SIOUX FALLS  – The University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Teams are looking to continue a strong start of their outdoor season with competition at three events. They begin their week by competing at the University of South Dakota Twilight on Wednesday, April 21 at USD's Lillibridge Track Complex in Vermillion, S.D. Field events begin at 3 p.m. with running events starting at 5 p.m. Attendance will be limited due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions.

Follow along -- USD Twilight --  Live results – Schedule  

USF will then send a group to the Drake Relays April 23-24 in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition, USF will compete at the Northern State Spring Open on Saturday April 24.  Field events at NSU start at noon with running events set for 2:30 pm. 

Drake Relays - Live Scoring -- Schedule and Info
NSU Spring Open -- Live Video Throws - Live Video - Field and Running Events 


Hertz earns NSIC Athlete of the Week April 12
One of the recent highlights was the NSIC Field Athlete of the Week, awarded to junior Emma Hertz on April 12 for the third time in her career. Hertz was also honored with the Indoor Field Athlete honor on Jan. 19, 2021 and earned her second Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week on May 6, 2019. A four-time All-American, Hertz had a dominant weekend at the South Dakota Challenge at the University of South Dakota on April 9-10, which included competitors from NCAA DI and DII at the Lillibridge Track Complex in Vermillion, S.D.

Hertz won both the discus and shot put and recorded top-four NCAA DII marks at the South Dakota Challenge. In the women's shot shot put on Saturday afternoon, Hertz had a winning throw of 15.45m – 50-08.25, which ranks second all-time at USF to her own record throw outdoors of 51-0.5 in 2019. The mark is an NCAA DII Provisional mark and ranks first in the NSIC as well as second in NCAA DII. Her winning discus on Friday of  50-19 - 164'8 is also the top throw in the NSIC and a DII provisional mark. In the national rankings, she is fourth in the discus with a throw that is second at USF all-time to her 2019 throw of 169-2.25. During her stellar career, Hertz has collected 23 titles indoor and outdoor with nine indoor shot put titles in 2021 that includes the 2021 NSIC Indoor shot put crown. She has seven outdoor shot put titles, six in the discus and one in the hammer throw and owns an indoor weight throw titles. In the indoor/outdoor meets this season, she has a total of 11 titles with 15 top-three finishes. Across her career, she has 40 top-three finishes.

USF has five student-athletes ranked first in NSIC
As the Cougars headed to the USF Twilight, they have five student-athletes ranked number one, including Emma Hertz in both the shot put and discus. David Ecker is top ranked in the men's steeplechase while Emily Olson is first in the heptathlon and Miranda Phipps in the javelin throw.
Women
Shot Put – Emma Hertz, 1^st, 50-8.25 (South Dakota Challenge)
Discus – Emma Hertz, 1^st, 164-8 (South Dakota Challenge); Jaimie McNamee, 5^th, 153-0 (Sioux City Relays); Kayla Andersen, 9^th, 144-5 (South Dakota Challenge); MacKenzie Bengtson, 15^th, 136-10 (USD Early Bird); Cali Boden, 17^th, 128-8 (South Dakota Challenge)
Hammer – Emma Hertz, 4^th, 180-9 (Dordt Invite); Jaimie McNamee, 5^th, 180-2 (Sioux City Relays); Kayla Anderson, 15^th, 158-10 (Sioux City Relays); Bailey Rudebusch, 17^th, 152-11 (Sioux City Relays); MacKenzie Bengtson, 18^th, 152-10 (Wayne State Wildcat)
 
