AZUSA AND LA VERNE, Calif. – The Black Hills State University men's and women's track & field teams continued action in day two of their trip to southern California, which included two school records, four top-10 times on the Yellow Jacket All-Time Performance List, six career-best times, two top-10 finishes, and six top-25 finishes, in a highly competitive field made up of mostly NCAA Division I athletes at both the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Leopard Invitational. On the women's side, Evie Boyd notched her second school record of the week as she ran to the time at the Bryan Clay Invitational, while just over eight miles away at the Leopard Invitational the pair of Emma Hofmeister and Ava Allen added top-10 all-time times also in the 5,000m run. On the men's side, Evan Smith captured the 800m run school record by becoming just the second Yellow Jacket in school history to record a sub-1:50 time in the event at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S TRACK & FIELD AT THE BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL

• Securing both the indoor and outdoor 800m run school records at BHSU, Evan Smith ran to an NCAA Provisional and career-best time of 1:48.58 to become just the second sub-1:50 runner in the event in program history. Finishing 25^th in the event out of 118 athletes, he was amongst the top-34 that were all separated by less than two seconds. He finished ahead of 62 NCAA Division I runners. Based off times entering the weekend, his time currently ranks eighth in NCAA Division II in the event.

HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S TRACK & FIELD AT THE LEOPARD INVITATIONAL

• Jaxson Straus led a trio of Yellow Jackets in the 5,000m run for a season-best time of 14:58.25 for 24^th place. In the field of 107 athletes, he finished ahead of ten NCAA Division I runners. Running to a career-best time of 15:06.37 for 29^th place and besting nine DI athletes was Dominic Eberle. Rounding out the trio with a time of 15:17.01 for 38^th place was Turner Christians, who finished ahead of eight DI runners.

HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD AT THE BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL

• Evie Boyd captured her second school record in as many days in southern California, once again re-breaking her own school record in the 5,000m run that she set two weeks ago as she ran a career-best time of 17:13.32 for 78^th place. In the field of 109 athletes, she finished ahead of 21 NCAA Division I runners in the event. 

HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD AT THE LEOPARD INVITATIONAL

• The action in La Verne began with a career-best time of 4:47.53 for 17^th place in the 1,500m run by Abigail Hardersen in a field of 71 athletes as she finished ahead of 15 NCAA Division I runners.
• The pair of Emma Hofmeister and Ava Allen ran to top-10 time in school history in the 5,000m run, clocking career-best times of 17:31.41 and 17:49.22 respectively for fourth and tenth place. Hofmeister's time ranks fourth in program history as she finished ahead of 14 NCAA Division I runners in a field of 78 athletes, while Allen's time ranks eighth in school history as she finished ahead of 11 DI athletes. Additionally, Mason Berg added a career-best time of 17:57.25 for 18^th place in the highly competitive event.

UP NEXT
Black Hills State University men's and women's track & field distance runners will be back in action once again on Saturday, April 18, at both the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays. Action at the Bryan Clay Invitation begins at 9:20 p.m. MT and continues throughout the day, while Evan Smith is set to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays at 6:05 p.m. MT.