SPEARFISH, S.D. – Both the Black Hills State University men's and women's track & field teams came away on top of the team race on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets clinched titles in the Dave Little Alumni Mile Open. The men's team collected a total of 177.5 points on the day with a pair of relay victories and seven individual event titles, while the women's team tallied 139.5 points during the day with a pair of relay victories and one individual victory. Also highlighting the day were athletes solidifying themselves into the BHSU record books, including Jace Johnson breaking the school-record in the men's 60m dash, Erin Weibel moved into seventh place all-time in the women's pole vault, and Saraya Afrank moved into ninth all-time in the women's 60m dash.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S TRACK & FIELD

• Black Hills State began the meet on the track with a win in the distance medley relay as the team of Braden Anderson, Flynn Johnston, Drew Lehman, and Jonah Rigg, ran to a time of 10:36.23.
• In just the second meet of his sophomore season, Jace Johnson came within 0.01 seconds of the school record in the prelims of the 60m dash with a time of 6.91, but the record eventually fell in the finals as he posted a career-best time of 6.89. Another notable underclassman making a name for himself in the event is freshman Landon Scalise, who ran to the seventh-best prelim time of 7.17 and then was sixth in the finals as he crossed the finish line in a time of 7.19.
• Johnson and Scalise were also the top-2 Yellow Jackets in the 200m dash, finishing fourth and sixth respectively with times of 22.83 and 23.47.
• Javin Walker was the lone BHSU athlete in the 400m dash as he clocked a career-best time of 54.73.
• In the 800m run, Caden Strasser collected another win for the Yellow Jackets as he ran to a time of 2:00.60, while teammate Rigg was close behind in fourth with a time of 2:01.93 in his collegiate debut.
• Black Hills State dominated in the mile, securing five of the top-7 placings, and was highlighted by a 1-2 finish. Winning the event was Jaxon Straus with a time of 4:24.05 in his collegiate debut and he was followed by Braik Hurm with a time of 4:25.08.
• While the Yellow Jackets top finisher in the 5,000m run was David Standish with an eighth place time of 15:53.89, it was a BHSU alum that highlighted the event for Spearfish locals as school-record holder, Alec Baldwin, made an appearance in the open meet and clocked a time of 15:26.97 for second place.
• In the 60m hurdles Jayden Curtis continued his strong start to his freshman campaign as he qualified for the event's finals with the third-best prelim time of 8.90. He then held steady in the finals as he clocked a time of 8.73.
• Black Hills State closed out the track events with a win in the 4x400 relay as the team of Aiden O'Leary, Lehman, Johnston, and Conor McGraw, posted a time 3:26.51.
• Trennan Pearson picked up a win in the high jump, clearing 1.88m (6' 2").
• In the pole vault, Shane Karajanis recorded the win, clearing a career-best height of 4.45m (14' 7.25").
• Pearson and Seth Wilson tied for first in the long jump, as the BHSU teammates each recorded a mark of 6.55m (21' 6"). Also, in the top-4 of the event was Walker, who tallied a mark of 6.42m (21' 0.75"). Pearson's and Walker's marks set new career-bests in the event.
• In the triple jump, Casen Willson was the highest finishing Black Hills State athlete, as he rounded out the top-3 with a career-best jump of 12.84m (42' 1.5").
• Matthew LoFaso rounded out the top-3 in the shot put event, recording a career-best mark of 14.53m (47' 8").
• The trio of Ryan Baker, Anthony Rosenstrauch, and LoFaso, highlighted the Yellow Jackets in the weight throw, recording marks of 15.17m (49' 9.25"), 15.10m (49' 6.5"), and 14.30m (46' 11"), respectively for sixth, seventh, and eighth place finishes. Baker's and Rosenstrauch's marks in the event set new career-bests.

MEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Team	Total Points
1. Black Hills State	177.5
2. Chadron State	137
3. South Dakota Mines	119
4. Rocky Mountain	58.5
5. Dakota Wesleyan	18
T-6. Good Boys Denver	8
T-6. Dawson CC	8

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD

• The lone team competing in the event to begin the events on the track, Black Hills State recorded a win in the distance medley relay, as Emma Smith, Carlie DeBoer, Jillian Brennan, and Evie Boyd, ran to a time of 13:05.59.
• With a time of 8.13, freshman Saraya Afrank qualified for the finals of the 60m dash and she then held steady in third with a career-best time of 8.08 in the finals of the event to rank ninth all-time in school history on the top-10 performance list.
• Smith and Brooklyn Brooks were the lone two Yellow Jackets competing in the 800m run and they crossed the finish line back-to-back with fifth and sixth place finishes respectively as they tallied career-best times of 2:32.83 and 2:34.33.
• The duo of Sylvia Brown and Emma Hofmeister rounded out the top-3 of the mile, clocking career-best times of 5:16.42 and 5:29.12 for second and third place finishes respectively.
• Led by Hofmeister in second place with a time of 19:00.02 in her collegiate debut, BHSU had four of the five student-athletes competing in the 5,000m run. Following behind Hofmeister in the Green & Gold was Boyd who was third with a time of 19:26.22, Gracie Craig who was fourth with a time of 19:27.90, and Abigail Robberson who was fifth with a time of 19:28.48. Craig and Robberson notched career-best times in the event.
• Alivia Weathers posted the third-best time in the prelims of the 60m hurdles, crossing the line in a time of 9.95, before she held steady and remained third after a time of 9.84 in the finals.
• In the final event of the day on the track, the Yellow Jackets took home the win in the 4x400 relay, as Afrank, Brennan, Brooks, and DeBoer, ran to a time of 4:12.08.
• In the weight throw, Isabell Higgins secured a second place finish in the event as she recorded a mark of 14.12m (46' 4").
• Weathers was the lone BHSU athlete to compete in the high jump, clearing 1.35m (4' 5") for a fourth place finish.
• Erin Weibel won the pole vault for the second consecutive meet to begin the indoor season, clearing 3.50m (11' 5.75") for a career-best mark and moving into seventh all-time in the school record book's performance list. Tying for third in the event was Brekkan Lockhart who cleared 3.10m (10' 2").
• With third and fourth place finishes by Sophie Louderback and Afrank in the long jump, the pair recorded marks of 5.04m (16' 6.5") and 5.02m (16' 5.75") respectively.
• Louderback also notched a second place finish in the triple jump as she posted a mark of 10.36m (34' 0").
• In the final event of the day, Black Hills State took home three of the top-5 finishes in the shot put, as Christianna Wall led the way with a third place finish with a career-best throw of 11.65m (38' 2.75"). Rounding out the top-5 were Higgins and Cassidy Goddard with fourth and fifth place finishes respectively as they tallied marks of 11.60m (38' 0.75") and 11.24m (36' 10.5"). Additionally, Goddard's mark also set a new career-best mark in the event.

WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Team	Total Points
1. Black Hills State	139.5
2. Rocky Mountain	102.5
3. Chadron State	80.5
4. South Dakota Mines	46
5. Dakota Wesleyan	13
6. Spartan Distance Club	10

 
UP NEXT
Black Hill State will remain in Spearfish next weekend as the Yellow Jackets host the Myrle Hanson Open in the Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse on Saturday, January 25. The field events will start at 9:30 a.m. while it will be an 11:35 a.m. start time for the running events.