VERMILLION, S.D. – At its home facility, the South Dakota Track and Field program totaled a league-best 12 champions over the course of three days at the Summit League Championships at the Lillibridge Track Complex in Vermillion.
 
While the Coyote women took second in the team standings with 175 points and the men placed third with 157 points, the Coyotes totaled 12 champions and had a total of 28 medalists during the three days of competition, trailing only North Dakota State (29) in the medal count.
 
On Saturday alone, South Dakota recorded 11 event titles, including three for seniors Averi Schmeichel and Sara Reifenrath. Schmeichel completed a sweep of the hurdle titles and Reifenrath completed her fourth 200-, 400-meter sweep of her career. The two, joined by Sydney Stodden and Berkeley Engelland, won the 4x400-relay as well.
 
For Reifenrath, she claimed individual outdoor titles seven and eight of her career Saturday. In the 400-meters, Reifenrath ran 52.97 to win the event by 1.26 seconds and followed that up with a 23.4 in the 200-meters to win yet again. Reifenrath is the first woman in Outdoor Summit League Championship history to win two different events four times. She has claimed four 200 and four 400 titles in her illustrious career.
 
Schmeichel picked up her first event win of the day with a late push to take the 100-meter hurdles in 13.38, a new season's best. Her second gold of the day, the 400-meter hurdles, was less dramatic, crossing the line in 57.88, nearly a full second ahead of second place. Her 57.88 is a personal best that sits third on the South Dakota Top 10 list.
 
Schmeichel, Stodden, Engelland, and Reifenrath added a Summit League Championship meet record to the list of accomplishments Saturday. For the fifth straight Summit League Outdoor Championship and 10^th straight Summit League Championship (indoor and outdoor), the Coyote women's 4x400-relay squad brought home a victory, this time with a meet record 3:38.43. That time ranks second on the Coyote Top 10 list.
 
Engelland, competing in her first outdoor championships with the Coyotes, also brought home individual gold, winning the 800-meters in 2:11.03. Calia Chaney added a fourth-place finish in the event with a 2:12.57 clocking.
 
On the men's side, Mikael Grace picked up a big title for the Yotes, defending his 110-meter hurdle title with a school record, Summit League Championship record, and facility record time of 13.50 seconds. Jaden Damiano added a fourth-place finish with a PR of 13.66, that ranks fourth in South Dakota's Top 10.
 
Both men also placed in the 400-meter hurdles, with Damiano running 52.55 for fourth and Grace 54.39 for sixth. Damiano's time moves him into the top 10 in the 400 hurdles, as he is now eighth.
 
The Coyote men also had two podium finishers in the 100-meters, with freshman Ethan Baessler running 10.33 to take the crown and last year's champ Jaden Guthmiller took third third in 10.46. Baessler's time ranks fifth on the USD Outdoor Top 10 list.
 
Baessler and Thomas Nikkel ran in the 200-meter finals, clocking 21.59 and 21.76 for sixth and eighth respectively. Damiano, Baessler, Guthmiller, and Nikkel ran the 4x100 relay, winning the event with a season's best 40.38.
 
The best field event of the day for the Coyotes was in the men's pole vault, as South Dakota swept the top five places and the top three athletes all set personal bests. Tre Young came away with the championship, vaulting 18-0 ½ (5.50m), followed by Spencer Buley's personal best of 17-8 ½ (5.40m). Beau Karst, a freshman for the Coyotes, cleared 17-4 ½ (5.3m) on his first attempt to set a personal best and take third.
 
Wyatt Stewart placed fourth at 17-0 ¾ (5.20m). Dylan Curtis matched a personal best with a 16-6 ¾ (5.05m) for fifth. Townsend Barton and Owen Spartz took a share of seventh at 15-1 (4.6m).
 
Lydia Knapp picked up a field event victory for the Coyote women, winning the women's discus with a throw of 170-1 (51.85m).
 
Three Coyotes placed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as Mariah Fenske (10:50.77) took fourth, Alexus Sindelar (10:58.22) sixth, and Jade Ecoffey (11:12.87) seventh. Fesnke's time is a personal best, and she sits No. 8 on the USD Top 10 list in the event.
 
Outside of Schmeichel's win, Sophie Amin added a seventh-place result in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.00. Abrielle Jirele added a seventh-place finish in the 5,000-meters Saturday afternoon, running 17:00.85.
 
The South Dakota men found some more success on the track as Caleb Rivera took third in the 1,500-meters, running 3:48.06. Mason Sindelar placed sixth in both the 800-meters (1:52.2) and the 1,500-meters (3:51.29). Tommy Hensley recorded an eighth-place result in the 800 with a time of 1:52.83. Evan Janzen added an eighth-place finish in the 400-meters with a 48.52 clocking.
 
The Coyote women added points in the field events as well. Danii Anglin led the Coyotes in the high jump with a second-place finish at 5-8 (1.73m). Maddie Olson took fourth at 5-6 (1.68m) and Marleen Mülla, the women's pole vault champion from Thursday, took sixth at 5-4 ¼ (1.63m).
 
In the triple jump, a personal best 40-4 (12.29m) from Matayah YellowMule placed her second. That jump moves her into seventh on the USD Outdoor Top 10.
 
In men's field events, Joe Lynch took second in the high jump with a clearance of 6-9 (2.06m). Carsen Staehr added a runner-up finish in the triple jump at 49-1 ½ (14.97m). Bennett Schwenn took fourth in the long jump at 24-7 ¼ (7.50m) and sixth in the triple jump at 47-9 (14.55m).
 
In the final field event of the day, Tristan Gray placed fourth in the shot put, recording a throw of 53-11 (16.43m).
 
In other relay competitions on the track, the Coyote women's 4x100 team of Amin, Schmeichel, Caelyn Valandra, and Reifenrath took third place in 45.77, a season's best. The men's 4x400 team of Henry Grayson, Janzen, Andrew Atwood, and Nikkel took third with a 3:14.05 time.
 
The Coyotes now await the announcement of the selections for the NCAA West Region First Rounds, which will be announced Thursday, May 22. A season ago, South Dakota led the Summit League with 21 NCAA West Region First Round qualifiers. The West Region First Rounds will be held in College Station, Texas, the home of Texas A&M University. They run May 28-31.