PUEBLO, Colo. – The Black Hills State University men's and women's track & field programs closed out a successful opening weekend to the outdoor schedule on Saturday at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Invitational as they ended the meet with 22 top-10 finishes at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl. On the men's side it was pole vaulter Chase Maher who posted the best finish of the weekend, recording a second place finish while also capturing an NCAA Provisional mark and setting the third-best mark in program history in the event. He was one of six top-5 finishes on the men's side that added towards the 15 top-10 marks. On the women's side it was Kendall Tietjen who posted the best finish of the weekend for the Yellow Jackets as she ran to a fifth place mark in the 400m hurdles, one of seven top-10 finishes this weekend for the women's team.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S TRACK & FIELD

• The pair of Turner Christians and Marcos Valerio ran to 29^th and 31^st place finishes respectively in the first event of the day, the 10,000m run, as they posted times of 32:35.92 and 32:41.23 in the event. Valerio notched a new career-best time in the event.
• Landrum Wiley collected a fifth place finish in the 3,000m steeplechase, as he ran to a time of 10:00.27 in his collegiate debut in the event.
• The 4x100 relay team of Jude Guevara, Mason Sartain, Jace Johnson, and Casen Willson recorded an eighth place finish as they notched a time of 42.69.
• Jaxson Straus led the way in the 1,500m run, securing a 15^th place finish in the event and posting a time of 4:04.24 in his outdoor collegiate debut.
• Chase Maher led a trio of top-10 finishers in the pole vault, clearing a career-best 4.85m (15' 11") for an NCAA provisional mark and the third-best mark in Yellow Jacket program history in the first outdoor meet of the year. Also, in the top-10 at CSUP for BHSU was McKalester Johns who was sixth as he cleared 4.40m (14' 5.25") and Shane Karajanis who was eighth as he cleared 4.25m (13' 11.25").
• The Green & Gold also saw a trio of top-10 finishers in the long jump, led by Seth Wilson who was seventh with a mark of 6.46m (21' 2.5"). Joining him in the top-10 was Trennan Pearson who was eighth with a jump of 6.45m (21' 2") and Casen Willson who was tenth with a career-best jump of 6.14m (20' 1.75"). Just outside of the top-10 was Javin Walker with a mark of 6.04m (19' 9.75") for 11^th place in the event.
• Anthony Rosenstrauch rounded out the top-10 of the discus throw, recording a mark of 42.92m (140' 10"), while Conor McGraw and Logan Class finished 15^th and 23^rd respectively in the event. McGraw posted a mark of 40.52m (132' 11") and Class notched a mark of 38.85m (127' 5") in his collegiate debut in the event.
• Jayden Curtis ran to a time of 15.99 for 17^th place in the 110m hurdles, while Bridger Anderson clocked a time of 18.28 for 30^th place, as the pair competed in their first collegiate outdoor race.
• Flynn Johnston collected a tenth place finish in the 400m dash, running to a career-best time of 50.08 in the event. Also competing for the Yellow Jackets and recording a 27^th place finish was Drew Lehman who notched a time of 51.96.
• Pearson captured a third place finish in the high jump competition, clearing a mark of 1.85m (6' 0.75") in his first collegiate outdoor meet.
• Johnson led the way in the 100m dash, matching his career-best time that ranks sixth in BHSU history, crossing the finish line in 10.86 for 20^th place. Also, in the event Sartain and Guevara were neck and neck for 35^th and 36^th place with times of 11.14 and 11.16 respectively. Guevara's time set a new career-best mark while Sartain tied his career-best time.
• Braden Anderson tallied a third place finish in the 800m run, running to a time of 1:55.13 in the event. Straus was the next highest finishing Yellow Jacket with a time of 2:05.62 for 26^th place.
• Notching a fourth place finish in the 400m hurdles was Aiden O'Leary, running to a time of 54.23 in his collegiate debut in the event, moving into the BHSU top-10 and ranking sixth in program history in the event.
• Led by Johnson and McGraw in the 200m dash, the pair ran to times of 22.64 and 22.98 respectively for 29^th and 38^th place finishes.
• The 4x400 relay team of O'Leary, Lehman, Johnston, and Anderson recorded a fourth place finish in the event with a time of 3:25.58.

HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD

• Beginning the day with an 11^th place finish and running to a new career-best time in the 10,000m run was Abigail Robberson who clocked a time of 38:55.66 in the event.
• In the first field event of the day, the freshman duo of Cassidy Goddard and Isabell Higgins led the way in the discus throw with 14^th and 18^th place finishes respectively and marks of 39.01m (128' 0") and 36.99m (121' 4"). Also competing in the event and recording a 24^th place finish with a mark of 32.84m (107' 9") was Christianna Wall.
• Erin Weibel and Brekkan Lockhart tallied top-10 finishes in the pole vault. Weibel cleared 3.30m (10' 10") on her first attempt for seventh place, while Lockhart cleared 3.30m (10' 10") on her second attempt for ninth place as she matched her career-best. Also competing in the event was Gretchen Adamski who cleared 3.15m (10' 4") for 11^th place.
• Rounding out the top-10 in the long jump was Sophie Louderback, who recorded a jump of 5.28m (17' 4"). Also close behind was Saraya Afrank, who was 14^th with a career-best mark of 5.18m (17' 0").
• The pair of Katelyn Krieger and Sylvia Brown paced the Yellow Jackets in the 1,500m run, recording times of 4:52.58 and 4:54.08 for 21^st and 23^rd place respectively.
• The pair of Alessandra Broussard and Alivia Weathers finished 14^th and 19^th respectively in the high jump respectively, clearing 1.45m (4' 9") and 1.35m (4' 5").
• Weathers was the lone BHSU athlete to be competing in the 100m hurdles, posting a time of 17.29 for 23^rd place.
• The duo of KyleeJo Symonds and Elissa Kipp notched a 13^th and 23^rd place finish in the shot put, posting marks of 10.72m (35' 2") and 9.56m (31' 4.5") respectively.
• Krieger and Brooklyn Brooks notched top-10 marks in the 800m run, as Krieger ran to a time of 2:23.70 for sixth place and Brooks rank to a time of 2:26.72 for tenth place in the event. Additionally, Norah Entzi tallied a 14^th place finish in the event with a time of 2:31.64.
• Kendall Tietjen and Carlie DeBoer notched top-10 finishes in the 400m hurdles, as Tietjen ran to a fifth place finish and time of 1:04.13 while DeBoer crossed the finish line tenth with a time of 1:06.66.
• The freshman duo of Afrank and Broussard led the Yellow Jackets in the 200m dash, clocking career-best times of 26.47 and 27.10 respectively for 23^rd and 33^rd place finishes.

UP NEXT
The Black Hills State track & field teams will return to The Centennial State next weekend when they are set to compete at the Jack Christiansen Invitational hosted by Colorado State University. The meet will take place Friday, March 28, and Saturday, March 29, at the Jack Christiansen Track in Fort Collins, Colorado.