SPEARFISH, S.D. – With conference championships in the books and now in a waiting period until the selection of the national championship participants next weekend, the Black Hills State University track & field team is looking to clock some of their fastest times of the year in three last chance meets on Friday and Saturday in hopes of posting NCAA Provisional times. The trio of Aiden O'Leary (400m hurdles), Braden Anderson (800m run) and Kendall Tietjen (400m hurdles) will make the trip to Nebraska to compete in the Concordia Twilight on Friday and the Loper Twilight on Saturday, while competing and making the trip to the west coast again will be Sylvia Brown (10,000m run) and Evie Boyd (3,000m steeplechase) at the Franson Last Chance on Friday and Saturday respectively.
 
CONCORDIA TWILIGHT DETAILS
Date & Time: Friday, May 9 – track events are set to begin at 3:30 p.m. MT / 4:30 p.m. CT
Location: Seward, Neb. – Bulldog Stadium
 
FRANSON LAST CHANCE DETAILS
Date & Time: Friday, May 9 & Saturday, May 10 – Friday night's distance carnival is set to begin at 5 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. MT, while Saturday night's distance carnival will start at 7 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. MT
Location: Azusa, Calif. – Cougar Athletic Stadium
 
LOPER TWILIGHT DETAILS
Date & Time: Saturday, May 10 – track events are set to begin at 4 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. CT
Location: Kearney, Neb. – Kearney High School
 
BLACK HILLS STATE MEN'S TRACK & FIELD STORYLINES

• Aiden O'Leary made his return to the track last week during the Doug Max Invitational, clocking a new career-best time of 52.80 in the 400m hurdles and climbing his way up the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List to second. His time in the meet hosted by Colorado State was an NCAA Provisional time, as he now looks to continue moving up into the national conversation, currently holding the 46^th fastest time in DII in the event.
• Braden Anderson is coming off a Second Team All-RMAC performance at the RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where he finished fourth in the 800m run with a time of 1:50.11. This year he has solidified himself as the top 800m runner in school history as he now holds both the indoor (1:50.93) and outdoor school records as he became 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. The time of 1:49.96 gave Anderson an NCAA provisional time as he currently ranks 18^th in all of NCAA Division II. During the Green & Gold's west coast trip earlier this outdoor season, he ran times of 1:50.69 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, besting 44 NCAA Division I runners, and 1:50.87 at the Mt. SAC Relays, besting a pair of DI runners and finishing within the top-20. In total he has ran to four sub-1:51 times during the outdoor portion of the schedule.
• 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

• Kendall Tietjen recorded a new career-best time of 1:01.35 during the prelims of the 400m hurdles at the RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, keeping her second on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List. The time at the conference championships once again was an NCAA Provisional time, which ranks 46^th in DII. In the finals she went on to run a time of 1:01.78 for fourth place and Second Team All-RMAC honors. Earlier this spring during the Green & Gold's trip out west, she posted a time of 1:01.59 at the Mt. SAC Relays to come within just 0.22 seconds of her career-best time at the moment for a 20^th place finish and best ten NCAA Division I runners in the process. She has run to a sub-1:02 time on four occasions during the outdoor season.
• Evie Boyd looks to snag a last minute NCAA Provisional time with hopes of another strong performance after running to a career-best time of 11:22.10 in the 3,000m steeplechase at the RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The time placed her tenth in the event at the conference meet, ranks tenth on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List, and is just 22.41 seconds off the NCAA standard. Additionally, during the Green & Gold's California trip, she broke the school record in the 5,000m run as she posted a career-best time of 17:22.89 for third place in a field of 65 athletes as she bested 17 NCAA Division I runners.
• Sylvia Brown eyes one of the final spots in the 10,000m run at the national championships, looking to drop her time at this weekend's last chance meets and move into the top-22 nationally. She currently ranks 26^th nationally in the event, after shattering her own school record and previous career-best by 28.21 seconds at the Bryan Clay Invitational as she posted an NCAA Provisional time of 35:03.93 for eighth place in a field of 55 athletes while besting 31 NCAA Division I runners during the team's trip to California. She also ranks third in program history in the 5,000m run after clocking a time of 17:29.66 to win the Scott Walkinshaw Open & Multi.
• Alex Kemp is in his first season as the head coach of the Black Hills State men's and women's track & field teams.