SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – With the NSIC Championships coming up in two weeks (Feb. 25-26), the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Teams will look to continue an outstanding 2021-22 season with the NSIC Challege in Mankato, Minn., on Feb. 12 and the SDSU Classic on Feb. 11-12. 

Follow along - USF Track and Field

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SDSU Classic
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Notes - Hertz, Hiatt, Swanson and Henderson making substantial impact in 2022 for the Cougars

USF has already put together over 30 top-10 program marks in field and running events.

DII and Conference Rankings –

USF has three marks that rank in the top 10 in DII and another in the top 30. In addition, USF has 18 top-10 NSIC marks. Here is how, USF student-athletes and relays stand –

Emma Hertz, 1^st in the NSIC, 6^th in NCAA DII, shot put, 15.15 meters – 49-8.75; second NSIC and 3^rd NCAA DII, weight throw, school record, 19.70 meters – 64-7.75
Emily Swanson, 11^th in NCAA DII and 3^rd in the NSIC, pentathlon, 3,560 points; sixth in the NSIC in high jump, 1.67 meters – 5-5.75
Tyler Hiatt, 27^th in NCAA DII II and 3^rd in NSIC, shot put, 16.73 meters – 54-10.75; 5^th in the NSIC, weight throw, 17.81 meters, 58.5.25
Patrick Hagan, 8^th in the NSIC, shot put, 16.67 meters – 54-8.25
Kayla Van Osdel, 10^th in the NSIC, shot put, 13.10 meters – 42-11.5
Ben Mandel, 6^th in the NSIC, 60-meter hurdles, 8.36
KaNya Henderson, 6^th in the NSIC, 60-meter dash, 7.70; 7^th in the NSIC, 200-meters, 25.46
Cassidy O'Meara, 9^th, NSIC, 800-meters, 2:20.43
David Ecker, 7^th in the NSIC, mile run, 4:18.14; 6^th, 3,000 meters, 8:33.30, DMR, 3rd
Aaron Voigt, 10^th in the NSIC, 3,000-meters, 8:49.36
Christian Lietz, 7^th in the NSIC, 5,000-meters, 15:39.75
Kayleigh Whipps, 11^th in the NSIC, 5,000-meters, 18:33.32
Distance Medley Relay, men's team (Aaron Voigt, Denver Decker, Zach Matzner, David Ecker), 3^rd, NSIC, 10:20.03; women's team (Tianna Voigt, Gracie Bucher, Cassidy O'Meara, Morgan Gehl), 3^rd in the NSIC, 12:43.25
4x400-meter relay, women's team, Cassidy O'Meara, Emily Swanson, Olivia Baumberger and Emma Kenkel, 10^th in the NSIC, 4:12.67

Top Performances – Hiatt, Hertz, Swanson and Henderson

Of note are performances of Emma Hertz and Tyler Hiatt of the USF throws squad. In her career, Hertz has compiled the nine of the top 10 indoor weight throws in school history. Those marks include setting the school record twice this year in the weight throw. She ranks sixth in DII and first in the NSIC in the shot put (49-8.75) and third in DII and second in the NSIC in the weight throw (64-7.75). At the Mark Schuck Open and Multi, she had a school record with the third best throw in NCAA DII this year by going 19.70 meters – 64-07.75, which bettered her previous mark of 19.26 meters – 63-2.25 at the SDSU Holiday Open in early December. In addition, Hertz won the shot put with a throw of 14.43. She has 12 top-4 weight throw placements in her career with four titles and was seventh at the NSIC Championships in 2021.]

In the shot put indoors, Hertz is even better. She has the top 10 throws all-time indoors in the shot put with 13 titles and two top four finishes at the NSIC Championships. She has also accumulated 20 top-5 finishes. This year, she has three titles with her throw of 15.15 meters - 49-8..5 fourth all-time at the SDSU Holiday Open in December. At the Mount Marty Opener she also won the competition with a throw of 14.01m-45-11.75. Her top throw is 15.90 meters - 52-2 on Feb. 12, 2021 at the Minnesota State Triangular.  Indoors overall in her career, Hertz has 16 titles in the shot and weight throw with 32 top-five placements. In five competitions, she has seven titles in the two events this year.

