May 20, 2026

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Dakota State (S.D.) men's outdoor track & field squad excelled on the first day of the 2026 NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Championship Wednesday at Karl Straus Track, on the campus of NCAA Division I UNC-Asheville.  The first day saw an All-America honor in the men's hammer throw, action in the decathlon, and the Trojan men's 4 x 800-meter relay team shattering a 16-year-old school record to advance to the Thursday's national final.

Zachary Haugen ended his college track & field career with a bang for Dakota State.  He kicked off the three-day national meet in the hammer throw, opening with a foul on his first attempt.  He threw 58.91 meters (193 feet, 3 inches) on this second attempt, which is his personal record.

Haugen was fifth after the semifinals round, despite being fouled on his third attempt.  He advanced to the final round, where he started with 58.04 meters toss (190 feet, 5 inches).  He followed with a mark of 57.84 meters (189 feet, 9 inches) on his fifth attempt, remaining in fifth place.

He closed his career by throwing his personal record 59.52 meters (195 feet, 3 inches) to finish third overall in the NAIA men's hammer throw for the Trojans.  As a result, Haugen earned NAIA All-America status at DSU.

His hammer throw mark is the third best in DSU men's outdoor track & field school record.  Haugen also produced the highest place finisher as the Trojan men's hammer throw at the national meet, previously held by Conner Tordsen with a fourth-place finish at the 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.

Tysen Grinde began his decathlon with a season best time of 11.56 seconds in the 100-meter dash, earning 740 points for the Trojans.  He followed up with 6.51 meters (21 feet, 4.25 inches) leap in the long jump for 700 points.

Grinde collected 557 points after tossing 11.18 meters (36 feet, 8.25 inches) in the shot put.  The decathlon was halted due to weather and resumed to action with remaining high jumpers at 4 p.m. (Eastern Time).
He tied the best high jump in the field with Carson Krack of Carroll (Mont.), with both clearing the height of 2.00 meters (6 feet, 6.75 inches) for 803 points. 

Grinde closed the first day of decathlon action with a career best time of 50.94 seconds in the 400-meter dash, earning 772 points.

He is currently ninth in the NAIA decathlon standing, trailing by one point behind Liam McHugh of Cornerstone (Mich.).  Grinde accumulated 3,572 points through five events.

The decathlon action returns Thursday at 11 a.m. (ET)/10 a.m. (Central Time) with five more events, starting with the 110-meter hurdles.  The discus, pole vault, javelin, and the 1500-meter run will follow.

Dakota State concluded the first day of the outdoor track & field national meet in the 4 x 800-meter relay.  Nolan Slominski kicked the race with a time of 1 minute, 53.96 seconds and handed the baton to Cody Farland.  DSU overtook the lead as he ran a time of 1:52.23 to hand the baton to Franklin Johns.

Johns clocked a time of 1:50.72 on the third leg and handed off to Tyler Nicke for the final anchor.  Nicke finished the final 800-meters with a time of 1:52.17.

In a closely tight race, Dakota State finished third in the second heat with a time of 7 minutes, 29.08 seconds.  The four heat winners plus the next four top times advanced to the finals, though, the Trojans advanced to Thursday's national finals with a new school record time.

Rio Grande (Ohio) won the second heat with a time of 7:27.90, followed by Cumberlands (Ky.) in 7:28.90, and Dakota State. 

Slominski, Farland, Johns, and Nicke broke the previous school record held by Andy Cody, Cody Foreman, Matt Fideler, and Tyler Van Peursem with a time of 7:30.74 in 2010.

The men's 4 x 800-meter relay national final is scheduled for Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. (ET)/5:30 p.m. (CT).

Follow all the action of the 2026 NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Championship via Urban Edge Network on https://urbanedgenetwork.net/?school=naia-championships and follow the live results on https://snapresults.snaptiming.com/meets/73709.

Dakota Staite is tied for seventh in the men's team standings with Tabor (Kan.) after three events scored, scoring six points.