Coyote track and field team dominate in the Dome
USD athletes came away with 19 individual titles on Saturday at the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet. South Dakota State and Omaha completed alongside USD in addition to several alumni athletes.
Sophomore pole vaulter Ethan Bray cleared 17 feet 11.25 inches on his last jump to take the event. He landed in the pit where his teammates immediately joined him in celebration. He went on to jump at 18 feet 4.5 inches but was not able to clear it.
According to goyotes.com, his winning jump puts him at 11th in the NCAA Division I indoor standings and second in the Summit League.
“It was fun to see (Bray’s jump),” Lucky Huber, director of track and field and cross country said. “He’s worked really hard.”
Danielle Waldner, a USD graduate and volunteer assistant throwing coach at USD, competed as an alumna. She defended her title in the women’s shot put with a throw of 49 feet 2.25 inches. Last season, she became the first Coyote to advance to the NCAA outdoor shot put championships. Coyote freshmen Olivia Dagel and Callie Henrich placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
USD alumnus Brant Haase also grabbed a title. He won the men’s 3000m run with a time of 8:54.35. Junior Hunter Paulson ran as a redshirt and grabbed second place. Jeff Mettler, another USD alumnus, took third. Senior Brice Cowman and freshman Isaac Benz rounded out the top five respectively.
USD nearly swept the top five spots in the men’s and women’s mile run. The women took all top five spots and the men took the top four. Junior Madeline Huglen won the women’s mile with 4:59.82. Junior Megan Billington, senior Erin Wetzstein, freshmen Kelsi Kearney and Laura Nelson all placed in the rest of the top five respectively.
Junior Nate Wendt took the men’s mile with a time of 4:32.85. Freshman Cole Streich, Benz and Cowman finished in the top four respectively. Evan Fick of SDSU rounded out the top five.
Senior Brooke Ireland took first in the women’s 400m dash with a time of 58.25. She was also on the fifth placing team in the women’s 4×400 relay. Freshman Danielle Thompson, senior Cami Brenner and freshman Alli Wroblewski filled out the top five with second, fourth and fifth places respectively. Lauren Houston of Omaha took third.
Senior Ashley Thompson captured first place in the long and triple jumps. She was the only Coyote of the day to do so. She won long jump with a leap of 19 feet even and triple with a jump of 39 feet 3.75 inches.
Huber was satisfied with his team.
“The meet went good,” he said. “And it’s nice to have a home meet.”
The Coyotes are back in action on Friday and Saturday. Part of the squad will travel to Arkansas to the Tyson Invitational. The rest of the team will jog up to Brookings to compete in the SDSU Indoor Classic. Both meets will span over Friday and Saturday.
