STANFORD/HAYWARD, Calif. – Three more Jackrabbits competed in California at the Stanford Invitational and San Francisco State Distance Carnival on Saturday.
Leading off the afternoon for South Dakota State was junior Krista Steele and sophomore Jaymie O’Connor.
Steele competed in the 800-meter run at the Stanford Invite.
On Saturday, the Monticello, Minn. native, added a personal-best mark of 2:10.13 in the 800. The mark ranks third all-time in school history, first in The Summit League and 38th in NCAA Division I (not including Saturday’s updated marks).
She has now cracked the school’s top 10 in the indoor 800 (school record); outdoor 800 (third all-time); indoor 600 (second all-time); indoor 400 (fourth all-time); along with the indoor 4x400 relay (sixth all-time, fourth leg) this year.
O’Connor competed in the 100-meter hurdles at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival, winning her first career meet in the event in 14.16 seconds – her second-best time of her career. She beat a field of 29 runners, boasting the best time by 0.5 seconds.
It was her sixth career top-three finish and the time ranks 76th in the NCAA Division I West performance list and third in The Summit League (not including Saturday’s updated marks).
On Friday, the Chateauguay, Quebec native, ran the 100 hurdles at the Stanford Invitational and finished 18th among 39 runners in 14.37 seconds.
Sophomore Miatta Flemister-Smith wrapped up the events for the Jacks, finishing 22nd in 24.98 in the 200-meter dash at the Stanford Inviational.
It is a season-best mark for Flemsiter-Smith and just 0.11 seconds away from her career-best mark, which is ninth on the school’s top 10 list.
The Champlin, Minn. native, has the league’s fourth-best time in the 200 (not including Saturday’s updated marks).
On Friday, she ran in the 100 at Stanford, finishing 12th in 12.20 seconds.
DAY 1 RECAP
Stanford Invitational
STANFORD, Calif. – Junior Rachel King churned out another school record this year, her fourth during the 2018 season, on Friday evening on the Cobb Track in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
She finished fifth in 10:01.14 in the invitational heat, resetting her personal-best mark and school record. As of Friday night, King was among the five fastest runners this season and has the nation’s fifth-fastest mark and 21st in the world.
“It’s mind-boggling to think about the rankings,” explained King. “It’s early in the season and the rankings probably won’t stay but it’s something amazing to talk about.”
The St. Michael, Minn. native, beat her previous-best by 9.57 seconds.
“I think the time was really good for me – breaking a PR by nine (9.57) seconds – but I didn’t break the (10-minute) barrier,” King said. “I was proud of my performance because I got caught in no-man’s land but I was able to come back.”
Junior Kyle Burdick wrapped up the evening in California by finishing second in the third section of the 5,000 meters in 14:05.14 (unofficial). The final places and official times will be updated as soon as they are released.
It was Burdick’s first outdoor race of the season, just a few seconds slower than his outdoor personal-best-mark of 14:00.84, which is third on the school’s top 10 list.
“I think Kyle did great to be in the mix at the end,” head coach Rod DeHaven discussed. “Kyle seemed a little sluggish on the legs after he made the big leap, but I think it was a good overall race for him.”
Women’s 100-meter Prelims – 12. Miatta Flemister-Smith, 12.20.
Flemister-Smith was just 0.01 seconds away from her personal-best mark she set in the first outdoor meet (Tulsa Duals: 3/16-17) of the 2018 season.
San Francisco State
Distance Carnival
HAYWARD, Calif. – Sophomore Chase Cayo and senior Trevor Capra kicked the morning off with two solid runs in the 10,000-meter run.
Cayo finished 12th in 29:41.81 with a personal-best mark and the school’s sixth-fastest time all-time. He now has his name on three top 10 lists this season – indoor 3,000 and 5,000 and outdoor 10,000.
“I expected to make a pretty big jump in my PR’s this year because I have trained hard for it,” said Cayo. “ Now I have the confidence to know that I will do well and improve.”
Capra finished a couple spots behind Cayo for a 14th-place finish in 29:52.03. He was 8.80 seconds away from his best mark in the event.
“I was happy with Chase’s performance and Trevor ran pretty well, too,” said DeHaven. “I think both will have to keep working to improve to make the NCAA West Prelims.”
Steele posted her personal-best mark in the 1,500-meter run, which won her heat on a last-lap surge.
