FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—South Dakota seniors Eerik Haamer and Marshall Faurot punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships during Wednesday evening's NCAA West Preliminary competition at John McDonnell Field.
 
The men's pole vault competition took nearly four hours to whittle down the 48 men's vaulters to the final 12 qualifiers. A pair of Coyote seniors in Haamer and Faurot secured their spot in June's championships by vaulting a season-best height of 17-9 ¼ (5.42m). Haamer advanced with a first attempt make at the final bar to place sixth in the preliminary round, while Faurot came up clutch with a third-attempt make to place ninth. Both Haamer and Faurot will be making their second appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Haamer's last trip to Eugene came in 2022. Haamer is a three-time All-American in the event, placing fourth at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships as a freshman. Faurot, a first team All-American indoors earlier this year, last made the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2021.
 
South Dakota is the only school from the NCAA West Preliminary to advance two athletes in the men's pole vault.
 
The Coyotes had four men in the competition, which tied for the second-most in the NCAA preliminary round. Junior Spencer Buley had a pair of first-attempt makes, clearing 16-7 ½ (5.07m) for 28th. Redshirt-junior Tre Young made the same height on his third attempt for 36th.
 
Sophomore Bennett Schwenn took 27th in the long jump, leaping 24-5 ¾ (7.46m) in his NCAA West Preliminary debut.
 
Two weeks after capturing their first career Summit League Championship titles, sophomore Mikael Grace and freshman Jaden Guthmiller made their debuts at the NCAA West Preliminary. Grace took 37th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.13 seconds. Guthmiller finished 47th in the 100 meters. The duo entered the field with the 45th and 48th best times, respectively.
 
South Dakota returns to John McDonnell Field on Thursday for the first day of the women's competition. Event start times have been adjusted due to severe weather in the forecast with running events moved up three hours and field events moved up 90 minutes. The Coyotes' first event is at 3 p.m. Thursday.