Yellow Jackets to Compete at Jim Duncan Invitational while McGraw Heads West

SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University track & field teams will return to action once again this week with a majority of the team traveling to the Jim Duncan Invitational to compete on the famed "Blue Oval" of Drake Stadium. The lone student-athlete to be in action and not compete at Drake University will be Conor McGraw, who will travel to the Pacific Coast and compete against some of the top decathletes in the nation at the Bryan Clay Multis, hosted by Azusa Pacific.

BRYAN CLAY MULTIS DETAILS (MCGRAW TO COMPETE IN DECATHLON GROUP C)
Day 1 Date & Time: Thursday, April 10 - 11:20 a.m. PT / 12:20 a.m. MT
Location: Azusa, Calif. - Cougar Athletic Stadium

Day 2 Date & Time: Friday, April 11 - 12 p.m. PT / 1 p.m. MT
Location: Azusa, Calif. - Cougar Athletic Stadium

JIM DUNCAN INVITATIONAL DETAILS
Date & Time: Friday, April 11 – Field events begin at 11:30 a.m. MT / 12:30 p.m. CT while track events start at 1 p.m. MT / 2 p.m. CT
Location: Des Moines, Iowa – Drake Stadium

BLACK HILLS STATE MEN'S TRACK & FIELD STORYLINES

Mason Sartain posted one of the top performances of the day in the Yellow Jackets first home outdoor meet in three years last weekend as he recorded just his third and fourth sub-11 second 100m dash time of his career and did so for the first time since the spring of 2021. He started the day with a time of 10.87 in the prelims of the event and then went on to post the second-fastest time in program history with a 10.81 in the finals for third place. He currently ranks 16^th on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List in the 100m dash.
After breaking both the 60m (6.89) and 200m (22.32) dash school records during the indoor season, Jace Johnson has continued his move up the all-time top-10 of events during the outdoor season. Clocking career-best times of 10.83 during both the prelims and finals of the 100m dash at the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi, he jumped up to a tie for third on the programs all-time performance list. He currently ranks 17^th on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List in the 100m dash.
For the second consecutive week in Pueblo, Colorado, BHSU freshman Aiden O'Leary ended the month of March by collecting a career-best time in the 400m hurdles and moved his way up the school's all-time top-10 by clocking a winning time of 53.20 at the Chuck Hearing Invitational. The time ranks fourth all-time in school history and currently ranks second on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List.
Also making his presence known in the 400m hurdles at the Chuck Hearing Invitational last month, Flynn Johnston notched a career-best time of 54.74 to tie for eighth in program history and is currently seventh on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List.
Braden Anderson has become the top 800m runner is school history as he now holds both the indoor (1:50.93) and outdoor school records, becoming the first Yellow Jacket to ever clock a sub-1:50 time in the event as he crossed the finish line in 1:49.96 at the Chuck Hearing Invitational last month. The time of 1:49.96 gave Anderson an NCAA provisional time as he currently ranks fifth on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List and is eighth in all of NCAA Division II.
Currently ranking fifth on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List in the decathlon is Conor McGraw, who is set to compete in the multis for the first time this season on Thursday and Friday. His career-best point total in the decathlon sits at 6,272 points at the 2022 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships as he won a conference title that year. Thus far this year he has posted a new career-best mark in the javelin throw, notching a distance of 46.37m (152' 1") for eighth place at the Jack Christiansen Invitational last weekend.
It did not take long for Chase Maher to move into the top-10 all-time in program history in the outdoor pole vault, as the freshman from Rapid City cleared 4.85m (15' 11") for second place in his outdoor debut at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Invitational to rank third in school history. The NCAA provisional mark of 4.85m is tied for first on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List and is 22^nd in all of NCAA Division II. He has since won the pole vault event in back-to-back meets at the Jack Christiansen Invitational (4.57m (15' 0")) and the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi (4.70m (15' 5")).
Cracking the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List in the hammer throw two weeks ago was Ryan Baker at the Jack Christiansen Invitational as he secured a top-10 finish at the Colorado State University hosted meet. He notched a career-best mark of 47.43m (155' 7") for ninth place in the event and is now ninth in the Yellow Jacket record books. Additionally, he currently ranks 16^th on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List.
The 4x100 relay team of Landon Scalise, Jace Johnson, Jude Guevara, and Mason Sartain had another strong performance at last weekend's Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi, as they ran to a season-best time of 41.73 at Lyle Hare Stadium. The time bests their previous top time of the year by 0.12 seconds as they remain ranked fourth on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List. Additionally, on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List they currently rank seventh.
Alex Kemp is in his first season as the head coach of the Black Hills State men's and women's track & field teams.

BLACK HILLS STATE WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD STORYLINES

Securing an NCAA provisional time that currently ranks second on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List and 24^th in all of NCAA Division II, Kendall Tietjen ran to the win in the 400m hurdles with a career-best time of 1:01.37 at the Chuck Hearing Invitational two weeks ago. Additionally, the time moved her up one spot on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List to second in program history.
Joining Tietjen in the top-10 all-time in the 400m hurdles in school history is Carlie DeBoer, who ran to the win in the event at the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi with a time of 1:04.27 last weekend. She now ranks fifth in program history and is seventh on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List.
This past weekend's home meet at Lyle Hare Stadium set the stage for Evie Boyd to crack the top-10 of the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List in the 3,000m steeplechase as she cruised to the win with a time of 11:24.39, besting second place by 46.26 seconds. The time ranks tenth in program history and is currently 13^th on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List.
Sylvia Brown set a new career-best outdoor time and closed the gap to the school record in the 5,000m run last weekend at the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi as she ran to the win and posted a time of 17:29.66, which remains second all-time on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List. The time currently ranks ninth on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List. Additionally, she remains the school record holder in the 10,000m run with a time of 35:32.14 which she recorded at the 2023 Bryan Clay Invitational.
Alivia Weathers ranks within the top-10 of the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List in a pair of events, ranking sixth in the javelin throw with a career-best mark of 37.44m (122' 10"), and then she ranks eighth in the heptathlon after she totaled a career-best 3,928 points, both of which occurred at the 2024 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She made her season debut in the heptathlon this past weekend at the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi, winning the event with 3,906 points as she collected wins in the 100m hurdles (16.12), shot put (11.15m (36' 7"), and javelin throw (36.81m (120' 9")). Her time in the 100m hurdles and distance in the shot put set new career-bests in each.
Erin Weibel continues to set new top marks week after week as she currently ranks seventh in the school's record books after posting a career-best outdoor mark of 3.50m (11' 5.75"), clearing the height to tie for the win at the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi last weekend. She is currently tied for fourth on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List.
Tying Weibel for the win in the pole vault this past weekend in the home meet at Lyle Hare Stadium was Brekkan Lockhart, who added her name to the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List as she also cleared a career-best mark of 3.50m (11' 5.75"). She is currently tied for fourth on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List and is tied for seventh in the school record books.
The third pole vaulter to find a spot in the school's all-time top ten this outdoor season was Gretchen Adamski, who made it a sweep of the top-3 for the Yellow Jackets at the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi as she cleared 3.35m (10' 11.75") for third place in the meet. The new career-best mark moved her into eighth on the RMAC Outdoor Performance List and a tie for tenth in program history.
Alex Kemp is in his first season as the head coach of the Black Hills State men's and women's track & field teams.