South Dakota Track and Field athletes delivered strong performances on the first day of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska. The team set 10 new marks within their program’s all-time indoor top 10 list during Friday’s events.
Delaney Smith won the women’s weight throw with a personal best of 68 feet, 4.5 inches (20.84 meters), which ranks second in school history and places her 21st nationally in the NCAA for this event. Kali Ringstmeyer recorded a time of 7.53 seconds in the women’s 60-meter preliminaries, also reaching second place on South Dakota’s all-time indoor list. Ethan Baessler ran a finals time of 6.70 seconds in the men’s 60-meters, matching Ringstmeyer’s accomplishment by moving to second on the school’s top-10 chart.
Anna Willis achieved an indoor best pole vault mark of 14 feet, 8.25 inches, making her third all-time at South Dakota and sixth nationally this season according to NCAA rankings. She joins teammate Marleen Mülla, who is ranked third nationally, giving South Dakota two athletes among the country’s top ten pole vaulters.
In men’s pole vault, Caelan Harland cleared a height of 17 feet, 7 inches—currently the highest mark in the Summit League for this spring and ranking him 28th nationwide.
Other notable results include Geneva Timmerman winning the women’s mile with a personal record of 4:48.78 (third-best in school history) and Ellie Thomas taking first place in the women’s 600-meters at 1:32.59.
The Coyotes secured three event victories on day one: Delaney Smith (weight throw), Ellie Thomas (women’s 600-meters), and Geneva Timmerman (women’s mile).
Day two of competition at the Bob Devaney Sports Center is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
