MANKATO, MINN. – The University of Sioux Falls Men's Track and Field Team finished third for the second consecutive year at the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships after strong showings in the distance and relay events. The USF Women's team, led by Taryn Ceglowski and Chloe Peterson, also tied a program- best result as they took sixth overall as events concluded Saturday at the NSIC Championships in Mankato, Minn.

The USF men's team, which led after day one, claimed third after amassing 109.50 points over the NSIC Championships. The Cougars finished in the top three for the fifth time as a member of the NSIC. USF's finished second in both 2015 and 2017.

"It was an exciting two-day championship meet for USF," said USF Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Doug Petersen. "We put ourselves in a position to place in many events and the athletes stepped up and performed. During the two days of competition, we had several outstanding individual and relay efforts which helped us place third in the men's competition and sixth in the women's. I'm very proud of these athletes and what we accomplished this indoor season," said Petersen.

Men's preseason favorite Minnesota State was first with 212 points with U-Mary taking second with 115 points. The USF women's team took sixth after accumulating 43.50 points throughout the weekend. U-Mary captured the title with 163.50 points, followed by Minnesota State, second (115.50); Augustana, third (111); Winona State, fourth (75.50); and Minnesota Duluth, fifth, 50 points.

Friday's Recap
USF was able to take a first-day lead (53.5 points) at the meet as men's DMR team of Jase Kraft, Logan Hansen, Billy Beseman, and Mason Phillips claimed the title with a stellar clocking 10:06.50 which was an NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark and set the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championship record. USF was also aided by a big time performance in the pole vault from Tristan Zawadzki, who won a title with an NCAA DII provisional mark 5.09-meter (16' 8.25") jump, and sophomore Patrick Hagan and senior Chandler Nelson, who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the men's weight throw.

The USF Women's ended the Friday session with 17 points and in fifth overall. Sophomore Chloe Peterson gained eight points for USF in the women's long jump after a second-place finish of 5.65-meters (18' 6.50"), while freshman Carolyn Groeger also scored points for USF as she finished fourth in the woman's pole vault after going 3.35-meters (10' 11.75"). The women's  DMR team of Kiara Matten, Zoe Cigard, Sadie Thompson, and Rebecca Goertzen took fifth place with a 12:34.51 clocking as they also scored points.

Saturday's men's team results
Senior All-American Mason Phillips claimed first in the men's 800-meter run with an NCAA DII provisional time of 1:53.24. Phillips holds the USF record in the 800-meter run  with a 1:50.92 clocking which he posted in the 2018 season, but today's result is the second fastest in USF history.

USF had three runners finish in the top-eight in the men's 5,000-meter run. Senior Steven Brown took second with a 14:44.15 clocking. He was followed by Phillips in fifth at 14:55.97 result, while junior Zach Lundberg was eighth at 15:01.62.

In the men's 1,000-meter run, senior Billy Beseman recorded a third-place finish with a time of 2:26.96. Beseman's time broke the old NSIC record but two other competitors finished ahead of him. With his performance Beseman moved into second in USF history in the 1,000-meter run.

In the finals of the men's 600-meter dash, senior Trey Furgeson beat his preliminary time (1:23.33) by two seconds and claimed second place with a 1:21.27 result.  
Furgeson also led the 4X400-meter relay team of Logan Hanson, Jayden Slaba and Beseman to a sixth- place finish with a 3:25.75 clocking.

In the men's one-mile run, Lundberg scored six points for USF men's team with a third place finish in 4:24.65. Senior Jase Kraft was fourth with a4:28.17 clocking.
Senior Chandler Nelson scored a point for USF as he captured eighth in the men's shotput with a throw of 14.91-meters (48' 11").

Junior hurdler Jacob Morse posted an eighth place finish in the men's 60-meter hurdles after putting up a time of 8.46.

Saturday's women's team results
Sophomore Taryn Ceglowski gained six points for the women's team after taking third in the women's one-mile run (4:59.47).

In the women's 60-meter dash, USF preseason track athlete to watch Chloe Peterson ran a 7.73 clip for a fourth place result which added five points to the USF women's team total. Senior Sarah Troescher took seventh with a 7.77 clocking.

Sophomore thrower Emma Hertz took fourth in the shotput after a throw of 14.28-meters (46' 10.25"). She was just edged out by Wayne State athlete Jadin Wagner, who posted a 14.29-meter (46' 10.75") result.

Sophomore Emily Olson was seventh in the indoor pentathlon with a score of 3,108 points.  Also scoring points for USF was Taylor Stoltz who was eighth in the high jump at 1.57 meters (5-1.75 feet).