meet of his career to date.
 
Joining him in the pole vault is redshirt-junior Ethan Bray. Bray enters with the ninth-best mark in the competition after vaulting an indoor best 18-1 at the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet inside the DakotaDome. Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Bray has qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries during the outdoor season the past two years, but this will mark his first NCAA Championships.
 
Two-time second-team All-American Zack Anderson sits ninth in the men's high jump field. He tied his indoor school record of 7-3 ¾ at the Nebraska Tune-Up two weeks ago. Anderson's been over 7-feet at all five meets of 2020, including to win his third-straight Summit League title. This will be the fourth national meet for the Parker, South Dakota, native.
 
Five-time All-American Helen Falda is the Coyotes' lone qualifier on the women's side. She enters the competition in 12th with her indoor-best vault of 14-3 ½ from the Adidas Classic. A native of Torino, Italy, Falda has qualified for every national meet since transferring to South Dakota in 2018.
 
The Summit League is sending nine athletes to the NCAA Championships with five from North Dakota State joining the Coyotes' four competitors.
 
Nilsen and Bray will be in action on Friday night. The men's pole vault competition gets underway at 6:15 p.m. (CT) on Friday, March 13.
 
Anderson takes the stage at 2:15 p.m. (CT) Saturday, March 14, in the men's high jump. Falda will wrap up the weekend with the women's pole vault at 5 p.m. (CT) Saturday.
 
A live stream of both days will be available on ESPN3 using the WatchESPN app. The live stream begins at 6:15 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday. In addition, a tape-delayed TV broadcast will air on Monday, March 16, at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.