SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – As the season winds down, the University of Sioux Falls Men's and Women's Track and Field Teams continue to excel at a high level.

For the second straight day, USF Track and Field Teams had strong efforts at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays.On Saturday (May 4), USF won two events and had five individuals with top-five finishes at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays. In the two days at Howard Wood, USF had 17 individuals place fifth or better.

USF also had several standout performances, including two individuals with season-bests, at the MSU Twilight Meet on Saturday in Mankato, Minn.

"We won two events, had two school records and overall had a good tune up as we prep for the NSIC Championships next weekend. I am really happy on what happened for us these past two days," said USF Director of Track and Field Doug Peterson, whose squad will compete at the NSIC Championship on May 10-11 in Duluth, Minn.

Peterson and Hertz win titles to highlight USF Women's Team at Howard Wood
At the Howard Wood Relays, USF had first place finishes from sophomore Chloe Peterson in the 100-meter dash and junior Emma Hertz in the shot put to highlight the women's team performances today.

In the 100-meter dash, Peterson won the title and led three USF runners in the top six spots in the race. Peterson ran a 12.19 with teammate Kayla Henderson in third at 12.43 and Mercy Oyadare in sixth at 12.65.

Hertz captured the title in the shot put by tossing the instrument 14.04 meters (47-04 ¼). In that same field event, Kourtney Rozeboom was ninth at 12.28 meters (40-03 ½) while sophomore Kayla Andersen finished 16^th at 10.98 meters (36-00 ¼).

Sophomore Taryn Ceglowski had a solid effort in placing fourth in the 1,500-meter run with a clocking of 4:36.29. Freshman Sarina Lindell finished 23^rd with a time of 4:54.81. In the same race, sophomore Sadie Thompson was 34^th at 5:05.63, freshman Maria Streed took 36^th in 5:07.74, and sophomore Tianna Wald was 42^nd in 5:17.60 while senior Mattisen Kelley came in 45^th at 5:23.44.

In the 100 meter hurdles, sophomore Emily Olson took seventh in 15.11.

Phillips, Lundberg and Kraft run strong in 1,500 at Howard Wood
In the 1,500 meter run, USF placed three runners in the top-six with junior Mason Phillips taking second in an NCAA DII Provisional mark 3:48.30. Junior Zach Lundberg was fifth in 3:54.25 and senior Jase Kraft took sixth by clocking a 3:54.39.

Also in the race, junior Dan Armstrong was 18^th at 3:06.09 while freshman Aaron Voigt was 20^th in 4:07.10 and freshman David Ecker 21^st in 4:08.38.  USF also had several others competing in the event, including freshman Shodo Mahamed, who was 27^th in 4:14.36; sophomore Logan Hansen, 28^th, 4:14.63; senior Nick Lawson, 29^th, 4:17.46; senior Josh Liester, 33^rd, 4:19.91; junior Blake Johnston, 36^th, 4:22.55; freshman Mitchell Mund, 38^th, 4:27.41; senior John Noyes, 43^rd, 4:33.02; and freshman Wyatt Schlager, 44^th, 4:34.91.  

In the 5,000-meter run late Friday night, freshman David Ecker placed fourth in 15:46.69 to lead a contingent of USF runners which included five of the top 11 placers. Mahamed was seventh in 16:10.51 with Mund eighth in 16:15.83. Also in the 5K, senior John Noyes was ninth in 16:34.28 while freshman Wyatt Schlager claimed 11^th in 17:14.12 to round out a strong distance performance.

Also late on Friday, USF had two of the top eight placers in the pole vault. Junior Tristan Zawadzki finished third by going an NCAA DII provisional mark of 16-10 (5.13 meters). Senior Connor DeJong finished eighth at 15-04 ¼ (4.68 meters).

Wood highlights MSU Twilight for USF Men
USF's sophomore Cooper Wood recorded a season-best in finishing second in the triple jump with a leap of 13.56 meters (44-06) at the MSU Twilight Meet to highlight the efforts of the USF Men's Team.

In the long jump, USF freshman Casey Hackett was seventh at 6.70 meters (21-11-75) while redshirt senior Xavier Scarlett took 12^th in 6.08 meters (19-11.50). Joseph Kirkebak took seventh in the high jump by going 1.88 meters (6-02).

Also putting together a season-best performance was senior Salvador Jaimes, who was sixth in the 400-meter hurdles as he clocked a 1:05.80.
In the 100 meter dash, redshirt freshman Troy Petersohn was seventh in 11.17 and junior Jonathan Rowe, eighth in 11.19.

USF Women have several strong efforts at MSU Twilight
In the triple jump, USF placed three student-athletes in the top 12 as junior Clara Paul was seventh at 11:05 meters (36-03.00). Also in the event, sophomore Allison Laibach took ninth at 10.51 meters (34-05.75) while freshman Clara Leverich was 12^th in 9.7 meters (31-10).

In the high jump, freshman Taylor Stoltz also had a solid day. After competing at the Howard Wood Relays on Friday, she jumped 1.55 meters (5-01) to take ninth at the MSU Twilights. Redshirt freshman Brnley Bower was 12^th in 1.50 meters (4-11). In the long jump, junior Mahli Strasser was 11^th at 5.06 meters (16-07.25) with Paul taking 12^th at 5.05 meters (16-07).

Redshirt freshman Jasmine Harris also ran in the 100 (13.36) and 200-meter (27.39) dashes at the meet.