April 15, 2022

NORTH NEWTON, Kan. – Dakota State (S.D.) was the top NAIA men's outdoor track & field team place finisher Friday in the Bethel (Kan.) Invitational at Thresher Stadium.  Numerous schools from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference competed in the meet.

Hutchinson CC (Kan.) won the team title after racking up 133 points, followed by Dakota State with a second place after recording 100 points.  Tabor (Kan.) was third with 76 points, followed by McPherson (Kan.) with 71 points.

The highlight of the meet came in the hammer throw by Conner Tordsen who celebrated his birthday with a monstrous hammer throw toss.  He is the first Trojan thrower to surpass the hammer throw distance of 200 feet, earning a runner-up finish with a new school record toss of 61.10 meters (200 feet, .5 inches).  His hammer throw toss moved into the NAIA's Top 5 marks.

Jacob Joachim also produced a career best 50.31 meters hammer throw (165 feet, 1 inch) toss for the Trojans, finishing third overall.  His hammer throw toss is the fourth furthest in school history.  Zachary Haugen followed up with a seventh-place finish after throwing 44.89 meters (147 feet, 3 inches).  Jackson Zastera was 12th with a personal best toss of 42.09 meters (138 feet, 1 inch).  Houston Lunde hit 37.32 meters (122 feet, 5 inches), while James McClain registered a hammer throw toss of 36.19 meters (118 feet, 9 inches).

Tordsen also earned a runner-up honor finish in the discus throw, hitting 50.28 meters (164 feet, 11 inches).  Treshawn Roberts posted a career-best 42.66 meters (139 feet, 11 inches) discus throw to finish fourth.  Haugen followed up with a fifth-place finish with 39.93 meters toss (131 feet), while Joachim was sixth with 39.30 meters toss (128 feet, 11 inches).  Zastera registered a personal best 37.72 meters (123 feet, 9 inches), followed by McClain with 36.62 meters throw (120 feet, 10 inches).  Ethan Teunissen made his collegiate outdoor track & field debut with a 33.82 meters toss (110 feet, 11 inches).  Houston Lunde threw 32.80 meters (107 feet, 7 inches).

Tordsen hit a season best 14.35 meters shot put toss (47 feet, 1 inch) to finish fifth for the Trojans.  McClain was eighth after throwing 12.86 meters (42 feet, 2.25 inches).  Joachim was 10th with 12.67 meters toss (41 feet, 7 inches).  Lunde posted 10.99 meters shot-put toss (36 feet, .75 inches), while Teunissen threw 10.36 meters (34 feet).

Roberts recorded 45.35 meters (148 feet, 9 inches) to finish fourth in the javelin throw.  He also finished sixth in the long jump, leaping 6.29 meters (20 feet, 7.75 inches).  He was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles after registering a time of 15.75 seconds in the race.

SenQuavius Johnson was the second fastest runner in the 100-meter prelims with a time of 10.78 seconds for Dakota State.  Willie Hutchins placed ninth with a time of 11.19 seconds, followed by Joseph Larson with a time of 11.40 seconds for a 15th-place finish.

Johnson finished fourth in the 100-meter dash finals after clocking a time of 10.94 seconds.

Trey Reindl, Hutchins, Brenner Furlong, and Johnson teamed up for a runner-up honor in the 4 x 100-meter relay for DSU.  They recorded the team's season best time of 41.96 seconds, the sixth fastest time in school history.  They were just .06 seconds short of meeting the NAIA 'B' Provisional standard qualifying time (41.90 seconds).

Cody Farland led the Trojans with a third-place finish in the 1500-meters with a time of 4 minutes, 9.84 seconds.  Tyler Kennedy added a time of 4:23.80 in the race, followed by Taylor Myers with a time of 4:24.24.  Martin Bailey produced a personal record time of 4:24.42, while Tucker Murtha also hit a personal best time of 4:31.42.   Lucas Harr clocked a time of 4:54.70.

Furlong won the 400-meter dash title with a season beset time of 49.14 seconds for DSU.  Joshua Snook added an eighth-place finish with a time of 51.97 seconds.  Obang Ojulu recorded a time of 53.94 seconds to finish 12th.

Three DSU runners placed in the top eight in the 800-meter run, paced by Roger Oliete Tejedor with a third-place finish in 2:00.25.  Evan Slominski was fifth with a time of 2:01.49.  Steven Greigg was seventh after clocking a time of 2:02.05.  Joshua Krull hit 2:04.57 in the race.  Braden Bomgaars produced a personal best time of 2:10.06.

Reindl posted a personal record time of 22.12 seconds to finish seventh in the 200-meters for Dakota State.  Furlong was ninth in 22.18 seconds, followed by Hutchins with a personal best time of 22.61 seconds.  Larson was 22.97 seconds in the 200-meters.

Colter Elkin led the Trojans with a third-place finish in the 5000-meter run, recording a time of 16 minutes, 38.09 seconds.  Slominski was fourth in 17:03.91, followed by Dalton Brouwer with a fifth-place finish in 17:07.41.  Daniel Green was sixth with a time of 17:31.83, while Tejedor was seventh in 17:59.70.

Snook, Krull, Ojulu, Larson teamed up with a third-place finish in the 4 x 400-meter relay in 3:28.27 for the Trojans.  Bomgaars, Murtha, Kennedy, and Harr placed seventh in 3:48.05.

Dakota State returns to Vermillion, S.D. next Friday and Saturday for the two-day NCAA Division I meet, the University of South Dakota Challenge.  The North Star Athletic Association Outdoor Multi-Events Championships will also be held on the same days, in conjunction with Dewy Donat Open hosted by NCAA Division II Northern State (S.D.) in Aberdeen, S.D.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director