Track & field opens season at SDSU Holiday Open

The Meet

South Dakota track and field travels to Brookings, South Dakota, for the SDSU Holiday Open on Friday and Saturday. The meet gets underway at 11:30 a.m. Friday inside the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

The Coyotes

South Dakota track and field puts a bow on fall training by hitting the track for opening weekend of the 2023-24 NCAA indoor track and field season. The Coyotes are the defending men's and women's Summit League Indoor Champions. South Dakota also boasts for returning All-Americans from last indoor season.

Junior Marleen Mülla and senior Gen Hirata were first-team All-Americans in the women's pole vault last winter. Mülla cleared the top height in the NCAA a year ago with a jump of 14-11 (4.55m) at the Summit League Championships. Junior high jumper Danii Anglin and junior pole vaulter Cassidy Mooneyhan are also returning All-Americans.

Senior Dylan Kautz and junior Erin Kinney were the Summit League's Most Outstanding Performers of the Championship in 2023. Both swept the 60 meters and 200 meters on the men's and women's side, respectively, at the conference meet. Kinney and Mülla were named the 2023 Summit League Track and Field Athletes of the Year, respectively.

The Coyote women's distance crew is also coming off a Summit League Championship team title this fall. Junior Abrielle Jirele, a first-team all-Summit performer on that squad, was the Summit League Track Championship MVP in 2023.

The Competition

USD opens the season at the SDSU Holiday Open for the seventh-straight season. The women captured the team title a year ago behind seven event titles.