SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's and women's track & field teams picked up another pair of team victories on Saturday in the Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse as the men's team tallied 105.5 points and the women's team collected 115.5 points. On the men's side Jayden Curtis was the lone individual event winner as he took home the 60m dash title, while on the women's side Saraya Afrank won the 200m dash, Erin Weibel won the pole vault, and Sophie Louderback won both the long jump and triple jump. While the rest of the team was competing at home in Spearfish, the pair of Braden Anderson and Kendall Tietjen competed at the Jim Emmerich Alumni Meet hosted by South Dakota State, and they each recorded top-8 times in the highly competitive 800m run event.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S TRACK & FIELD

• Black Hills State saw a pair of runners reach the finals of the 60m dash as Landon Scalise and Jude Guevara recorded times of 7.13 and 7.21 respectively in the prelims before clocking times of 7.15 and 7.20 for fifth and sixth place in the finals. Guevara's time of 7.20 in the finals set a new career-best in the event for himself.
• Scalise also led the way for the Yellow Jackets in the 200m dash, notching a time of 23.53 for sixth place in the event.
• Javin Walker was the lone BHSU athlete in the 400m dash as he ran to a sixth place finish with a career-best time of 54.18.
• Black Hills State took three of the top-5 placings in the 800m run, led by a pair of freshmen as Drew Lehman and Jonah Rigg recorded career-best times of 1:58.16 and 1:58.67 respectively for second and third place in the event. Rounding out the top-5 was Flynn Johnston who notched a career-best time of 1:59.98.
• In Brookings, Braden Anderson posted the third-best time in the RMAC and was just 0.1 seconds off tying his own school record, while also being just 0.03 seconds off the NCAA Division II provisional time as he clocked a 1:52.34 in the 800m run. In a meet that featured some of the top competition from around the region, he placed fourth in the event and finished ahead of 11 NCAA Division I athletes.
• Caden Strasser collected a top-5 finish in the mile for the Yellow Jackets, running to a time of 4:30.90 for fifth place.
• In the 3,000m run, Alberto Spotted recorded a sixth place finish for the Green & Gold, clocking a career-best time of 9:10.00.
• Jayden Curtis secured a win in the 60m hurdles, posting a time of 8.70, while Bridger Anderson tied for third place with a career-best time of 9.49 in the event.
• Trennan Pearson earned a fourth place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.88m (6' 2") on his second attempt.
• The trio of Dawson Lindeen, McKalester Johns, and Chase Maher collected top-6 finishes in the pole vault, placing fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively with each athlete clearing 4.25m (13' 11.25") in the event.
• Four Yellow Jackets finished within the top-8 of the long jump competition, as Seth Wilson, Curtis, Pearson, and Walker earned fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth respectively. Wilson recorded a mark of 6.40m (21' 0"), Curtis posted a mark of 6.35m (20' 10"), Pearson notched a mark of 6.16m (20' 2.5"), and Walker tallied a mark of 6.08m (19' 11.5").
• Seth Wilson and Casen Wilson collected top-5 finishes in the triple jump for the Green & Gold, recording a fourth place finish with a career-best jump of 12.03m (39' 5.75") and a fifth place finish with a jump of 11.90m (39' 0.5") respectively.
• In the shot put Matthew LoFaso tallied a second place finish with a throw of 14.37m (47' 1.75").
• With a career-best mark of 15.52m (50' 11") for sixth place in the weight throw, Ryan Baker moved into tenth all-time on the Black Hills State Track & Field Performance List. Also earning points for the Yellow Jackets in the event was Anthony Rosenstrauch who recorded a career-best mark of 15.26m (50' 0.75") for seventh place in the event.

MEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Team	Total Points
1. Black Hills State	105.5
2. Rocky Mountain	104
3. Chadron State	103
4. Montana State Billings	88.5
5. Natrona County	36
6. Dickinson State	13
7. South Dakota Mines	8

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD

• Saraya Afrank was the lone Black Hills State athlete to advance to the finals of the 60m dash, clocking the sixth fastest time in the prelims at 8.18 before finishing seventh in the finals with another time of 8.18.
• Afrank collected a win in the 200m dash for the Yellow Jackets, posted a career-best time of 26.91 in the event.
• Four BHSU athletes finished within the top-8 of the 800m run, led by freshman Carlie DeBoer who was fifth with a career-best time of 2:28.62. Rounding out the top-8 of the event was Norah Entzi who was sixth with a time of 2:30.28, Brooklyn Brooks who was seventh with a career-best time of 2:31.19, and Emma Smith who was eighth with a career-best time of 2:31.40.
• In Brookings, Kendall Tietjen recorded an eighth place finish with a time of 2:18.83 which set a new career-best and moved herself into ninth on the school's all-time performance list. In the meet featuring some of the top regional contenders, she finished ahead of six NCAA Division I athletes.
• Katelyn Krieger paced the Green & Gold in the mile, running to a second place finish with a time of 5:18.43, while Entzi notched a seventh place finish with a time of 5:35.15.
• The lone Yellow Jacket athlete competing in the 60m hurdles was Alessandra Broussard who clocked a career-best time of 12.22 for seventh place.
• Black Hills State recorded four of the top-7 place finishers in the pole vault, including Erin Weibel and Brekan Lockhart who went 1-2 in the event. Weibel earned her third consecutive win the event to begin the season, posting yet another career-best mark of 3.55m (11' 7.75") to remain seventh all-time on the school's performance list. Lockhart cleared 3.25m (10' 8") for second place on the day. Other Yellow Jackets earning team points included Hope Bryant who was sixth as she cleared a career-best mark of 2.65m (8' 8.25") and Lauryn Bennett was seventh as she also cleared 2.65m (8' 8.25").
• Sophie Louderback collected her second long jump win of the season as she recorded a mark of 5.26m (17' 3.25"). Also competing in the event for BHSU was Afrank who finished fourth with a mark of 5.03m (16' 6"), Broussard who finished fifth with a career-best mark of 4.92m (16' 1.75"), and Alivia Weathers who finished eighth with a mark of 4.62m (15' 2").
• Louderback earned her second event win of the day as she posted a mark of 10.48m (34' 4.75").
• Black Hills State also saw four athletes finish within the top-8 of the shot put, including two within the top-3. Leading the Yellow Jackets was Isabel Higgins who was second with a career-best throw of 12.35m (40' 6.25") and Christianna Wall who was third with a career-best throw of 12.07m (39' 7.25"). Also, in the top-8 of the event was Cassidy Goddard who was fifth with a career-best throw of 11.61m (38' 1.25") and Kylee Jo Symonds who was eighth with a throw of 10.63m (34' 10.5").
• BHSU also secured three top-8 placings in the weight throw, once again led by Higgins who was second with a career-best throw of 14.25m (46' 9"). Rounding out the events top-8 was Wall who was seventh with a mark of 13.50m (44' 3.5") and Goddard who was eighth with a career-best mark of 13.06m (42' 10.25"). 

WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Team	Total Points
1. Black Hills State	115.5
2. Rocky Mountain	105
3. Montana State Billings	100
4. Chadron State	72
5. Natrona County	20
6. Dickinson State	8
7. Spartan Distance Club	3

 
UP NEXT
The Black Hills State track & field teams will travel to Brookings, South Dakota, next weekend to compete in the SDSU D2/NAIA Open at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Day one of the 2-day meet kicks-off on Friday, January 31, with the pentathlon and heptathlon events starting at 3 p.m. while the track events then begin at 5:30 p.m. later that afternoon.