Her time of 4:40.30 beats her previous-best mark by 14.45 seconds. Steele finished 38th overall at Chabot College.
Men’s 1,500-meter Finals – 31. Gabe Peters, 3:57.63.
Peters recorded his first 1,500-meter race of his Jackrabbit career and finished fourth in his heat.
Men’s 5,000-meter Finals
– 69. Micah Mather, 14:55.52; 99. Gabe Peters, 15:03.47.
Oral Roberts Invitational
TULSA, Okla. – The SDSU track and field team was well represented in Tulsa, Okla. at the Oral Robert Invitational, despite the team being split at three different meets in California and Oklahoma.
There were 13 Jackrabbits boasting 22 event personal-bests at the 2018 Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championship site.
“I think the meet went pretty well – a lot of kids had PRs today,” said associate head coach David St. John. “It’s a good experience for us to be at the track that will hold the outdoor championships and get the feel of the atmosphere of being here.”
Senior Vanessa Lane competed in four events throughout the afternoon, leading the team in two of them (long jump and 100-meter dash) while also posting two personal-bests – 100: 8, 12.33 (PR); 200: 14, 25.59; High Jump: 10, 4-9.75 meters; Long Jump: 14, 18-1.75m (PR).
Sophomores Haley Mottinger and Kayla Neff were responsible for the most personal-bests on the team with three each – which was every event they competed in.
Both competed in the same events, with Mottinger leading the Jackrabbits in the 100-meter hurdles – 200: 21, Neff, 26.34; 26, Mottinger, 26.47; 100 Hurdles: 9, Mottinger, 14.97; 12, Neff, 15.23; Long Jump: 15, Neff, 17-8.75; 20, Mottinger, 17-0.
Seven Jackrabbits had more than one personal-best on the day: Delaney Carlson (100, 200); Kristin Pistulka (100, 200); Jennifer Thill (100, 200); Sara Bohan (200, 100H); Allison Sebern (200); Kendyl Kreber (100H); Madison Mingo (HJ); Sam Johnson (200); Ray Munsterman (5,000); and Nick Wessels (110 Hurdles).
Men’s 100 Finals – 2, Landon Larson, 10.73; 7, Cameron Kuil, 10.93.
Women’s 100 Finals – 8, Vanessa Lane, 12.33; 14, Delaney Carlson, 12.53; 22, Chloe Bermel, 12.98; 23, Kristin Pistulka, 12.99; 24, Jennifer Thill, 13.00.
Larson notched his second career top-three finish in the event.
It was the first career 100 dash for Kuil.
Bermel also posted her first career 100 while it was Lane’s first of the 2018 season.
Lane, along with Carlson, Pistulka and Thill, posted personal-best marks in the event.
Lane beat her previous-best by 0.06 seconds; Carlson by 0.04 seconds; Pistulka by 0.10 seconds; and Thill by 0.03 seconds.
Men’s 200 Finals – 6, Landon Larson, 21.84; 8, Cameron Kuel, 21.89; 14, Sam Johnson, 22.23; 15, Jalen Williams, 22.29.
Women’s 200 Finals – 11, Delaney Carlson, 25.30; 14, Vanessa Lane, 25.59; 18, Allison Sebern, 26.12; 20, Jennifer Thill, 26.26; 21, Kayla Neff, 26.34; 23, Kristin Pistulka, 26.41; 26, Haley Mottinger, 26.47; 27, Chloe Bermel, 26.59; 28, Madison Gray, 26.70; 30, Sara Bohan, 26.95.
Johnson recorded his personal-best mark in the event, beating his previous-best by 0.30 seconds as Kuil posted his first career 200 as a Jackrabbit.
Seven Jackrabbits on the women’s side ran personal-best times, while two more ran the outdoor 200 dash for the first time in their careers.
Carlson, Pistulka, Neff, Thill, Mottinger, Bohan and Sebern all improved their marks.
Grey and Bermel notched their first outdoor marks in the event as Lane and Sebern posted their first 200 of the outdoor season.
Men’s 400 Finals – 11, Sam Johnson, 50.22; 15, Jalen Williams, 51.15.
Women’s 400 Finals – 14, Allison Sebern, 58.80; 17, Madison Gray, 1:00.34.
Johnson and Williams recorded their second 400 dashes of the outdoor season.
Sebern posted her second 400 dash of the season, with her best time so far in the event.
