January 27, 2026
NEW ORLEANS – The United State Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced their first 2026 indoor checkpoint Tuesday. All USTFCCA Track & Field Rating (TFRI) are presented by AthleticNet.
The TRFI is a complex mathematical system used to rank collegiate track and field teams.
The Trojan women's indoor track & field team is ranked No. 13 with 69.91 total points. DSU is the second-best Frontier Conference team on the list, thanks to a pair of throwing events and relay teams being ranked in the Top 10.
Oliviyah Thornton highlighted the Trojans with the third best shot put in the NAIA with 14.10 meters (46 feet, 3 inches) and seventh best weight throw with 17.34 meters (56 feet, 10.75 inches). Both are school records at Dakota State.
The DSU women's distance medley relay team of
Lindsey Roth,
RayLee Wallis,
Anna Schneider, and
Valerija Curikova rank third overall in the NAIA. The 4 x 800-meter relay team of Schneider, Curikova,
Kierra Miller, and
Lindsey Roth are ranked seventh in the NAIA with a time of 9:53.39.
Amelie Steins also ranks inside the NAIA's Top 10, scoring the ninth most pentathlon points with a school record of 3,221 points from the Mount Marty (S.D.) Invitational and Multi's on Jan. 16.
Dakota State's shot-put squad is fourth best NAIA shot put team, as well as No. 6 best weight throw squad in the NAIA.
DSU men's indoor track & field team is the top Frontier Conference team on the USTFCCA TRFI with No. 20 ranking, scoring 58.71 total points. The Trojans registered four events on the NAIA's Top 10, led by
Tysen Grinde with No. 2 in the high jump with 2.08 meters mark (6 feet, 10 inches). He also ranks seventh in the NAIA's heptathlon with 5,005 points.
Franklin Johns,
Evan Armstrong,
Solomon Carter, and
Mohamed Muse are part of the Trojan men's 4 x 800-meter relay team that is ranked No. 7 in the NAIA in 7 minutes, 53.86 seconds. Muse also ranks ninth in the 600-meter run in 1:20.15.
Oliver Tordsen and
Zachary Haugen also produced national qualifying marks in the weight throw. Tordsen also posted the national qualifying mark in the shot put.
Overall, the Trojan men's shot put and weight throw squads rank No. 3 as a team in the NAIA. The heptathlon squad also ranks fourth best in the NAIA, as well as the high jump as No. 7 ranked squad in the nation.
Dakota State returns to Seward, Neb., for the second straight weekend. The Trojans compete in the two-day Concordia (Neb.) Track & Field Classic at Walz Fieldhouse Friday and Saturday.