Hiatt has had a strong start of his career since transferring to USF from NDSU. He has nine top-six placements in four meets, including two titles, with seven throws in the shot put and weight throw that rank top 10 all-time at USF. He ranks 27^th in DII in the shot put (54-10.75) which is third in the NSIC and also stands 5^th in the weight throw at 58-5.25.
In the shot put, HIatt had a toss of 16.73 meters - 54-10.75 at the SDSU Holiday Open in early December which ranks him second on USF's career chart. In the weight throw, he won the event at the Mount Marty invite at 17.81 meters - 58-5.25 which ranks third at USF all-time. At the SDSU DII Invite last weekend, he was ninth overall with the ninth best weight throw in school history of 16.85 meters - 55-3.5 feet.

Also, KaNya Henderson has made a mark on USF's school marks in the sprints. Indoors, she is the school record holder in the 60-meter dash of 7.55 which she set at the prelims of the NSIC Indoor Championships on Feb. 28-29, 2020. She finished fourth in the finals with a clocking of 7.63 at the NSIC Indoor Championships, a time that ranks third all-time. She also registered a 7.62 clocking on Feb. 21.2020 for second all-time at USF. Henderson also owns the third best 60-meters dash mark all-time with a 7.70 clocking (placed fifth) on Dec. 3-4, 2022 at the SDSU Holiday Open and her clocking of 7.77 meters (placed third) on Jan. 21, 2022 at the SDSU DII Invite ranks sixth all-time at USF. Henderson has a pair of first-place finishes this year with four top-five finishes. In, her career indoors, she has 20 top-five placements and three titles. Also, she has gone between 7.55 and 7.96, 20 times indoors. In the 200 meters, she has a top time of 25.35 at the SDSU DII Invite on Feb. 24, 2020 and at the SDSU Holiday Open on Jan. 22, 2022, she clocked 25.38 in the 200 meters (placed 10th at the meet) for the second best mark in program history indoors. Overall, she has four USF top-10 program marks in the 200 indoors in her career. She ranks sixth in the NSIC (7.70) in the 60-meter dash and 7^th in the 200-meters (25.46).

Sophomore Emily Swanson had a performance at the Mark Schuck Open and Multi in the pentathlon that is one of the best marks in school history and sets her up as one of the top multi-event performers not only in the NSIC but in NCAA DII. At the meet in Jan. 29 in Mankato, Minn., Swanson recorded two NCAA DII provisional marks and finished second in the pentathlon, Hanson registered the 11th-best pentathlon mark in NCAA DII with 3,538 points, which is also the second best mark in school history (Katlynn Sawtelle, 3,733, 2014). Swanson, who bettered her previous mark by 300 points, had an NCAA DII provisional mark in the pentathlon and also had a DII provisional mark of 1.67 meters - 5-5.75 in the high jump. She had three personal bests on Friday with the overall total in the pentathlon, the high jump mark plus a 2:26.22 in the 800 meters. She finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a clocking of 9.20 which ranks seventh all-time in USF program history. In addition, Swanson was second in the high jump, second in the shot put (10.16 meters – 33-4) , third in the long jump (5.04 meters – 16-6.5) and second in the 800-meters.

SEASON REVIEW – USF Track and Field registers 29 personal bests and nine top-10 program marks at Ted Nelson Classic and NW Missouri State Bearcat Open
The University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Team continued its outstanding work in the 2021-22 indoor track and field season with 29 personal-bests, nine top-10 program marks and 23 top-eight finishes with split squads at the Ted Nelson Classic in Mankato, Minn., and the Northwest Missouri University Bearcat Open in Maryville, Mo.

At the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Open, USF had seven program top-10 marks with four top-eight finishes in five events, led by USF Men's Track and Field's David Ecker with two top-five placings as he had career-bests in both the mile and the 3,000 meters. In both races, he had top-10 program marks as he was fifth in the men's mile with a clocking of 4:15.68 for seventh all-time at USF and ranks seventh in the NSIC. In the 3,000-meter run, he clocked 8:27.49 for fourth place and the sixth-best time at USF and also is third in the NSIC this year. In those two same races, Aaron Voigt also had top-10 program marks with a clocking of 4:18.46 for 10^th place in the competition and eighth on USF's all-time list. He also finished 16^th in the 3K with a clocking of 8:43.29 which ranks 10^th all-time at USF.

