SIOUX FALLS – After a successful close to the regular season, University of Sioux Falls Track & Field now heads to Duluth, Minn., with momentum for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship on May 10-11.

Running events open with the women's and men's 10,000-meter runs to be contested on Friday, May 10 at 10 a.m.  Field events begin at 10 am on Friday. After a short break, running events start again with the 1,500 meter run at 2 pm. On Saturday field events begin at 11 am with running events starting at 1 pm with the 4x100 meter relays.

Follow the action
Find all relevant links for the 2019 NSIC Outdoor Championships, including heat sheets, photos and recaps at the championship website; northernsun.org/nsicodtf. This weekend's meet will be live streamed through Stretch Internet, which can be found at portal.stretchinternet.com/nsic. Live results will be available at http://www.herostiminglive.com/results/display.html?event_id=393.
Follow USF Track & Field on all of their social media platforms with the USF Social Media Directory at usfcougars.com/socialmedia. Check out NSIC Championships on twitter with the hashtag #NSICODTF.

USF Heads into conference with confidence and momentum
The USF Men's and Women's Teams, which is led by Director of Track and Field Doug Petersen, head into the league championships with momentum and confidence after a record-breaking spring, which includes nine school marks and numerous DII provisional marks.

Women's Preview – Hertz ranked No. 1 in discus and shot put
With strength in field events and middle distance, the Women's Team will look to move up from their sixth place finish of a year ago when they scored 55.50 points. USF finished sixth out of 15 teams which was their highest finish since their fourth-place score at the 2013 NSIC Championships.  With a seventh place finish in the heptathlon (4,265 points) by Emily Olson at the NSIC Multi-Event competition in Aberdeen on April 29, USF already has two points heading into competition on Friday.

Year-by-Year Breakdown at NSIC Outdoor Championship
2018 – 6^th, 55.50 points
2017 – 10^th, 32.5 points
2016 – 9^th, 40 points
2015 – 10^th, 35.50 points
2014 – 8^th, 49 points
2013 – 4^th, 90 points

Leading the way in the throws will be junior indoor second team All-American Emma Hertz, who ranks first in the NSIC in both the discus at 51.57 meters – 169-02.5 and the shot put at 15.56 meters - 51-0.75. Both of those marks by Hertz are school records. Hertz, who was named the NSIC Field Athlete of the Week on May 6, ranks eighth in DII in the discus and 11^th in the discus. She took second at the 2018 NSIC Championships in the discus (47.37 meters - 155-05)   

Also ranked No. 1 in the NSIC  is junior Miranda Phipps in the javelin. A year ago, Phipps finished second at the NSIC meet and is the school recorder holder while ranking 12th in DII with her toss this spring of the javelin at 46.51 meters - 152-07.

USF will also look for points in the hammer throw where junior Jaimie McNamee is the school's record holder in the hammer at 52.84 meters (173-4.25). She is ranked third in the league and 33^rd nationally. A year ago McNamee was fifth with a throw of 48.25 meters (158-04). Amber Cook is ranked seventh at 51.80 meters (169-11) with Hertz, 10^th, 49.46 meters (162-03).

McNamee is also fifth in the discus at 45.81 meters (150-03).  A year ago she was fourth outdoors as USF took two of the top four spots (Hertz, second). Nationally, she ranks 43^rd. Sophomore Kayla Andersen ranks 11^th at 42.29 meters (138-09) as she looks to try and move into the top eight and earn conference points.

In the middle to long distance, sophomore Taryn Ceglowski will lead a strong USF group. Ceglowski, along with Rececca Goertzen and Sarina Lindell will be entered in the 5,000 meters. Ceglowski, who finished 5^th at the NSIC Cross Country Championships leading USF to a program-best fourth place finish, is ranked second in the 1,500 meter run with a clocking of 4:33.81. In her career, she has set USF outdoor marks in the USF 800-meter (2:10.62) and 1,500-meter run (4:32.49) and owns six USF records including indoor 800-meter, 1,000-meter, mile and women's DMR records. She earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the 800-meter run as one of the top five runners in the Central Region and was named NSIC Women's Newcomer of the Year in 2018.  

Goertzen, who is ranked 10^th (11:28.09) in the 3,000 meter steeple chase, ranks sixth all-time in the 5K with a clocking of 18:52.88 in 2018. She also placed 23^rd at the NSIC Cross Country Championships and set USF's 3K steeplechase record of 11:28.09 at the Howard Wood Relays last weekend.

Sophomore Chloe Peterson will run sprints and compete in the long jump. She comes into the meet ranked fourth in the long jump at 5.75 meters or 18-10.75, which is a personal best. She finished fourth in the long jump at the 2018 NSIC Championship at 18-07.25. A year ago Peterson was 14^th in the 100-meter dash but comes into the meet with a  school record (tied with Jada Carr, 2017) 12.08 clocking in winning the Howard Wood Dakota Relays last weekend. She is ranked 10^th in the NSIC but is just one-hundredth of a second out of eighth place and points. 

In the pole vault, freshman Marya Schlitz is tied for eighth in the NSIC at 3.20 meters (10-6) as she looks to score a point for USF. Senior Brenna Schmidt is ranked 15^th at 3.05 meters (10-0).

As for the relays, USF ranks third in the 4x100 meter relay, which will be led by Peterson and include team members Kanya Henderson, Mercy Oyadare and Sarah Troescher. The foursome set a school record with a 47.07 clocking at the Howard Wood Relays last weekend. USF will also compete for points in the 4x400 meter relay, which is ranked ninth with a time of 4:01.40.

