BROOKINGS, S.D. – Led by a pair of NCAA DII provisional marks, and a school record by Emma Hertz, plus top-five program marks from Tyler Hiatt, Emily Swanson and KaNya Henderson, the University of Sioux Falls Men's and Women's Track and Field Team opened the season with an impressive performance at the SDSU Holiday Invite, which began Friday at the Jackrabbit Sanford Complex.

"It was a good start to the season," said USF Director of Track and Field Doug Petersen, whose squad had a total of four NCAA DII provisional marks and 10 top-10 performances in program history. "It was great to have a full fall of training to prep for this. And, we were able to train outdoors throughout this fall. So, this meet provides a nice lead-in for the season. It gives our student-athletes an indication where they are in their training and how they can improve," he said.

Hertz, a four-time All-American, shined in her first performance of the season. The senior from Sioux Falls, S.D., had a pair of NCAA DII provisional marks (shot put and weight throw) and a school record, just missing a second in a big day in Brookings. Hertz broke a school record and her own mark in the weight throw with a toss of 19.26 meters or 63-02.25. The mark bettered her own mark of 62-1.25 earlier in 2021. Then, she won the shot put at 15.15m-49-08.50 with a toss that ranks second all-time at USF just behind her own throw of 52-02 in 2021. Both of her throws lead the NSIC. In the shot put, she bettered several DI and top DII competitors in the events. Also for Hertz, she had a rare opportunity in the discus on Saturday. And, she captured the discus (normally an outdoor event) title with a winning throw of 47.21m-154.10, a mark which ranks second all-time at USF.

Also for the women's team, KaNya Henderson also had a big opening day by clocking the second-best times in indoor school history. Henderson was fifth in the 60-meter day with a time of 7.70 which was just behind her top mark of 7.55. In the 200 meter-dash, Henderson was 10^th with a clocking of 25.38, which was just off her own school record of 25.35 in 2020.

In the men's shot put, Tyler Hiatt had a big performance in his first meet at USF. Hiatt finished second at the meet with an NCAA DII provisional mark. He recorded the second-best throw all-time at USF of 16.73 meters – 54-10.75 (Jordan Bents, 57-8.25, 2014). Hiatt also had the school's eighth-best throw all-time in the men's weight throw by tossing the implement 16.36m-53-08.25. Hiatt just bettered the throw of Patrick Hagan, who was 12th at 16.29m-53-05.50, a mark that ranks ninth in school history indoors. Also Jaymeson Wolkow's throw of 15.35m-50-04.50 was 10th all-time at USF and bettered his personal-best by two feet. In the discus throw on Saturday, Hiatt was third with a throw of 48.88m-160-04.5 which ranks fourth all-time at USF. 

Sophomore Emily Swanson also had an NCAA DII provisional mark by placing fifth with 3, 278 points in the pentathlon. Her performance ranks second all-time (Katlyn Sawtelle, 3,733, 2014) at USF. She scored 800 points in the 60 hurdles at 9.54; 795 points in the high jump at 5-05; 531 points in the shot put with a throw of 32-11; 456 points in the long jump at 15-01.5 and 696 points in the 800 meters with a 2:29.76 clocking.

Other results included –

Men's Team

Shot Put – Tyler Hiatt, 2^nd, 16.73-54-10/75 (2^nd all-time); Patrick Hagan, 18^th, 13.26m – 43-06; Dawson Davito, 25^th, 12.28m – 40-03.5; Jaymeson Wolkow, 28^th, 12.14m-39-10
Weight Throw -- Tyler Hiatt, 11th, 16.36m-53-08.25 (8th all-time at USF); Patrick Hagan, 12th, 16.29m-53-05.50 (9th all-time at USF); Jaymeson Wolkow, 16th, 15.35m-50-04.50 (10th all-time); Carson Hausmann, 32nd, 12.89m-42-03.50; Marek Rex, 33rd, 12.48m-40-11.50; Dawson Davito, 39th, 8.61m-28-03
Discus -- Tyler Hiatt, 3rd, 48-88m-160-04.5 (4th all-time at USF); Patrick Hagan, 12th, 43.56m-142-11; Jaymeson Wolkow, 14th, 41.70m-136-09.75; Marek Rex, 18th, 36.18m-118-05.5.
Long Jump – Steven Miner, 6^th, 6.41m-21-00.5; Isiah Dancy, 17^th, 5.98m-19-07.5
Pole Vault – Jake Person, 15^th, 3.95m-12-11.5; Samuel Olson, 15^th, 3.95m-12-11.5
Mile Run – Zach Matzner, 4^th, 4:29.17; Justin Steffenmeier, 8^th, 4:34.10
400-meter dash – Denver Decker, 12^th, 53.04; Ethan Kraft, 16^th, 55.25; Nicholas Muller, 17^th, 55.36; Aweys Maalim, 19^th, 55.76
800-meter dash – Diego Jaimes, 9^th, 2:04.60
300-meter hurdles – Landon Wenderski, 7^th, 42.64
3,000-meters – Avery Stanford, 8^th, 9:45.07

Women's Team

Weight Throw – Emma Hertz, 2^nd, 19.26m–63-02.25 (school record); Cali Boden, 21^st, 14.80m-48-06.75; Kamry Lindsay, 22^nd, 14.46m-47-05.25; Ally Welch, 25^th, 13.90m-45-07.25; Kayla Van Osdel, 34^th, 42-09.5; MacKenzie Bengtson, 36^th, 12.86m-42-02.25
Shot Put -- Emma Hertz, 1st, 15.15m-49-08.5 (2nd all-time at USF); Kayla Van Osdel, 18th, 11.86m-38-11; Cali Boden, 27th, 10.90m-35-09.25; Kamry Lindsey, 32nd, 10.39m-34-01.25
Discus -- Emma Hertz, 1st, 47.21m-154.10 (2nd all-time at USF); MacKenzie Bengtson, 9th, 39.95m-131-01.
Long Jump – Natalie Meyers, 6^th, 5.33m-17-06; Olivia Fox, 29^th, 4.39m-14-05; McKayla Keffeler, 30^th, 4.34m-14-03
Triple Jump -- Avery Bartunek, 14th, 10.31m-33-10; Cassidy Noeldner, 15th, 10.30m-30-09.5; Makayla Keffeler, 23rd, 9.75m-32-00; Jordan Hughes, 27th, 9.38m-30-09.25; Sierra Stanton, 28th, 9.30m-30-06.25
Pole Vault – McKenna Comstock, 9^th, 2.98m-9-09.50; Greta Snaza, 15^th, 2.68m-8-09.5
60-meters – KaNya Henderson, 5^th, 7.70 (2^nd all-time)
400-meters – Emma Kenkel, 7^th, 1:00.13; Holly Mayers, 9^th, 1:01.37
800-meters – Cassidy O'Meara, 10^th, 2:21.14
300-meters – Olivia Baumberger, 7^th, 44.12
300-meters hurdles – Sierra Stanton, 6^th, 51.52
200-meters – KaNya Henderson, 10^th, 25.38 (2^nd all-time)