In the 800-meter run, sophomore Cassidy O'Meara was eighth in 2:20.43, which was a clocking ranking seventh all-time at USF. The mark ranks fifth in the NSIC. In the women's mile run, freshman Morgan Gehl was fourth in 5:09.31 which ranks third all-time at USF and eighth in the NSIC. She was also 11^th in the 3,000-meters with a 10:22.20, another mark which is third all-time at USF and 13th in the NSIC.

 
At the Ted Nelson Classic both Tyler Hiatt and Emma Hertz won titles and had DII provisional marks. And at the competition, USF had a pair of top 10 program marks along with 16 top-eight finishes and the throwing titles along with 20 personal best marks. Tyler Hiatt had another big effort and put out a DII provisional mark but his throw was just short of his best of the year as he won the shot put with a throw of 16.68 meters – 54-8.75. The mark is his second best and ranks third all-time at USF. He also placed third in the weight throw with a toss of 17.58 meters for 57-8. Also in the weight throw, Patrick Hagan was sixth with a throw of 16.67 meters - 54-8.

With a personal-best, Zach Matzner finished third in the 800-meters by clocking 2:00.15. Also, Christian Lietz was fourth in the 5,000-meters at 15:39.75, which was a personal-best. Sophomore Ben Mandel clocked an 8.36 in the 60-meter hurdles for fifth at the meet. In the sprints Joseph Donahue had personal bests in the 60 meter dash with his 7.11 placing 10^th and his 23.07 in the 200 meter dash was a PR and also placed him 10^th. Xavier Blackwell was 18^th in 23.50 in the 200 and 20^th in the 60-meter dash with personal-bests in each race.

In the 400-meter dash, USF had a team placed eighth in 3:37.63 with a squad of Jayden Slaba, Robert Rauh, Nicholas Muller and Denver Decker.

Hertz won the weight throw with a toss of 19.33 meters – 63-05, which is the second best of her career, a DII provisional mark and second all-time this year with the third title in the event in 2021-22. She was also one of three USF student-athletes to place in the top seven of the shot put. Hertz was fourth with a throw of 13.68 meters -44-10.75 while Kayla Van Osdel was sixth with a personal best of 13.10 meters – 42-11.75 while Kamry Lindsey was seventh with her personal-best of 12.63 meters – 41-5.25

In the 5,000 meters, junior Kayleigh Whipps had a personal best in winning a title, the first of her career, in 18:33.32. KaNya Henderson continued to excel in the sprints as she was fifth in the 60-meter dash in 7.70, which is a program top-10 best and tied for her best dash this year (7.70, Dec. 3-4, SDSU). She also was fifth in the 200 meter dash in 25.81 which is another top-10 program mark but not her all-time best. In the mile run, Khot Juac placed seventh with her best indoor mark of 5:29.63 while Josey Boyd was eighth in 5:34.88.By bettering her personal best by nearly two seconds, Gracie Bucher was fourth in the 800-meters in 2:24.83 while Ella Kolb finished eighth with a personal-best of 2:39.93.
 
Cougars Men's Team opened season Dec. 3-4 as Tyler Hiatt has big opening performance 
Already at the SDSU Indoor Invitational on Dec. 3-4, Hiatt had a big performance in his first meet at USF. He finished second at the meet with an NCAA DII provisional mark and 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, Hiatt was third with a throw of 48.88m-160-04.5 which ranks fourth all-time at USF.  Also at that opening meet, Steven Miner was sixth in the long jump at 21-00.5 while Zach Matzner finished fourth (4;29.17) and Justin Steffenmeier, 8th (4:34.10). In the 300 meter-hurdles, Ladon Wenderski was seventh (42.64) with Avery Stanford, eighth (9:45.07) in the 3K. 

Hertz leads Women's Team in opening meet by setting school record with pair of NCAA DII marks 
At the SDSU Indoor Invitational on Dec. 3-4, 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.

Cougars tallies multiple top-10 finishes in strong performance at Mount Marty Opener
In USF's second meet of the season, the Cougars shined as the Women's Team won 10 events and the men's team took four. USF also had 15 second or third place finishes by the women's team while the men had six. USF was led by several student-athletes who had multiple wins including senior throwers Tyler Hiatt and Emma Hertz, who also had a pair of NCAA DII provisional marks and now has four on the team. Also in the weight throw, junior Mackenzie Bengtson placed second at 14.65m – 48-00.75; while freshman Kamry Lindsey was third at 13.50m – 44-03.50; freshman Kayla Van Osdel, fifth, 12.72m – 41-08.75; and senior Ally Welch, sixth, 12.64m – 41-05.75. In the shot put, Lindsey was third with a throw of 11.86 meters – 38-11 while VanOsdel was fourth in 11.56 meters – 37-11.25. In the men's weight throw, USF had five of the top eight places, including third from senior Patrick Hagan at 16.15m – 53-00; sophomore Jaymeson Wolkow, 5^th, 14.75m – 48-04; sophomore Marek Rex, 6^th, 13.47m – 44-02.5; and sophomore Dawson Davito, 8^th, 11.76m – 38-07. In the shot put, Hagan was fourth at 13.69 meters – 44-11.  Wolkow also placed fourth as he tied Hagan. Davito was seventh at 13-03 meters – 42-09. 

