February 27, 2025
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Six Dakota State (S.D.) men's athletes excelled on the first day of the 2025 U.S. Marines NAIA Men's Indoor Track & Field national Championship Thursday at Alachua County Sports and Events Center at Celebration Pointe. The year is the 60
th annual running of the men's indoor track & field national meet.
Chantz Minear and
Tysen Grinde kicked off the national meet with the heptathlon for the Trojans. Minear collected 844 points after recording a career best time of 7.11 seconds in the 60-meter dash, the second fastest runner in the field. Grinde clocked a time of 7.43 seconds for 736 points.
The second heptathlon event was the long jump. Minear leaped 6.44 meters (21 feet, 1.5 inches) to earn 684 points. Grinde posted a leap of 6.29 meters (20 feet, 7.75 inches) to register 650 points.
Minear tossed a personal record 11.98 meters (39 feet, 3.75 inches) to tally 605 points in the shot put for DSU. Grinde also produced his career best mark of 11.35 meters (37 feet, 3 inches) for 567 points.
The high jump was the last event of the heptathlon on the first day. Grinde cleared the height of 2.03 meters (6 feet, 8 inches) for 831 points, .01 meters shy of tying his career best mark of 2.04 meters. Minear finished with 1.91 meters clearance (6 feet, 3.25 inches) for 723 points.
Minear is fifth in the heptathlon standings after day one, racking up 2,856 points for Dakota State. Grinde followed up with a sixth place in the standings with 2,784 points.
There is three heptathlon events remaining Friday, starting with the 60-meter hurdles at 10 a.m. (Eastern Time)/9 a.m. (Central Time), followed by the pole vault, and the 1000-meter run.
Dakota State's 4 x 800-meter relay team of
Evan Armstrong,
Curtis Johnson,
Franklin Johns, and
Nolan Slominski were placed in the second heat. They produced a second-place finish in the heat with a time of 7 minutes, 40.06 seconds, edging Cumberlands (Ky.) in an exciting race by .05 seconds.
DSU's time of 7:40.06 is the second fastest in men's indoor track & field school history. Slominski, Johnson,
Evan Slominski, and
Cody Farland holds the all-time school record of 7:37.41, which was set in last year's NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Brookings, S.D.
The Trojans finished eighth overall in the 4 x 800-meter relay and advanced to the national final Friday at 6:25 p.m. (ET)/5:25 p.m. (CT).
The top eight place finishers in the national finals will receive NAIA All-America distinction. DSU is seeking for their All-American distinction in the 4 x 800-meter relay for the second consecutive year.
Slominski will also run in the 800-meter run semifinals Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. (ET)/2:30 p.m. (CT) for Dakota State.