Javelin – Miranda Phipps, 1^st, 139-1 (Sioux City Relays); Bailey Rudebusch, 6^th, 118-7 (Wayne State Wildcat); Emily Olson, 16^th, 101-2 (South Dakota Challenge); Emily Swanson, 17^th, 100-4 (Dordt Invite) and Ally Welch, 20^th, 96-10 (Dordt Invite)
Heptathlon – Emily Olson, 1^st, 4,174 points (South Dakota Challenge); Emily Swanson, 8^th, 3,949 points (South Dakota Challenge)
High Jump – Taylor Stoltz, 3^rd, 5-5 (South Dakota Challenge); Avery Bartunek, 19^th, 5-1 (South Dakota Challenge)
Pole Vault – Emily Swanson, T-7^th, 10-11.75 (Wayne State Wildcat)
Long Jump – Natalie Meyers, 12^th, 18-1 (South Dakota Challenge)
Triple Jump – Cassidy Noeldner, 15^th, 35-11.25 (Sioux City Relays)
100-meters – KaNya Henderson, 7^th, 12.07 (South Dakota Challenge)
100-meters hurdles – Emily Olson, 14^th, 15.09 (South Dakota Challenge)
800-meters – Zoe Cigard, 13^th, 2:19.65 (South Dakota Challenge)
1500-meters – Lauren Wells, 10^th, 4:41.13 (Sioux City Relays); Khot Juac, 19^th, 4:44.64 (SC Relays)
4x100-meter relay – 9^th, 48.94 (Sioux City Relays)
4x400-meter relay – 10^th, 4:07.01 (South Dakota Challenge)
3,000-meters steeplechase – Karlee Simmons, 10^th, 11:53.02 (Sioux City Relays)
5,000-meters – Lauren Wells, 20^th, 18:26.17
Men
5,000-meters – David Ecker, 2^nd, 15:04.86 (SC Relays); Aaron Voigt, 4^th, 15:25.37 (Sioux City Relays); Ben Morrison, 6^th, 15:34.47 (Sioux City Relays); Christian Lietz, 11^th, 15:44.64 (Sioux City Relays)
3,000-meter steeplechase – David Ecker, 1^st, 9:22.68 (South Dakota Challenge); Aaron Voigt, 5^th, 9:46.70 (South Dakota Challenge); Edwin Iraheta, 16^th, 10:52.60 (Sioux City Relays)
800-meters – Mason Phillips, 7^th, 1:54.11 (Sioux City Relays)
1500-meters – Mason Phillips, 5^th, 3:54.44 (SD Challenge); Logan Hansen, 16^th, 4:01.57 (Sioux City Relays)
110-meter hurdles – Ben Mandel, 8^th, 15.67 (Sioux City Relays)
10,000-meters – Seth Overholt, 6^th, 32:53.18 (Sioux City Relays)
4x400-meter relay – 11^th, 3:30.90 (South Dakota Challenge
High Jump – Steven Miner, 11^th, 6-2 (South Dakota Challenge)
Discus – Brett Deschler, 16^th, 134-11 (Dordt Invite); Marek Rex, 19^th, 132-10 (Dordt Invite)
Shot Put – Dawson Davito, 8^th, 48-2.25 (Sioux City Relays)
Pole Vault – Jake Person, 7^th, 14-3.25 (South Dakota Challenge); Ethan Holm, 15^th, 12-5.5 (Dordt Invite)
Javelin – Carson Hausmann, 13^th, 137-5 (South Dakota Challenge)

Review of Season –
At Sioux City Relays – McNamee records 2 DII prov marks
At the Sioux City Relays on April 16, the USF women's team had three DII provisional marks including two by senior Jaimie McNamee, who finished fourth in the hammer with a season-best and personal-best throw of 180-02 – 54.91m, which is second on USF's all-time chart and just behind Emma Hertz's record of 180.9 earlier this year. Also in the hammer, senior Kayla Andersen had a personal-best of 158-10 – 48.41m, which ranks seventh all-time at USF and earned her 12^th place at the meet. Also in the top-10 was Bailey Rudebusch, who was 16^th with a program-top-10 throw of 152-11.5 – 46.42m. McNamee also had a DII provisional mark in the discus throw, finishing third at 153-00.25 – 46.64m, which is a personal-best and top-five discus throw all-time at USF. USF also had a DII provisional mark in the javelin as senior Miranda Phipps finished second in 139-01.75, 42.40m. The throw for Phipps was her best of this year and second all-time to her record of 152-07 in 2019. In the 3,000 steeplechase, USF sophomore Karlee Simmons finished eighth with a clocking of 11:53.02, which is third all-time at USF. She bettered her previous best of 12:19.27 in March 27 (Wildcat Classic) by nearly 28 seconds. KaNya Henderson was part of a pair of top-10 program performances. In the 100-meter dash, she finished second with a 12.26 clocking which was sixth but off her school record of 12.07 a week ago. She also ranks on the 4x100-meter relay, which clocked 48.94 to finish second at the meet and 10^th all-time in program history. Henderson was joined on the relay by Emma Kenkel, Mercy Oyadare and Natalie Meyers. Senior Emily Olson had the eighth best 100-meter hurdles in school outdoor history with 15.24 although off her personal best of 14.90 in 2019. Also for USF, Natalie Meyers was third in the long jump at 17-11.5. USF had a pair of top-10 program marks in the 1,500 meters as sophomore Lauren Wells finished ninth at the meet with her 4:41.13 clocking, which places her second all-time in USF outdoor program history. In the same race, freshman Khot Juac was 12th with her time of 4:44.64 ranking sixth in program history, just .21 from fifth all-time (Carrie Nix, 4:44.43, 2006).  Cassidy Noeldner was the triple jump titlist at 35-11.25, 10.55m, which was just off her PR of 36-0. Leading the way for the USF men's team at the Sioux City Relays was junior David Ecker, who clocked a 15:04.86 in finishing the second in the 5,000-meters, which was a personal-best and the sixth-best time in USF history outdoors. Aaron Voigt was third in 15.25.37; Micade Shumway, fourth, 15:32.53; Ben Morrison, fifth, 15:34.47; and Christian Lietz, eighth, 15:44.64. Senior Mason Phillips had a fourth place finish in the 1,500 meters and seventh place in the 800 meters in 1:54.11. Both times rank in the top-10 all-time at USF with the 1,500 meter clocking seventh all-time and the 800-meters time, eighth all-time. However, he is the record holder in the outdoor 800 meters (1:52.53, 2017); and second all-time in the 1,500-meters (3:47.98, 2019). Freshman Dawson Davito was fifth in the shot put with a throw of 48-02, 14.69m which ranks 10^th all-time outdoors at USF. In the 10,000 meters, senior Seth Overholt was eighth in 32:53.18, which is eighth all-time outdoors at USF.
 
