DES MOINES, Iowa—South Dakota redshirt-junior Jonna Bart broke her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in Thursday night's distance carnival of the 111th Drake Relays inside Drake Stadium.
 
Bart crossed the finish line in 10:14.58, two seconds faster than her school record time of 10:16.02 from 2018. She finished runner-up to Iowa State's Abby Caldwell in the competitive field. The time moves her to 14th in the NCAA West region with three weeks left for athletes to qualify for the first round of NCAAs. Bart qualified as a freshman and sophomore, however fewer spots are available this season – the NCAA announced in March that the traditional field size of 48 athletes per event would be reduced to 32.
 
Coyote teammates McKenna Herrmann and Morgan Lawler joined her in the steeplechase race. Herrmann recorded a personal best 11:01.99 to move to fifth in school history. Lawler clocked 11:33.46.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Merga Gemeda placed seventh in the men's 10,000-meter run with a personal best of 29:59.75. Gemeda becomes just the fourth Coyote to break the 30-minute mark for the event.
 
Redshirt-freshman Clayton Whitehead took fifth in the unseeded section of the men's 5,000-meter run. He recorded a personal best time of 14:33.41, which cracked the Coyote Top 10 list in the ninth position. Classmate Charlie Babcock also notched a personal best of 14:46.33 in the race.
 
A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, redshirt-freshman Helen Gould took ninth in the unseeded women's 800-meter run. She notched a time of 2:14.46. Also in the field, redshirt-freshman Haley Arens clocked 2:14.73 and redshirt-junior Alli Wroblewski finished in 2:16.73.
 
Freshman Luke Olson was just off his top time this season in the 800 meters, crossing the finish line in 1:53.19.
 
Freshman Abrielle Jirele clocked a personal best of 4:33.66 in the unseeded section of the 1,500 meters.
 
Redshirt-junior Cole Streich is chasing down USD distance coach Dan Fitzsimmon's steeple time. He dropped a major personal best of 9:18.22 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The time ranks him ninth in program history, just four seconds and four places away from Fitzsimmons on the list. Redshirt-sophomore Kallo Arno completed the race in 9:39.18.
 
South Dakota returns to the blue oval on Friday with field events beginning at 1:30 p.m. and the first running event at 2 p.m.