VERMILLION, S.D. – Despite rainy, windy conditions to kick off the Summit League Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday, the sun came out and the Coyotes took advantage as the women's squad holds the early lead in the team standings.
Through five events, the South Dakota women lead North Dakota State by a single point, 54-53. North Dakota sits third at 34 and South Dakota State and St. Thomas tied for fourth with 27.
The highlight of the day for South Dakota was the women's pole vault competition, held inside the DakotaDome due to the weather conditions. Five Coyotes set outdoor season personal bests, including four South Dakota vaulters surpassing the previous Summit League Championship record.
Marleen Mülla won the women's pole vault with a clearance of 15-0 (4.57m). That is a personal best for Mülla, ranking her second in South Dakota history and fourth in the NCAA this season. It is also a new Estonian National Record as Mülla held the previous record.
Anna Willis placed second in her first Outdoor Championships, clearing 14-10 (4.52m), a personal best that ranks third at USD and sixth in the NCAA this season.
Cassidy Mooneyhan recorded an outdoor personal record 14-4 (4.37m) to place third and
Gen Hirata also cleared 14-4 to take fourth.
Eliza Aitken took fifth at a PR of 13-10 (4.22m) and Taylor Evans had a personal best 12-8 ¼ (3.87m) for seventh.
The South Dakota women also received a boost in the women's hammer throw, where
Lydia Knapp and
Delaney Smith took second and third respectively. Knapp recorded a throw of 214-11 (65.51m) to take second and Smith a personal best 191-5 (58.34m) to place third.
Matayah YellowMule added a fourth-place finish in the women's long jump, just missing out on the podium with a mark of 18-11 ¾ (5.78m).
The Coyote men earned seven points through three events on the opening day. All seven came in the men's hammer throw, where a personal best 196-6 (59.90m) from
Quincy Warren gave him third place.
Tristan Gray took eighth with a throw of 171-0 (52.13m).
The multi events also got underway Thursday. Two Coyote men sit in the top half of the decathlon standings after day one, led by
Townsend Barton's second place standing with 3,526 points. Barton has placed in the top three in three of the five events so far, including a second-place long jump mark of 21-0 ¾ (6.42m). He added a share of second place finish in the high jump at 6-1 ¼ (1.86m) and a third place in the 400-meters (49.44).
Derek Eidsness sits fourth after day one with 3,468 points, less than 100 points behind Barton. Eidsness also took a share of second in the high jump at 6-1 ¼ and added a third-place finish in the 100-meters in 11.24 seconds.
In the women's heptathlon,
Bre Dunn is in ninth place after four events with a total of 2,747 points. Dunn took seventh in the 200-meters in 25.68 seconds as her top finish of the day. She also ran in the 400-meter hurdle prelims, running 1:03.97.
Three Coyote women made track finals in their respective races Thursday night, with two athletes running the top times in those races. In the 200,
Sara Reifenrath ran a wind-aided 23.12 to be the top qualifier, and in the 400-meter hurdles,
Averi Schmeichel ran 57.96, a personal best, to be the top qualifier in the event by over a second and a half.
Hadley Cheatum also made the finals in the 400-meter hurdles, running 1:03.06.
Four Coyote men will race in finals Saturday after strong runs Thursday night. Tommy Nikkel (21.23) and
Ethan Baessler (21.26) both ran personal bests to advance in the 200-meters. In the 400 hurdles,
Jaden Damiano ran a personal best 53.34 to take the top prelim time and
Mikael Grace took fourth in the prelims with a time of 54.29.
Action continues Friday at the Lillibridge Track Complex. The multi events start the day at noon, followed by the women's high jump at 2 p.m. to kick off the field events. On the track, the 110-meter hurdles race begins at 4 p.m.
