RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines men's and women's indoor track and field teams competed in the first day of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Championships Friday at the Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse, hosted by Black Hills State University in Spearfish.
After five of 18 events, the Hardrocker men scored two points, good for 12th place, while the 'Rocker women did not score a team point after six of 17 events.
Placing in the top eight for the men was the distance medley relay team of junior
Owen Hansmann, sophomore
Eddie Johnson, freshman
Cole Dobberstein and freshman
Cole Tatro taking seventh in 10:42.71. That time was the seventh on the Hardrocker top 10 marks.
In the two-day men's heptathlon, junior
Aidan Thompson is currently in second place with 2,781 points after performing well in several events, including picking up first in the high jump. Thompson will compete in three more events on Saturday.
Freshman
Lane Thomas finished eighth in the 400m dash preliminaries in 51.21. The top eight advanced to Saturday's finals. Also in the event for the Hardrockers, junior
Ethan Pitlick was 13
th in 51.55.
In the 60m hurdles, senior
Taegen Wells just missed qualifying for Saturday's final, placing ninth in 8.37 (8.369). That time put him fourth on the top 10 marks at South Dakota Mines. Freshman
Merek Ranstrom was 12
th in 8.79 and freshman
Dominick Giggee was 14
th in 8.93.
Also for the men on Friday, freshman
Zachary Vanicek was 11
th in the pole vault at 4.16m (13-7 ¾), senior
Reid Kaiser was 14
th in the weight throw at 15.63m (51-3 ¼) and junior
Isaiah Thurman was 17
th at 14.44m (47-4 ½) and freshman
Weston Pierce was 17
th in the long jump at 5.54m (18-2).
For the Hardrocker women on Friday, the distance medley relay team of senior
Abbie Saline, junior
Katie Magni, senior
Adeline Wilson and junior
Allyson Heiden was ninth in 13:10.03 and freshman
Clare Fischer was 14
th in the 5,000-meter run in 18:15.30.
In the pentathlon, freshman
Josie Byrne is currently 17
th with 1,993 points and junior
Abby Krumpus is in 18
th with 1,856 points.
The Hardrocker men and women continue in the RMAC Indoor Championships Saturday with action beginning at 10 a.m. Among the top men also competing will be sophomore
Thomas Greisen in the 800, freshman
Sawyer Nelson in the triple jump and high jump and freshman
Cooper Stevens in the shot put. For the 'Rocker women, graduate student
Jaycie Stubbs will compete in the shot put. Both teams will compete in the 4X400 relay.
UP NEXT
The Hardrockers finish the conference championships on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. If the hardrockers have any qualifiers, the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships are scheduled for Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 in Pittsburg, Kan if . The Hardrocker men and women are scheduled to open the outdoor season Friday, March 15 at the Dr. Don Caprioglio Early Bird Invitational in Pueblo, Colo.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