Men Preview – Looking for fourth top three or better outdoor finish
USF finished fifth place in 2017-8, finishing with 66.50 points, as Minnesota State won the men's team title with 191 points. The Cougars squad has finished sixth or better in sixth straight seasons in the NSIC and the program has been third or better twice (2017, 2^nd; and 2014, 3^rd).

USF Year-by-Year finish at NSIC Championships
2018 – 5^th, 66.50 points
2017 – 2^nd, 122 points
2016 – 4^th, 85.5 points
2015 – 6^th, 69 points
2014 – 3^rd, 96 points
2013 – 4^th, 111 points.

Leading USF will be an outstanding middle-long distance contingent. In the 800 meters, USF will be led by Billy Beseman, who is ranked third in the NSIC at 1:52.83, and Mason Phillips, who owns the school record in the 800 with a 2017 clocking of 1:52.53, with a seed time of 1:57.63 (18^th, NSIC).

Phillips, who was the NSIC Indoor Most Valuable Performer in 2017, was named the NSIC Indoor Preseason Athlete of the Year in 2018-19. He captured the NSIC indoor 800 meter title earlier this year. Phillips, who has earned six combined All-American honors in cross country and track and field, has a combined nine NSIC Weekly Athlete of the Week honors in track and field and cross country.  In his career at USF, he has 28 cross country or track and field titles (relay or individual), including nine in 2018-19, and 21 second place finishes with eight in 2018-19. As such, he has placed first or second 49 times at USF. Last spring (2017-18 year), he was named USF's Male Athlete of the Year.

School record holder Zach Lundberg will lead USF's outstanding 1,500-meter group. Lundberg, who was third a year ago at the NSIC Meet and was second team outdoor All-America after breaking the school record in the 1,500 meters at the DII nationals in Charlotte, NC, is ranked second heading into the league meet. This spring Lundberg, who was a first team All-American indoor with the DMR, clocked a 3:46.64 at the Bryan Clay Invite and broke his own school record. He will be joined by Jase Kraft, who is ranked third in the NSIC and sophomore Logan Hansen, 12^th at 4:00.57. A year ago Kraft took fifth in the 1,500 meters.

In the 5,000 meters, defending champion Steven Brown, who set a championship record a year ago (14:36.96) is redshirting. However, USF which was 1-2-3 in the 5K a year ago will run Lundberg, who finished second a year ago in 14:44.12, and Kraft, who was third in 14:45.25 a year ago, plus two-time cross country All-American Mason Phillips to form a talented 5K contingent.
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Of note, Phillips, Kraft and Lundberg were part of USF's cross country team that won their first ever NSIC crown in the fall of 2018 and finished a program best fifth at nationals. Lundberg and Phillips along with Billy Beseman and Trey Furgeson were members of the DII first team All-Americans which set a school record in the distance medley relay (9:48.74) at the DII Indoor meet in Pittsburg, Kan.  

Senior indoor All-American (DMR) Trey Furgeson will look to close his career with a solid point-getting effort in the 400-meter dash.  Currently Furgeson ranks fifth in the league with a 48.84 clocking.

In the hurdles, Jacob Morse is ranked eighth in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.79. He is 22^nd in the 400 hurdles at 1:02.29 while senior Salvador Jaimes is 24^th at 1:05.80.

In the 10K, which opens things on Friday, Dan Armstrong ranks seventh (33:11.11) in the NSIC and leads a contingent of four runners with times in the top 12 in the NSIC. Freshman Shodo Mahamed (34:15.72), Wyatt Schlager (11^th, 34:27.62) and Mitchell Mund (12^th, 34:32.62) are all ranked 10-12^th and will be aiming for a top-eight spot and points. Armstrong is also entered in the 3,000-meter steeplechase where he is 10^th (9:42.13) and senior Nick Lawson is 11^th (9:42.29) in the NSIC rankings.

 In the field events, USF has a number of scoring options at the league meet which includes the pole vault where Junior Tristan Zawadzki is ranked ninth nationally and first in the NSIC. Zawadski, who has vaulted 16-11 this spring, won the NSIC Indoor title (16-8.25) and qualified for nationals. Connor DeJong, who has finished second twice at the NSIC Indoor Meet and seventh at the 2017 NSIC Outdoor Championship, is ranked fifth at 4.71 meters (15-5.5).

In the throws, Christian Gruschin and Chandler Nelson lead the way. Gruschin, who was second a year ago in the discus, ranks second with a 50.57 meter toss or 165-11.  Gruschin is also fifth ranked in the hammer throw at 55.77 meters (183-00). Nelson is ranked fourth  (49.80 meters - 163-05) in the discus to give the Cougars a solid 1-2 punch in that event. He is also ninth in the NSIC in the shot put at 15.14 meters (49-8.25) which means he will try to get some points for USF.

Another athlete looking to score points in the throws will be two-sport (football-track and field) athlete Thomas Chapin, who ranks 10^th in the NSIC in the javelin at 50.73 meters or 166-05. 

In the high jump, senior Joseph Kirkebak, who was eighth at the NSIC Outdoor Meet a year ago, comes in ranked 10^th at 1.95 meters (6-4.75). Sophomore Cooper Wood sits 11^th in the NSIC at 13.67 meters (44-10.25) in the triple jump.

The  Cougars will also try to earn points in the 4x400 meter relay, led by Furgeson, where they rank seventh (3:25.58) in the NSIC.