MANKATO, Minn. – University of Sioux Falls Track & Field put together another strong weekend as they close in on their championship meets with multiple top-10 marks and national qualifying performances at the Ted Nelson Classic in Mankato, Minn. and the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
 
Steven Brown kicked off the weekend at the Frank Sevigne Invite at the University of Nebraska with a fourth-place finish in the men's 5,000-meter run. Brown clocked a 14:50.38, missing his personal best by two seconds.
 
Continuing competition In Lincoln, Taryn Ceglowski looked to improve her school record time in the women's 800-meter run. The freshman from Salida, Colo. took second in a Division-I heavy event, turning in a 2:10.84, which was less than a second off her PR and fast enough to beat runners from Division I schools Arizona State, Maryland, Nebraska and North Dakota State. Ceglowski's previous best of 2:10.70 still stands at No. 8 in NCAA Division II this season.
 
Also searching to improve their provisional qualifying times, Mason Phillips and Zach Lundberg competed in the men's mile at the University of Nebraska-hosted meet. Phillips placed fourth at 4:09.17 and Lundberg placed fifth in 4:09.68. Phillips' school record time of 4:07.51 still stands in the top 15 of DII this season while Lundberg improved his provisional qualifying time and ranks 26th among all DII runners this year and is now the No. 2 time in USF history.
 
On Saturday at the Ted Nelson Classic, USF's women's distance medley relay squad started the meet with a victory and top-10 time in the USF record books. Kiana Kraft, Chloe Peterson, Laura Kunz and Rachel Huffman combined in their respective legs (1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600 meters) for a 12:37.57 time, which was more than 30 seconds faster than the second place squad.
 
Peterson had a big day individually as well, placing fifth in the long jump with a personal-best mark. The freshman from Elizabeth, Colo. hit a best mark of 5.30 meters (17 feet-4.50 inches), which is the new No. 10 mark in USF history.
 
Adding to an impressive day by her younger sister, Kimberly Peterson returned to competition and won the women's pole vault. Already an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships, Peterson again cleared the automatic standard with a 4.02-meter (13-2.25) mark. Hannah Linder placed fourth in the event, clearing 3.42 meters (11-2.50). In the men's pole vault, Connor Dejong hit a personal-best and took third by clearing 4.72 meters (15-5.75).
 
Jonathon Rowe flirted with his own USF record in the 60-meter dash, taking fourth in a deep field. After advancing to the finals with top-six times in the prelims and semifinals, Rowe clocked a 6.94-second time to take fourth and missing his record by 0.02 second.
 
Billy Beseman continues to round into form and he placed second in the men's 1,000-meter run. After his teammate Phillips took down his 1k record a week ago, Beseman came close to his former PR with a time of 2:30.53 on Saturday. Freshman Logan Hansen made his way onto the USF top 10 list with an eighth-place time of 2:34.20, which ranks 10th in USF history. Keegan Day completed USF's placers in the mid-distance events as she placed eighth in the women's 1,000-meter run with a 3:07.84.
 
Continuing a successful day in the field events, USF placed four more in the horizontal jumps. Ron Gray hit a PR in the long jump, placing fifth with a 6.43-meter (21-1.25) leap. Cooper Wood recorded the first of his two top-eight marks in the long jump, recording a best jump of 6.19 meters (20-3.75) in the long jump before taking fifth in the triple jump at 13.14 meters (43-1.50). In the women's triple jump, Clara Paul jumped 11.13 meters (36-6.25) to place eighth.
 
Derrick Sheppard headlined the men's throws with two top-eight finishes. In the weight throw, Sheppard recorded a best mark of 17.52 meters (57-5.75) to take fifth. In the shot put, Sheppard tied with teammate Chandler Nelson for eighth place with matching 14.72-meter (48-3.50) tosses. Nelson improved his No. 10 mark in USF history with a new personal best.
 
USF Track & Field returns to action at the South Dakota State Indoor Classic in Brookings, S.D. on Feb. 9-10.