NEW ORLEANS—South Dakota men's track and field is ranked No. 25 in the nation in the first outdoor release by the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association. The Coyotes are coming off a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Coyotes opened the outdoor season this past weekend at a trio of meets – the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, Texas, and the Wildcat Invitational in Wayne, Nebraska.
South Dakota's pole vault squad, which ranked No. 1 throughout the entirety of the indoor season, boasts five men in the nation's top-37. Indoor All-Americans
Ethan Bray and
Eerik Haamer are tied for fifth at 18-0 ½ (5.50m). Senior
Kaleb Ellis and redshirt-freshman
Marshall Faurot are tied for 25th with outdoor bests of 17-0 ¾ (5.20m). Freshman
Tre Young sits 37th at 16-8 ¾ (5.10m).
Senior
Zack Anderson returns for his final season, making his 2021 debut with a runner-up finish at the Texas Relays. He cleared 7-2 ½ (2.20m) at the meet for the third-best height in the country. Anderson is joined by a trio of men –
Jack Durst,
Blake Vande Hoef,
Travis Larson – who cleared 6-foot-9 or better this past weekend to rank in the nation's top 50.
Redshirt-freshman
Brithton Senior broke South Dakota's school record for the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday, clocking 13.54 seconds. That time ranks him fifth in the nation to date.
The men's 4x100-meter relay, consisting of
Virgil Steward,
Demar Francis,
Ardell Inlay and
Dylan Kautz, made the finals of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. The quartet of freshmen and redshirt-freshmen clocked 40.39 seconds in their first outing and sit 28th in the country. Francis also ranks 48th in the open 400 meters (47.31) after the opening weekend.
The Coyotes return to Vermillion for the USD Early Bird meet held Saturday at Lillibridge Track Complex and Gottsleben Field.