Review of South Dakota Challenge – Hertz dominates two throwing events
Junior Emma Hertz won a pair of throwing events (shot put and discus) at the South Dakota Challenge. Hertz, a four-time All-American, won the discus by throwing 50.19 meters or 164-08, which is the second best throw all-time but not a school record as she threw 169-02.25 in setting the school mark in 2019. Senior Kayla Anderson finished 11^th but her throw off 44.01 meters or 144-05 ranks sixth all-time and was her best throw of her career. In the shot put, Hertz, had a winning throw of 15.45m – 50-08.25, which ranks second all-time to her own record throw outdoors of 51-0.5 in 2019. In fact, Hertz had NCAA DII provisional marks in both the shot put and discus and ranks second in DII in the shot put and fifth in the discus. In the javelin throw, senior Miranda Phipps finished fourth at 36.35 meters or 118-07 which ranks is the top 10 but does not beat her school record mark of 152-07 in 2019 and short of her season-best of 136-08. Also in the javelin throw, Bailey Rudebusch was sixth in 33.43 meters or 109-08. In the sprints, KaNya Henderson was 16^th with 25.76 which was a top 10 time at USF but just off her best of 25.55 in 2019.With two titles, school records by KaNya Henderson and Taylor Stoltz, a DII provisional mark, and 14 top-10 program all-time performances, the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Team put together standout efforts at the South Dakota Challenge, which concluded Saturday at the Lillibridge Track Complex. In the women's 100-meter dash, Henderson broke the mark of Jada Carr in 2017 and Chloe Peterson in 2019. The junior from Utica, Miss., finished seventh in 12.07 as she set the record. Junior Taylor Stoltz of Norfolk, Neb., tied the school record in the women's high jump as she set a personal best of 1.65m - 5-05. Stoltz, who finished fourth at the South Dakota Challenge, tied Sarah Gilbert who set the mark of 5-05 in 2010. Also in the high jump freshman Avery Bartunek was 12^th in 1.55m - 5-01.00 and moved into the top 10 at USF at ninth. Junior David Ecker won the men's 3,000 steeplechase in 9:22.98 which ranks second all-time at USF (Dan Armstrong, 9:18.36, 2019). In the same race, Aaron Voigt was fifth overall at 9:46.70 which is eighth on USF's all-time list. Senior Mason Phillips put together the program's sixth best 1,500 meter run and placed third in 3:54.44 which is just off his personal best of 3:47.98 in 2019, which is second all-time at USF.
In the 800-meter run, junior Zoe Cigard was 11^th in 2:19.65, which was a PR and ranks 10^th all-time at USF. In the women's long jump, sophomore Natalie Meyers finished eighth at 5.51m – 18-01 which is not only her outdoor PR but ranks ninth all-time at USF. Sophomore Karlee Simmons was fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 12:30.4 which ranks seventh all-time at USF but is off her PR set earlier this year of 12:19.In the women's heptathlon, USF placed two in the top 10 with marks that rank in the top-10 all-time at USF. Senior Emily Olson was sixth with 4,174 points, which ranks third all-time but of her PR of 4,596 in 2019. Freshman Emily Swanson finished at a PR of 3,949 which ranks fourth all-time at USF.