KaNya Henderson dominated the sprints with wins in the 60 and 200 while David Ecker and Ben Mandel joined Hertz with top 10 program marks. USF placed two in the top three in the 800-meters including the first career track title for freshman Gracie Bucher, who clocked a 2:32.08 while Marcella Sierra was third in 2:43.72. USF also claimed the top three spots in the mile run as freshman Jessica Lutmer earned her first career win in 5:28.11 while Josie Boyd was second in 5:48.09 and Moriah Bullerman, third, 5:49.28. 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. 

Senior David Ecker also had a big run in the mile as he claimed a title with a winning clocking of 4:22.03 which ranks 10^th all-time at USF. He was part of a contingent in the mile that had five in the top seven. They included sophomore Zach Matzner, second, 4:32.15; freshman Caleb Rivera, third, 4:32.17; freshman Kade Bullion, sixth, 4:37.84; freshman Miles Olofson, seventh, 4:43.22; Ethan Kraft, 9^th, 4:52.07; sophomore Wil Modjeski, 11^th, 4:59.22; and freshman Ashton Schnaser, 13^th, 5:04.04. Junior Cassidy O'Meara claimed the women's 1,000-meter title in 3:08.71 while junior Annika Aho had a 3:11.01 for second place. Freshman Kayleigh Whipps was second in the 3,000-meter run in 11:22.92 with her best career finish. In the relays, USF dominated with three teams placing in the top six. The team of Swanson, Mayers, Baumberger and Kenkel won the event in 4:13.29. In placing third in the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Ben Mandel clocked a 8.46 which ranks eighth all-time at USF. Sophomore Christian Lietz won the 3,000-meter run in 9:01.03 while sophomore Justin Steffenmeier was second in 9:04.90 with Avery Sanford, eight, in 9:38.01.

Cougars have seven program top 10 marks amongst a solid outing at SDSU DII Invitational
USF recorded seven program top-10 marks, had a title and eight top six placements in another strong effort to open the season as the Cougars competed at the SDSU DII Open on Friday (Jan. 21) at the Sanford –Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.  The Cougars finished ninth in the women's team race with 24 points while the men's team was 11^th with 28 points. The USF Women's Team had a number of top 10 marks in program history. While senior Emma Hertz did not have a PR on Friday, she finished third in the weight throw with an NCAA DII provisional mark of 18.88 meters or 61-11.5. The mark is her second best throw of the season and her fourth best in her career. Also in the weight throw, Mackenzie Bengtson was 11^th. In the 800-meters, Cassidy O'Meara had both a PR and a top-10 mark (9^th) by clocking a 2.20.64. USF had a top-10 program mark in the 200 meters and in the 60-meter dash from KaNya Henderson. She was third in the 60-meter dash in 7.77 while Natalie Meyers was 13^th in 8.23. Sophomore Emily Swanson cracked USF's all-time indoor top-10 in the 60-meter hurdles by clocking a 9.42, which placed her seventh in the competition and 10^th all-time at USF. In the pole vault, Kenna Comstock was 10^th but set her PR with a vault of 3.05 meters -- 10-00.25. Freshman Jessica Lutmer, who won her first title a week ago, was fifth in the 3,000-meters by clocking a 10:54.57 and earning her PR. Kayleigh Whipps finished sixth in the 3K in 11:07.17.  In the triple jump, Avery Bartunek was ninth in 10.12 meters – 33-02.50. In the mile run, Karlee Simmons had a PR and placed seventh in 5:26.26 while Tianna Voigt was ninth in 5:39.04 with Josie Boyd, 10^th in 5:40.22 while Moriah Bullerman was 11^th in 5:42.26. USF also had a 10^th place finish in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Annika Aho, O'Meara, Tianna Voigt and Bucher clocked a 4:14.60.

