VERMILLION, S.D. – MANKATO, MINN. -- With 29 personal bests, 22 top-eight finishes, seven top-10 program marks and a pair of NCAA DII provisional marks, the University of Sioux Falls Track and Field Team had another top level performance in sending split squads to the Deb Schulz Open in Mankato, Minn., and the University of South Dakota Twilight Meet on Friday. These two meets are the final two competitions for USF before heading to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships on May 12-14 at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

USF Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Doug Petersen was pleased with the way the outdoor season has progressed. 

"This was our last competition before the NSIC Championships," said Petersen. "It was a nice way to end the regular season for our student-athletes. We had a lot of intensity and it showed in the final results," he said.

BREAKDOWN - USF TWILIGHT

With six top eight finishes and a pair of program-top-10 marks from Khot Juac and Tianna Voigt, USF had a strong outing at the USD Twilight Meet.

Khot Juac, a freshman from Sioux Falls, had a 4:39.69 in the 1,500 meter run which was a personal-best and the third best mark in USF program history as she placed second at the meet. It ranks 64^th in DII. Also in the race, USF had four other personal-bests including Tianna Voigt, ninth, 4:51.24; Josie Boyd, 15^th, 4:55.07; Moriah Bullerman, 26^th, 5:12.79; and Ella Kolb, 34^th, 5:25.79. Hannah Ebert was 39^th  in 5:28.06.

In the 400-meter hurdles – Tianna Voigt was 10^th at  1:09.09 with a personal-best and the 10^th best time in program history.

While the women's 800-meter runners finished just out of USF's program top-10, six of seven USF finishers had personal-bests including Morgan Gehl, 12^th, 2:18.97 who bettered her mark by 4.5 seconds along with Jessica Lutmer, 14^th at 2:21.31 with a PR by five seconds. Also with PRs was Gracie Bucher, 17^th, 2:21.99; Karlee Simmons, 28^th, 2:26.37 (PR by 17 seconds), Marcella Sierra, 32^nd, 2:33.47 and Hannah Ebert, 36^th,

Cassidy O'Meara finished sixth with a personal-best of 1:00.73. USF had two top six teams in the 4x400-meter relay. A team of Josey Boyd, Moriah Bullerman, Karlee Simmons and Meagan Blare clocked 4:10.74. Also USF was sixth in 4:37.50 with a team of Cassidy O'Meara, Khot Juac, Morgan Gehl and Gracie Bucher.

In the men's 1,500 meter run Micade Shumway clocked a 3:58.98 to finish third. He bettered his previous best by nearly six seconds. Also for USF, Ethan Kraft, 18^th, 4:15.68; Christian Lietz, 19^th, 4:19.63; Avery Stanford, 22^nd, 4:30.10; Ashton Schnaser, 27^th, 4:34.81; and Scott Obago, Jr., 32^nd, 4:52.39.

In the men's 800 meter run, USF had four runners with their PR including Caleb Rivera, who was 9^th at 1:56.13 – seven seconds better. Also Miles Olofson, 14^th, 1:58.60; Wil Modjeski, 16^th, 2:00.43; and Diego Jaimes, 18^th, 2:01.83, all with their best performance of their careers in the event.

USF also placed sixth in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:36.35 with a team of Ethan Kraft, Caleb Rivera, Micade Shumway and Diego Jaimes.

Men's Results
400 meters – Zach Matzner, 52:55 (PR)
4x400-meter relay – 11^th, 3:45.72, Scott Obago, Jr., Christian Lietz, Ashton Schanser and Avery Stanford
3,000-meter steeplechase – Justin Steffenmeier, 8^th, 10:30.56 (PR); Kade Bullion, 11^th, 10:52.61 (PR)

Women's Results
100-meter hurdles – Sierra Stanton, 14^th, 16.74 (PR)
200-meter dash – Myah Roggenbuck, 18^th, 26.82 (PR); Olivia Fox, 31^st, 27.79 (PR)
100-meter dash – Myah Roggenbuck, 20^th, 12.92 (PR); Olivia Fox, 24^th, 13.07 (PR)
High Jump – Avery Bartunek, 15^th, 1.50M – 4-11 1/4

BREAKDOWN - DEB SCHULZ OPEN 
 
With 16 top-eight finishes plus an NCAA DII provisional mark by Emma Hertz as well as five program top-10 marks, USF shined at the Deb Schulz Open in Mankato, Minn.

In the 100-meter dash, two placed two in the top five with KaNya Henderson placed first in 2-04, running an 11.95 prelim time. Natalie Meyers was fifth in 12.52, which broke her PR by .25 with a previous mark of 12.77.  Meyers also had a PR in finishing sixth in the women's long jump at 5.74m-18-10.00.

In the women's hammer throw Emma Hertz finished second and bettered the previous meet record of 52.25 with a throw of 55.03m-180-06, which is her fourth throw of 175 feet or more this outdoor season. It was also another NCAA DII provisional mark for the senior from Sioux Falls. Also in the hammer, Ally Welch was seventh at 43.25m-141-10.

Holly Mayers was seventh in the 400-meters with a personal-best of 1:00.24 which ranks 10^th all-time at USF.

In the women's pole vault, Greta Snaza had a person best in finishing eighth at 2.98m-9-09.25. Makenzie Adams was 13^th in 2.38m – 7-09.75.

Joseph Donahue led usf's in the men's 100-meter dash by finishing fourth at 10.72, which was just off his PR of 10.70 (Kip Janvrin Open, 2022).  Ben Mandel clocked a 14.74 in the 100 meter hurdles for fifth all-time. He had a PR of 14.71 in the prelims which was his PR and sixth at USF all-time.

Tyler Hiatt finished second in the second with a throw of 49.94m-163-10 which is his sixth throw of 163 or better this outdoor season. Also in the event, Patrick Hagan was fifth in 44.35m-145-06 while Jaymeson Wolkow was eighth in 42.59m-139-08 with Marek Rex, 11^th, 41.04m-134-07 and Carson Hausmann, 13^th, 38.70m-126-11.

USF placed two in the men's pole vault as Jake Person was sixth in 4.17m-13-08.25 while Samuel Olson was eighth in 3.72m-12-02.50.
 
Women's Results
Hammer Throw -- Mackenzie Bengtson, 11^th, 40.19m-131-10; Kamry Lindsey, 12^th, 38.35m-125-10 and Kayla Van Osdel, 17^th, 31.95m – 104-10.
Discus – Kamry Lindsey, 5^th, 41.30m-135-06; Mackenzie Bengtson, 6^th, 38.89m – 127-07; and Kayla Van Osdel, 14^th, 32.37m -106-02

Men's Results
High Jump – Davis McCallum, 11^th, 1.63m – 5-04.25.
400-meters – Denver Decker, 8^th, 51.29 (PR); Nicholas Mller, 16^th, 54.00; Robert Rauh, 17^th, 54.43; Aweys Maalim, 18^th, 55.95
Hammer Throw – Jaymeson Wolkow, 9^th, 46.63m – 153-00; Marek Rex, 10^th, 42.92m – 140-09