At the Dordt Invite – USF has 13 top-10 efforts
Winning and performing at a high level continues to be the defining way of the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Team, which won eight titles, and recorded two NCAA DII provisional marks, 29 top-five finishes and 13 school top-10 efforts at the Dordt Invitational on Thursday. Ahead of the Easter Break, the USF squads, led by a stellar effort and top-three all-time from All-Americans Emma Hertz, Jaimie McNamee and KaNya Henderson, had a strong effort in throws, jumps and sprints. Four-time junior All-American Emma Hertz won two titles (shot put, hammer throw) with marks that included a school record and another top-four throw all-time at USF. In the hammer throw, USF had three throwers place in the top five at the meet and record top-10 all-time throws at USF. Hertz broke the school record  of senior Jaimie McNamee (177'10, 2019) with an NCAA DII provisional throw of 180-09.25 (55.10m), which placed her first. McNamee was second with a throw which ranks third all-time at USF of 173-06.25 (52.89m) and was an NCAA DII provisional mark. In addition, senior  Kayla Andersen was fifth at 149-08.50, which would rank 10^th all-time outdoors at USF.  Just outside the top 10 at USF was senior Bailey Rudebusch, sixth, 149-00.25 (45.42m) and Mackenzie Bengtson, seventh, 146-02 (44.55m). In the shot put, Hertz had a toss of 44-08.75 (13.63m) which was the winning throw at the meet and ranks fourth all-time but she has the school record of 51'0.5 in 2019.  In the discus throw, McNamee captured the title and recorded the fourth best throw ever at USF of 148-00.75 (45.13m), although it was just short of her best toss of 150'3.5 in 2019 which ranks second all time.  In the 100-meter dash, junior KaNya Henderson won the event by clocking 12.11, which was the third fastest all-time outdoors at USF and her personal best. She was also part of the 4x100 meter relay which clocked 49.64 in finish second as she was on a squad that included Emma Kenkel, Myah Roggenbuck, Mercy Oyadare. In the men's 1,500 meter run, USF placed four in the top six as senior Mason Phillips took a title in 3:56.56, which ranks sixth all-time outdoors at USF although just short of his best of 3:47.98 in 2019 at No. 2 all-time. Also in the 1,500 meters, junior David Ecker was third at 4:07.61; junior Aaron Voigt, fourth, 4:08.23; freshman Ben Morrison, sixth, 4:17.69 with freshmen Zach Matzner, 10th, 4:24.88; and Scott Obago Jr., 21st, 4:35.40. Other title winners including sophomore Natalie Meyers, long jump, 17-04, 5.28 meters; while junior Taylor Stoltz and freshman Emily Swanson, tied for first in the high jump at 5-00.75 (1.54m).
USF's 4x800-meter women's relay captured a title in 9:45.16 with the eighth-best time outdoors in school history. The relay squad included sophomore Annika Aho, junior Tianna Wald, freshman Khot Juac and sophomore Cassidy O'Meara. Also for the USF men's team, Dawson Davito was second in the shot put at 45-07 (13.89m) while Christian Lietz was third in the 5,000-meters in 16:06.16. USF men's team had a second place finish from Jake Person in the pole vault by going 13-11.5 (4.25m). Marek Rex was 10^th in the hammer throw by had the nine ranked throw all-time outdoor at USF at 130-07.5 (39.81m).

Wildcat Classic - USF has 19 top-3 performances and eight titles
Combined between the men's and women's teams, the Cougars had 19 top-three performances, including eight individual titles during the two days of competition. Leading the way was senior All American Mason Phillips, a double winner for the USF Men's Team as he earned victories in the 1500 meters at 4:07.36 and the 5,000 meters in 15:39.55.  In the women's highlights, four-time junior All-American Emma Hertz won the discus at 158-04 (48.27m), which ranks second best all-time at USF to her own school record of 169'2.25 throw in 2019. Junior Taylor Stoltz won the high jump with her career best of 5-01 (1.55 m), which tied her for 10^th all-time at USF.  In the women's 3,000-meters steeplechase, Karlee Simmons won in 12:19.27, which ranks sixth all-time at USF. Another event winner was freshman Emily Swanson, who had a career-best 10-11.75 (3.35m). USF also captured the men's pole vault as Jake Person had a vault of 14-02.75 (4.34m), which was a personal-best. USF also had a first-place finish on Friday from Miranda Phipps in the javelin throw with her top 10 USF all-time throw of 136-08.

Coming Up for the Cougars 
USF will compete on May 1 at the Wayne State College Classic and the South Dakota Tune-up on Friday, May 7 at USD at the Lillibridge Track Complex on the USF campus as well as the Maverick Classic in Mankato, Minn., on May 7. The outdoor season will culminate on Thursday-Saturday, May 13-15 at the NSIC Championships held at Malosky Stadium in Duluth, Minnesota, hosted by the University of Minnesota Duluth.