April 10, 2026

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Dakota State (S.D.) added another national qualifying athlete to their list Friday in the 61^st annual Sioux City Relays at Olsen Stadium on the campus of Morningside (Iowa).  The Trojans also added a school record to close out the day.  Numerous local NAIA and NCAA schools competed in the outdoor track & field meet.

Oliviyah Thornton captured the shot-put title with 14.56 meters toss (47 feet, 9.25 inches), which improved her school record and career best mark.  Her mark is the third farthest in the NAIA as of Friday.  The Trojans added another qualifying athlete in the shot-put where Bella Maxwell hit the NAIA 'B' qualifying mark of 13.88 meters (45 feet, 6.5 inches).  She finished second in the event, with her mark as the second best in school history.

Other DSU shot-put results included Alivia Bickett – 11.81 meters (38 feet, 9 inches) – 7^th place, Casey Olson – 11.64 meters (38 feet, 2.25 inches) – 8^th place, and Hadley Hollenback – 11.19 meters (36 feet, 8.5 inches) – 9^th place.

Thornton, which already qualified for hammer throw earlier this season, threw 53 meters (NAIA 'B' qualifying mark – 173 feet, 10 inches) to place second in the event.  Maxwell added another NAIA 'B' qualifying mark and personal record 52.93 meters (173 feet, 8 inches) to place fourth.  Her toss is the fourth best in DSU women's outdoor track & field school history.

Other DSU hammer throwers results included Lilly Young – 46.88 meters (153 feet, 9 inches), Bickett – 39.30 meters (128 feet, 11 inches), Emily Dvorak – 33.51 meters (109 feet, 11 inches), and McKenna McIlravy – 32.29 meters (105 feet, 11 inches).

Thornton also led the Trojans with a fifth-place finish in the discus, throwing 43.86 meters (143 feet, 10 inches).  Maxwell posted her career best 39.35 meters (129 feet, 1 inch) to place 10^th.  Young threw 39.22 meters (128 feet, 1 inch).  Hollenbeck hit her personal record 38.25 meters (125 feet, 6 inches), while Dvorak added a personal best 32.70 meters (107 feet, 3 inches).

Olson cleared the height of 1.52 meters (4 feet, 11.75 inches) to place fifth in the high jump for DSU.  Ella Carstensen added a clearance of 1.47 meters (4 feet, 9.75 inches).  She also finished with a time of 27.69 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

Valerija Curikova clocked a personal record time of 18 minutes, 4.92 seconds to finish third in the 5000-meter run for Dakota State.  Her time is the third fastest in the DSU women's outdoor track & field record book.  Madelyn Sylva added a career best 19:08.30 to finish sixth, posting the ninth fastest time in the school record book.

Anna Schneider produced a season best time of 2 minutes, 20.33 seconds in the 800-meter run and finished 10^th.  Her time is the eighth fastest time in the DSU school record book.  RayLee Wallis added a time of 2:25.37.

Brooke Beaucaire hit a new personal record and school record time of 38 minutes, 16.45 seconds in the 10,000-meter run for the Trojans.  She finished fifth in the race.  Beaucaire broke the previous school record time of 38:26.52, held by Jacia Christiansen in 2022.

Dakota State returns to action next weekend in two different meets.  The Trojans head to Orange City, Iowa, for the two-day Red Raider Open, hosted by Northwestern (Iowa) at De Valois Stadium. 

DSU will also be sending their multi-event athletes to the site of the Frontier Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships meet next Sunday (April 19) and next Monday (April 20) at Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson, N.D.  The heptathlon will take two days, starting on April 19 at 3 p.m. (Central Time)/2 p.m. (Mountain Time).  The second day of the heptathlon starts at 11 a.m. (CT)/10 a.m. (MT).