The Meet

South Dakota travels to the Sioux City Relays held at Elwood Olsen Stadium in Sioux City, Iowa. All collegiate competition is scheduled for Friday this year with field events beginning at 11 a.m. and running events kicking off at 1 p.m.
 

The Coyotes

The No. 24 South Dakota men have found success in the vertical jumps. The reigning Summit League Field Athlete of the Week, Zack Anderson, cleared a nation-leading height of 7-5 (2.26m) in the high jump last weekend at the South Dakota Challenge. The make also gave him the Olympic standard for the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. He leads the nation's top-ranked high jump squad with five men taking the top-five spots in the Summit League standings this season. The men's pole vault squad is ranked second nationally led by indoor All-Americans Ethan Bray and Eerik Haamer. The men captured four events last weekend at the South Dakota Challenge – Anderson (high jump), Bray (pole vault), redshirt-freshman Clayton Whitehead (5,000m) and the men's 4x100m relay.
 
The Coyote women sit just outside the top-25 this week in the 33rd spot. Senior Kamberlyn Lamer broke South Dakota's school record in the heptathlon at the South Dakota Challenge with a school record of 5,332 points. The women's pole vault squad is also ranked No. 2 in the nation. The pair of senior Helen Falda and redshirt-freshman Gen Hirata have both cleared 14-1 ¾ (4.31m) to tie for sixth in the NCAA this spring. Falda cleared the bar this past week. Redshirt-freshman Carly Haring tied her personal best of 5-10 ¾ (1.80m) at the meet and moved to seventh in the national rankings. The women captured eight events at the South Dakota Challenge – redshirt-junior Jonna Bart (5,000m), Falda (pole vault), Haring (high jump), freshman McKenna Herrmann, Lamer (heptathlon), freshman Sara Reifenrath, redshirt-sophomore Josephine Starner (javelin) and the women's 4x400m relay.
 

The Competition

The Coyotes leave their home track for the first time in April, heading just 40 miles southeast to Sioux City. Competition at the meet includes South Dakota State, Augustana, Northern State, Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State, Wayne State, Bellevue, Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Dakota State, Dakota Wesleyan, Dordt, Morningside, Mount Marty, and Northwestern.
 

The League Leaders

We are officially one month out from the Summit League Championships and South Dakota currently leads the league in 13 of 44 events.
 
Men's 110m Hurdles: Brithton Senior, 13.54 seconds
Men's 400m: Demar Francis, 46.68 seconds
Women's 400m: Sara Reifenrath, 53.70 seconds
Women's 400m Hurdles: Holly Gerberding, 1:02.08
Women's 3,000m Steeplechase: Jonna Bart, 10:28.92
Men's 4x100m Relay: Virgil Steward, Demar Francis, Ardell Inlay, Dylan Kautz, 40.24 seconds
Men's High Jump: Zack Anderson, 7-5 (2.26m)
Women's High Jump: Carly Haring, 5-10 ¾ (1.80m)
Men's Pole Vault: Ethan Bray, 18-4 ¾ (5.61m)
Women's Pole Vault: Gen Hirata and Helen Falda, 14-1 ¾ (4.31m)
Men's Triple Jump: Jacob Jenkins, 47-8 ½ (14.54m)
Men's Discus: Jessie Sullivan, 175-5 (53.48m)
Women's Heptathlon: Kamberlyn Lamer, 5,332 points
 

One Last Thing

This weekend's meet will be a homecoming for a quartet of Sioux City natives – Noah Weeter, Merga Gemeda, Ardell Inlay, Laken Gardner – at the annual relays. All four were regulars in the meet in high school, with Weeter and Gemeda competing for Sioux City North, Inlay and Gardner competing for Sioux City East.