SIOUX FALLS  – After a strong opening season performance, the University of Sioux Falls Men's and Women's Track and Field Team will compete at the Dakota Realty Invitational on Saturday at the Mildred J. Hillenbrand Memorial Track inside the DakotaDome at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.

Combined and field events will begin at 10 am with the first running event at 11:15 am. USF will compete with host DI South Dakota, DI Oral Roberts and Nebraska-Omaha and fellow NSIC member Wayne State. Live video and live stats will be provided by USD.

After more than 10 months away from competition, the Cougars opened the season at the Wayne State Indoor Classic on Jan. 16. USF Women's Track and Field Team was led by a recording-setting performance in the shot put from junior All-American Emma Hertz, who was named the NSIC Indoor Women's Track Athlete of the Week for the second time in her career. Hertz, a senior from Sioux Falls, S.D., who has two indoor All-American honors, won both the weight throw and shot put and recorded NCAA DII provisional marks. The NSIC leader in both the shot put and weight throw. She broke her own record (49-9.25) with a toss of 15.20 meters or 49-10.50 with the nation's second best throw. She also registered a top-three throw at USF with a winning toss of 17.92 meters or 58'9.50. The weight throw is the 7th best performance in DII.

In total, the USF Women's squad picked up six titles and had 23 top-five finishes at the meet. Several student-athletes won their first-ever title including freshman Emily Swanson in the pole vault, Natalie Meyers in the long jump, sophomore Annika Aho in the 1000 meters, and freshman Grace Beck in the one-mile run. All-American junior sprinter KaNya Henderson also won a title the 60 meters. In addition, Jailah Brice-Moore had a pair of second place finishes in 60-meter hurdles and 60-meter dash.  Here is a breakdown on how the USF Women's Team ranks in the NSIC after one week. The men's rankings in the league is also listed in this preview.
 
Women - NSIC rankings
Shot Put
1^st -- Emma Hertz, ,15.20m – 49'10.25 (5.6 inches better than 2^nd place McKenzie Scheil of Wayne State)
8^th – Kourtney Rozeboom, 11.79m – 38.8.25
9^th – Kayla Andersen, 11.63m – 38'2
10^th – Bailey Rudebusch, 11.56m – 37'11.25
12^th – Cali Boden, 11.02m – 36'2.25
Weight Throw
1^st – Emma Hertz, 17.92m – 58-9.5
4^th – Kayla Andersen, 17.08m – 56'05
8^th – Mackenzie Bengtson, 15.12m – 49'7.25
10^th – Kourtney Rozeboom, 14.86m – 48'9
11^th – Miranda Phipps, 14.73m – 48'4
20^th – Cali Boden, 13.58m – 44'6.75
20^th – Bailey Rudebusch, 13.58m – 44-6.75
Triple Jump
6^th -- Cassidy Noeldner, 10.85m, 35'7.25
15^th -- Clara Leverich, 8.93m, 29'3.75
Long Jump
7^th -- Natalie Meyers, 5.15m, 16'10.75
9^th -- Cassidy Noeldner, 5.09m, 16;8.50
12^th -- Emily Olson, 4.97m, 16'3.75
20^th -- Sarah Micek, 4.22m, 13;10.25
21^st -- Cece Will, 4.04m, 13.3.25.
Pole Vault
7^th -- Emily Swanson, 2.85m, 9'4.25
High Jump
9^th -- Taylor Stoltz, 1.53m, 5'0.25
11^th -- Emily Olson, 1.48m, 4'10.25
11^th --  Avery Bartunek, 1.48m, 4'10.25.
11^th – Emily Swanson, 1.48m, 4'10.25
1000 M  
4^th -- Annika Aho, 3.15.02
5^th -- Khot Juac, 3:17.29
7^th -- Josie Boyd, 3:26.56
9^th -- Moriah Bullerman, 3:32.44
1-mile run
4^th -- Grace Beck, 5:37.65
6^th -- Karlee Simmons, 5:42.08.
400-meters
10^th -- Emma Kenkel, 1:05.20
19^th -- Myah Roggenbuck, 1:08.09
21^st -- Holly Mayers, 1:09.29.
600-meters
4^th -- Tianna Wald, 1:46.08
5^th -- Cassidy O'Meara, 1:46.12
6^th -- Zoe Cigard, 1:49.24.
60-meter hurdles
5^th -- Jailah Brice-Moore, (9.32 prelims), 9.37
10^th -- Emily Olson, 9.57
15^th -- Meara Beighley, 10.09
60-meter dash
3rd KaNya Henderson, 7.96
7^th -- Jailah Brice-Moore, 8.06
19^th -- Mercy Oyadare, (8.13 prelims), 8.18.

Men's Breakdown
USF Men's Team also had a solid day with titles from a pair of freshman, Zachary Matzner in the 1000 meters and Benjamin Morrison in the 3000 meters at the Wayne State Indoor Classic. Senior throws standout Patrick Hagan also had a solid performance with third place in both the weight throw and shot put. Overall, USF had 18 top-three finishes.

Men - NSIC Rankings
Weight Throw –
5^th -- Patrick Hagan, 16.70m, 54'9.50
12^th -- Marek Rex, 8^th, 13.92m, 45'8
20^th -- Carson Hausmann, 11.31m, 37'1/25
Shot Put
7^th -- Patrick Hagan, 13.61m, 44'8
15^th -- Jaymeson Wolkow, 12.07m, 39'7.25
Triple Jump
5^th -- Isiah Dancy, 12.85m, 42'2
Long Jump
3^rd -- Christian Riley, 6.64m, 21'9.50
20^th -- Ethan Holm, 5.85m, 19'2.50
High Jump
6^th -- Steven Miner, 1.85m, 6'0.75.
1000-meters
5^th -- Zach Matzner, 2:46.38
6^th -- Wil Modjeski, 2:46.78
10^th -- Edwin Iraheta, 2:58.70.
Mile Run
3^rd -- Aaron Voigt, 4:32.19
8^th -- David Ecker, 4:45.08
10^th -- Justin Steffenmeier, 4:49.78
400-meters
12^th -- Jayden Slaba, 55.98
15^th -- Robert Rauh, 1:02.09
600-meters
7^th -- Diego Jaimes, 1:32.32
11^th – Aweys Maalim, 1:38.77
60-meter hurdles
6^th -- Ben Mandel, 9.10.
60-meters
4^th -- Nate Andrusick, 7.15
3,000-meters
7^th -- Ben Morrison, 9:25.59
12^th -- Christian Lietz, 9:49.87
14^th -- Lucas Steiger, 10:02.88