BILLINGS, Mont. --- The South Dakota School of Mines men's and women's track and field teams competed very well at the MSU Billings / Rocky Mountain College Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Spring Open this past Saturday in Billings, Montana.

Jonathon Murray had another outstanding weekend. The senior from Yuma, Arizona was the event winner for both the 200- and 400-meter dashes as well as a member of the 4x400 relay team, which took first, and on the 4x100 team that registered a second-place finish.

Murray clocked a time of 21.94 seconds in the 200, which was his fastest of the season and ranks him sixth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. His time of 48.30 in the 400 was also the fastest this season and ranks him second in the conference.  

In the 4x400, Tel Bostwick, Korder Cropsey, Murray and Kevin Ptak registered a time of 3:19.38 to take top honors, which was their fastest of the season. The Hardrocker squad is currently ranked second on the RMAC performance list.
 Cropsey, Jeremy Gonzales, Murray and Ptak earned second place in the 4x100 race with a mark of 42.37 and put them in fourth in the RMAC.

The SD Mines pole vaulters also doubled up on Saturday with event wins. Erica Keeble took top honors in the women division after clearing a height of 3.60 meters while Casey Skillingstad earned first place in the men's division registering a mark of 4.55 meters. Keeble ranks second the RMAC while Skillingstad is listed in sixth in the standings.

Andrew Ferris also had a strong outing this weekend, earning second place in the men's 800 run, clocking a time of 1:56.91, while teammate Jacob Huber came in third in a time of 1:57.51 and Isaac Orozco had a 1:59.78 for fourth place. Ferris followed that with a third-place showing in the 1,500 run in a time of 4:05.93.

Other Hardrocker highlights include:

• Adeline Straatmeyer took second in the women's 800 run in a time of 2:28.77 and followed that up with a third-place showing in the women's 1,500 run (4:52.73.
• Westley Siebdrath posted a mark of 14.08 in the men's shot put to take fourth place and teammate Warren Minerich was a spot back in fifth place with a distance of 13.81. Siebdrath followed that with runner-up honors in the hammer throw (46.47 meters).
• Ptak took second place in the men's 400 (49.12) before notching a fourth-place finish in the men's 200 in a time of 22.54.
• Annalie Janus took fourth in the women's 100 dash (12.93) and then finished fifth in the 200 dash (27.25).
• Conner Christenson and Aaron Campbell both cleared a height of 1.84 meters during the men's high jump to take a share third place.
• Olivia Jurrens secured fifth place in the women's discus after a toss of 35.52 meters.
• Cropsey registered fourth place in the 400 dash in a time of 50.20.

A small group of Hardrocker distance runners traveled to St. Louis Missouri over the weekend to compete in the Washington University Distance Carnival.
In the women's 10K race, Taylor Bright clocked a time of 45:09.98 and Laramie Giles was two spots back in 47^th with a mark 46:43.36. In the men's 10K, Ryan Moen crossed the finish line in a time of 32:55.42 to take 52^nd, Anders Watt was 60^th in a time of 33:21.00, Theron Singleton clocked a 34:26.73 for 79^th place, and Joel Haas was 95^th with a mark of 37:31.44.