DULUTH, MINN. – Led by a title by junior Tristan Zawadzki in the men's pole vault, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Team is seventh (20 points) while a school record throw and second place finish from Jaimie McNamee has the USF Women's Team in sixth place (21 points) after day one of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Track and Field Championships.

The USF squads will be back at the UMD track on Saturday with field events (javelin, discus, triple jump) starting at 11 a.m. and running events (4x100-meter relays) starting at 1 pm.  Both USF teams will have plenty of opportunities to put points on the board. The USF Men's Team will look to move up and better its fifth place finish of a year ago while the Women's Team will try and improve on a sixth-place finish, which was the best since going fourth in team points in 2013.

U-Mary has 59.90 points to lead the women's team race with Augustana second at 37 and Minnesota State, third with 32. USF is just a half point behind Northern State (21.5) for fifth place and only 5.50 points behind Bemidji State (26.50 points) for fourth.

In the men's race, USF is seventh with 20 points but just eight points from fifth place. Minnesota State has the team lead in the men's competition with 54 points. Wayne State is second in the team race with 44 points while U-Mary is third at 43.

Men Review – Zawadzki leads 1-2 finish in shot put
Zawadzki won a title for the men's team in the pole vault as he cleared 5.06M (16-07 ¼), which is an NCAA DII provisional mark. With the title, he swept both the indoor and outdoor NSIC pole vault crowns. He took a shot at the school record 17-1 but just missed. Junior Connor DeJong earned second place with a season-best vault of 4.78M (15-08 ¼), which was his third second place finish in NSIC Championship competitions. He finished second for the first time outdoor and had second place finishes twice at the NSIC Indoor Meet. As a result, the pair scored 18 points for USF.

Junior Chandler Nelson gave USF Men's Team two team points with a seventh place finish as he had a career-best effort in the shot put at 15.71M (51-06 1/2). Freshman Patrick Hagan was 10th at 14.44M (47-04 1/2).

On the track, USF advanced a number of athletes to the finals on Saturday and several are ranked in the top-five, including two runners in the top four of the 1,500 meters and two in the top four in the 800-meters.

In the 1,500 meter run, Zach Lundberg, Jase Kraft and Logan Hansen advanced to the finals, which includes the top 12 from the preliminaries. Lundberg won his heat and had the second best time (4:04.15) while Kraft was sixth (4:04.80) and Hansen, 10^th (4:03.34).   In the 110 meter hurdles, Jacob Morse advanced to the finals and ranks eighth at 14.86. Senior Trey Furgeson qualified for the finals in the 400 meters by claiming second  in his heat with a 49.15 clocking, which ranks fifth among the eight qualifiers. In the 800 meter prelims, both junior Mason Phillips, who had an outdoor season-best of 1:52.86, and junior Billy Beseman, who clocked a 1:55.27, advanced to the finals.

In the 10,000 meter run, freshman Wyatt Schlager led USF with a 13^th place finish in 33:26.78. Other USF finishers included freshman Mitchell Mund, 18^th, 34:02.25; freshman Shodo Mahamed, 19^th, 34:05.31 and senior John Noyes, 25^th, 35:55.27.

In the hammer throw, Hagan finished just out of scoring position at ninth with a throw of 47.96 meters (157-04). Junior Christian Gruschin was 23^rd at 38.75 meters (127-01).

Senior Joseph Kirkebak claimed 12^th in the high jump by going 1.87 meters or 6-01.5. Freshman Casey Hackett finished 14^th in his first league meet in the long jump by going 6.61 meters (21-08.5). Senior Jaimes Salvador was 19^th in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:06.79.
 
Women's Preview – McNamee sets a school record and finishes second in hammer
With a school record and second place finish in the hammer throw, junior Jaimie McNamee highlighted the performance for the USF Women's Team which sits sixth after day one of the NSIC Championships.  McNamee broke her own school record with a second place finish and DII provisional mark in the hammer throw of 54.21M which was 177 feet 10 inches (old record - 173-4.25). Senior Amber Cook claimed third in the hammer throw with a career-best and NCAA DII provisional throw of 52.47M (172-02) as the Cougars registered 14 team points. Emma Hertz was 10^th at 47.01 meters (154-03).

Sophomore Chloe Peterson had her second straight fourth place finish at the NSIC Outdoor Championships in the long jump. Peterson fell just short of her personal best (18-10-25, 2019) but improved her leap from a year ago by going 5.73 meters or 18-09 ¾.  USF also had two team points from Emily Olson who was seventh in the pentathlon on April 29 at the NSIC Multi-Event in Aberdeen.

In the 1,500 meter run, sophomore Taryn Ceglowski advanced to the finals by finishing second (4:44.67) in heat one. Sarina Lindell did not advance but was 17^th in 4:56.94.

USF had four runners compete in the 100 meter prelims but none advanced with Sarah Troescher, 10^th, 12.23; Peterson ,13^th, 12.30; Kanya Henderson, 14^th, 12.33; and Mercy Oyadare, 18^th, 12.56.

In the shot put, sophomore Bailey Rudebusch was USF's top placer at 10^th by going 13.03M (42-09). Hertz fouled twice and ended at 11.96M (39-03) for 21^st place while freshman Kourtney Rozeboom was 22^nd at 11.91M (39-01) with sophomore Kayla Anderson, 24^th at 11.41M (37-05 ½).

Freshman Taylor Stoltz took 16th in the high jump at 1.52 meters (4-11 ¾).

In the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries, Emily Olson was 12^th in 14.90 but wasn't among the top eight to advance to the finals. Freshman Marya Schlitz grabbed 13^th place in the pole vault at 3.06M (10-0 ½).