DICKINSON, N.D. – In just a semester at Black Hills State University, Alexis Clark has already etched her name into the record books for the Yellow Jacket track & field team. The sophomore notched a school record, NCAA provisional qualifying mark and a first place finish in the pole vault Thursday at the Blue Hawk Games.
Clark, hailing from Aberdeen, South Dakota, won the pole vault with a height of 12-6.75. She defeated teammates Courtney Cassen and Chandra Sturtz, who each topped out at 10-6. Clark wasn't finished with just one event though as she won the high jump with a top height of 5-2.5.
Her mark in the pole vault pushes her to 14th in the nation while it's the second-straight meet she has swept the pole vault and high jump.
Two other Yellow Jackets hit provisional qualifying marks as Avery Allen bettered her previous mark in the shot put and Josh Dotson in the triple jump. Allen hit 46-0.25 in the shot put to win the event. She also won the discus and hammer throw, tallying the most individual victories from anyone at the meet. In the discus, she had a toss of 147-10 and in the hammer a heave of 143-0.5.
Dotson's NCAA provisional qualifying mark came in the triple jump, winning the event in 48-10. The leap puts him 18th in the nation and tops in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
It was a strong day all around for the Yellow Jackets, totaling 15 event victories and claiming the team title on both the men's and women's side.
Shayna Soderstrom won the 100-meter dash in 12.88 seconds while Cailey Roth claimed the 800-meter run title. She crossed the finishing tape in 2:24.17.
Katly Woten and Sierra Miles finished first and second, respectively, in the 10,000-meter run. Wotems time was 41:24.12 with Miles' time at 41:52.51.
Kaitlyn Hadley made it a Yellow Jacket clean-sweep in the triple jump with a leap of 37-7.5. Her mark ranks her third in the RMAC.
In the 1,500-meter run, Jonah Theisen claimed the title for the Yellow Jackets in a time of 4:03.54 while Alec Baldwin won the 5,000-meter run in 14:42.98.
Much like Hadley did in the triple jump, Leighton Blanchard made it a Yellow Jacket sweep in the pole vault with a top-height of 14-3.25.
Black Hills State also won the women's 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay on the afternoon that saw many personal records fall.
In the team-title race, the Yellow Jacket women accumulated 289 points, defeating host Dickinson State with 122 points and NCAA Division II schools Minot State and the University of Mary. The men's team won its title with 165 points, defeating DSU with 145.5 points, The University of Mary 115 points and Minot State with 81 points.
Black Hills State is scheduled to compete next the weekend of April 30, splitting between the Drake Relays and the Kip Janvrin Invite. However, stay posted to BHSUAthletics.com for schedule changes.