Gray recorded her first attached run as a Jackrabbit. She competed in one event (SDSU Last Chance – 400) unattached during the indoor season.
Men’s 800 Finals – 8, Matt Wilson, 1:56.06; 9, Josh Prohaska, 1:56.34; 15, Daniel Radtke, 1:59.22.
Wilson, Prohaska and Radtke notched season-best marks in the 800 race. It was their second attempt of the season in the event.
Wilson improved his season-best mark by 1.79 seconds; Prohaska by 2.48 seconds; and Radtke by 3.29 seconds. Prohaska was the closest to beating his personal-best, just 0.28 seconds away.
Men’s 1,500 Finals – 6, Lukas Nelson, 4:03.32; 10, Daniel Radtke, 4:09.34.
Women’s 1,500 Finals – 14, Rachel Propst, 5:04.64.
Nelson recorded his first track action during the 2018 campaign. His mark is already the second-fastest mark on the team behind freshman Gabe Peters’ mark set Friday night at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival (3:57.63).
Nelson was 6.34 seconds from his personal-best mark in the event.
Radtke notched his season-best mark, beating his Tulsa Dual time of 4:12.48. He is just 2.67 seconds from beating his career-best time.
Propst recorded her first mark of the outdoor season.
Men’s 5,000 Finals – 3, Lukas Nelson, 15:34.24; 5, Ray Munsterman, 15:54.67.
Women’s 5,000 Finals – 2, Emily Berzonsky, 17:55.57; 7, Rachel Propst, 18:56.31.
Nelson gathered his first top-three finish in five career attempts in both indoors and outdoors.
Munsterman added a personal-best in the event, which was his first attached outdoor 5,000 race for him. He beat his previous-best mark by 10.15 seconds.
Berzonsky posted her first career top-three finish in the event out of 12 career attempts in both indoors and outdoors.
Propst ran her first career 5,000m race as a Jackrabbit.
Men’s 110 Hurdles Finals – 4, Nick Wessels, 15.30; 11, Peter Bates, 16.83.
Women’s 100 Hurdles Finals – 9, Haley Mottinger, 14.97; 10, Sara Bohan, 15.12; 12, Kayla Neff, 15.23; 21, Kendyl Kreber, 16.49.
Both the men’s 110 hurdlers recorded their first outdoor marks in the 2018 season as Wessels notched a personal-best mark, beating his previous-best by 0.08 seconds.
All four Jackrabbits in the women’s 100m hurdles posted their personal-best marks.
Mottinger beat her personal-best by 0.03 seconds.
It was Bohan’s and Neff’s second career attempt at the event, as well as Kreber.
Bohan beat her best by 0.53 seconds, Neff by 1.39 seconds, and Kreber by 0.13 seconds.
Women’s 400 Hurdles Finals – 6, Sandra Gramer, 1:05.59.
Gramer recorded her season-best time in the 400 hurdles with her second attempt of the season. It was 0.38 seconds better than her previous-best mark.
Men’s Pole Vault Finals – 3, Trent Francom, 15-5.75.
Francom notched his second consecutive top-three finish for outdoor pole vault (only has competed in two meets).
It is his seventh career top-three finish out of his nine career meets he’s competed in, both indoors and outdoors.
Women’s High Jump Finals – 7, Maddie Mingo, 5-2.25; 10, Vanessa Lane, 4-9.75.
Mingo recorded her personal-best mark out of two career outdoor attempts. The mark of 5-2.25 is tied for her indoor PR, which she set three times throughout the indoor season.
Women’s Long Jump Finals – 14, Vanessa Lane, 18-1.75; 15, Kayla Neff, 17-8.75; 19, Sara Bohan, 17-1.5; 20, Haley Mottinger, 17-0; 24, Chloe Holtz, 16-2.5; 27, Kendyl Kreber, 15-9.5.
All the Jackrabbits competing in the women’s long jump recorded their first 2018 outdoor marks. It was the first career outdoor long jump attempts for Bohan and Holtz, along with Kreber.
Lane, Neff and Mottinger recorded personal-best marks in the event.
Lane improved her mark by 4 inches; Neff by 4.75 inches; Mottinger by 10.5 inches.
Women’s Triple Jump Finals – 8, Chloe Holtz, 36-3.5.
It was the second meet of the season competing in the triple jump for Holtz.
UP NEXT – The team will travel to Vermillion on April 7 to compete in the Dakota Duals.
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
