Men and women’s track and field were split between Yankton and Brookings, SD, which did not stop them from standing out.
Men’s track and field got 20 top 10 finishes. In the 60-meter dash, Vance Hayenga Johnson finished seventh with a time of 7.11 seconds and he later went on to finish the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.27.
In the 800-meter run, Payton Van Sickle finished sixth with 2:05.89, Carson Engbers finished seventh with 2:08.04 and in tenth was Sam Harris with a time of 2:10.64. Joesph Kunert finished the 1000 meter run in second with a time of 2:37.97, and in sixth was Tommy Tracy with a time of 2:43.59. In the mile, Ben VanDeBerg came in first at 4:31.10 and Ashton Hughes finished eighth with 4:51.97.
“I prepared for the season by eating right, getting stronger in the weight room and working on technique on the track,” Johnson said “My advice for someone wanting to do college track is to focus on their strengths and try to maximize it. I would also say to get in the weight room to get stronger.”
Women’s track and field had their 4×400 and 4×800 meter relays hit the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ (NAIA) Automatic Qualifying Mark. The 4×400 relay consisting of Emma Blum, Savonne Sterk, Caitlin Ostbye and Kennedy Kramer finished seventh at the meet with a time of 3:55.54, which is now twelfth in the nation.
Which is the same national place as the 4×800 meter relay team of Caitlin Jacobsma, Savonne Sterk, Lili Nelson and Brielle Engelmann with a time of 9:36.08, which got them fourth in the meet. Their time was also a season best by 10 seconds.
Emma Blum tied the 200-meter dash school record time at 26.09 which got her thirteenth place. Marissa Hackman finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.56. In the mile, with a time of 5:39.52, Karina Hulzebos finished first.
In the 3000-meter run, Emma Haley finished second with a time of 11:09.40. In the high jump, Aubrey De Groot finished third with a jump of 1.60 meters. Charlee Olson came in first in the long jump with a jump of 5.23 meters.
