Rapid City, S.D. –  Big performances and one RMAC championship by Jonah Theisen put the Black Hills State University men's track and field team in third place after two days of competition at the RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. They currently sit with 34 points, 24.5 points behind leader Colorado Mines.

Jonah Theisen's 8:59.41 winning performance was the capstone to an already great day of performances by the Yellow Jackets. That mark, with the modest altitude conversion applied, will easily become the DII national lead and will unofficially be good for an automatic bid into the national meet. Teammates Jake Iverson and Keith Osowski also had stellar showings to end the day in the steeplechase. Iverson ran to fifth place in a time of 9:25.68, while Osowski came barreling down the homestretch to take sixth in 9:26.70.

"Day one at the RMAC Indoor Conference meet was tough, but it's a night and day difference today," said head coach Seth Mischke. "We've had some outstanding performances and have athletes in place to contend tomorrow. Some things didn't go our way today, a few just missed finals by milliseconds or a place, but they'll come back in other events that much more motivated."

Starting off the day, Ryan Olsen kicked off part two of his decathlon in the 110 hurdles. Over the past two days, he threw, jumped, and ran multiple personal bests across ten events. Heading into the final event, the 1500m, an event all multi athletes dread, Olsen was in fourth place and would have to run close to a five-minute pace to take third. He took charge and ran away from the field to finish in 4:47 to secure third place and a spot on the podium.

In a race not for the weak-hearted or weak-minded, Nate Fredrick toed the line of the ten thousand meter race against multiple All-Americans and came out unscathed with an impressive 31:01, good for sixth place. That time will convert down to a NCAA provisionally qualifying mark and is currently good for top-26 in the nation.
Savannah Davis also took on the ten thousand meter race and running alone in no women's land for over two miles, was able to gut her way to eighth place and score a point for the Green and Gold.

Next up was the 4x100m relay prelims. Both squads of Tristan Hepp, Seth Hills, Brian Kjerstad, and Taylor Hepp, and then Julette Goehring, Shayna Soderstrom, Brittney Marosok, and Breanne Fuller  took fourth to qualify for finals.

In the 1500m, Jordan Theisen took a commanding attitude and won his heat in 3:53.99 to advance to the finals on Sunday. He double backed in the 800m race and advanced to finals there as well. Ruby Lindquist ran a seven-second personal best to run 4:51.63 and also secure her spot in the 1500m final tomorrow.

Freshman Ericka Dykstra ran the fastest time of her life in the 800m to squeak her way into the 800m final. She will be joined by Cailey Roth, who took second in her heat, easily securing herself a spot in the final.

In the hurdles, Tristan Hepp ran the fastest preliminary time in the 400m hurdles to secure his spot in the finals. He will be joined by Seth Hills who took the last spot to advance to the finals, in eighth place. Seth Kovar took command of the 110 hurdles and will be chasing a podium spot in tomorrow's finals.

In the sprints, Taylor Hepp and Garrett Snook both advanced to finals in the open 400m dash, while Kjerstad advanced in the 200m dash. Meanwhile, Shayna Soderstrom ran to seventh place to advance to tomorrows finals in the 100m dash.

Wrapping up the day in the steeplechase, Tori Moore ran a lifetime best of 11:18.05 and shook up the race when she charged to the front of the race breaking up the chase pack. Her gutsy performance earned her sixth place on the day.

In the field, Makaleb McInnis continued to prove he's a track athlete as his toss of 184 feet in the javelin earned him a podium spot at second place. In the hammer throw, Kyla Sawvell took second place as well with a throw of 157'11". Jessica Malm finished eighth in the hammer to pick up a point.

RMAC championship action will conclude tomorrow with field events kicking off at 8:30 a.m. and running events slated to begin at 12:30 p.m.