Leading the way for the men's squad was David Ecker, who won the 3,000-meters in 8:42.90 which was a top-10 program mark (10^th) but just off his career best of 8:41.96. He led five runners in the top 10 at the race. Aaron Voigt was third in 8:51.02 with Christian Lietz, sixth in 8:58.61 followed by Justin Steffenmeier, seventh, 9:08.03 with Miles Olofson, 10^th, 9:16.42. In the throws, sophomore Tyler Hiatt continued his outstanding start to the season. He was sixth in the shot at 15.55 meters-51.00.25, which ranked ninth all-time. Hiatt placed ninth in the weight throw by going 16.85 meters – 55-03.4, which would rank eighth all-time at USF but short of his best at USF of 58-5.25 (3^rd all-time). In the 1,000 meters, sophomore Zach Matzner finished fifth with a PR of 2:37.02 while Wil Modjeski was ninth in 2:42.06. 

Mark Schuck Open and Multi Highlights – Jan. 28-29
~ Senior Emma Hertz won both the shot put and weight throw with NCAA DII provisional marks. It was her performance in the weight throw that stood out as she not only set a school record that had the third best throw in NCAA DII this year by going 19.70 meters – 64-07.75, which bettered her previous mark of 19.26 meters – 63-2.25 at the SDSU Holiday Open in early December. In addition, Hertz won the shot put with a throw of 14.43 meters – 47-4.25.  

~ Sophomore Emily Swanson  recorded two NCAA DII provisional marks and finished second in the pentathlon. Swanson registered the 10th-best pentathlon mark in NCAA DII with 3,538 points, which is also the second best mark in school history (Katlynn Sawtelle, 3,733, 2014). Swanson, who bettered her previous mark by 300 points, had an NCAA DII provisional mark in the pentathlon and also had a DII provisional mark of 1.67 meters - 5-5.75 in the high jump. She had three personal bests on Friday with the overall total in the pentathlon, the high jump mark plus a 2:26.22 in the 800 meters. She finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a clocking of 9.20 which ranks seventh all-time in USF program history. In addition, Swanson was second in the high jump, second in the shot put (10.16 meters – 33-4) , third in the long jump (5.04 meters – 16-6.5) and second in the 800-meters. 

~ USF had a top 10 program mark from freshman Morgan Gehl, who placed 10^th in the mile run. With her clocking of 5:13.93, she recorded the fourth-best mark in school history. 

~ In the men's mile run, senior David Ecker had his second top-10 program mark this year by clocking a 4:18.14 and finishing sixth. His time ranks seventh in USF program indoor history.

~ Sophomore Tyler Hiatt had a pair of top five finishes by finishing second in the shot put with a DII provisional mark of 16.47 meters – 54-00.50, which is slight off his career-best. He was also fifth in the weight throw at 17.29 meters – 56-08.75.

~ In the sprints, KaNya Henderson finished seventh in the 60-meter dash with a final clocking of 7.92 (7.85 in the prelims). In the 200 meter dash, she clocked 25.46 to finish seventh.
In the high jump Abbi Webb had a personal best by going 1.62 meters – 5-03.75, which is tied for sixth in program history.

~ Sophomore Ben Mandel had the eighth-best mark in program history in finishing seventh in the 60-meter hurdles.Aside from Swanson, freshman Sierra Stanton set a school mark of 1:13.36 in the 400-meter hurdles.

~ In the women's distance medley relay, the team of Tianna Voigt, Gracie Bucher, Cassidy O'Meara and Morgan Gehl clocked 12:43.25 to finish third.

~ Sophomore Kenna Comstock set her personal best mark for the second straight competition by going 3.10 meters – 10-2 in the pole vault. In the 3,000 meters, freshman Jessica Lutmer was 11^th in 10:47.75 while junior Karlee Simmons was 12^th in 10:57.29.

~ The USF Men's Team had a solid effort in the 3,000-meters, led by sophomore Micade Shumway, who was fifth in 9:00.42. In the same race, freshman Caleb Rivera was seventh in 9:6.91 while freshman Kade Bullion was 11^th in 9:10.73 and sophomore Miles Olofson was 16^th in 9:21.97.

~ USF's distance medley relay was fourth in 10:20.03 with a team of Aaron Voigt, Denver Decker, Zach Matzner and David Ecker.