Ben Anderson
1/20/2024
Jacks Back on Track: dominate in first meet back from winter break
The SDSU Men’s Track team placed first out of 11 on Saturday’s Jim Emmerich Alumni meet, with a combined team score of 153.5 points over NDSU’s 139.5.
South Dakota State hosted the meet at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex and included over 700 student-athletes competing.
The men’s team shined early in the meet, placing high in multiple sprinting events, including the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles.
Jared Wipf led the 60-meter dash for SDSU while earning himself a second-place finish and a new school record. Wipf’s time of 6.73 seconds came in the final round of the dash after he initially claimed a personal best of 6.77 seconds in the preliminary round.
Although Wiph crossed the line first for SDSU, he made it known that track is as much of a team sport as an individual one.
“You aren’t going to win the conference meet by yourself, so we need every man on deck,” Wipf said.
Behind Wiph, Evan Henderson, Jake Werner and Drew Olson finished fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
Pierre Lear had a nail-biting finish in the 60-meter hurdle event, taking second place by one-hundredth of a second to Augustana’s Andrew Martens. Lear finished with a time of 7.95 compared to Martens’ brisk 7.94.
Head coach Rod DeHaven hinted that the second-place finish might benefit the veteran hurdler.
“It might add a little fuel to his fire,” DeHaven said.
Senior runners weren’t the only ones to find success on Saturday. Freshmen Will Lohr, Carson Noecker, Brandon Kampsen and James Pierce also earned praise.
Lohr and Noecker placed first and second in the 3000-meter run. It was a photo finish when the pair crossed the line with times of 8:22.73 and 8:22.91 to secure the win.
Kampsen broke a freshman school record by running 800 meters in 1:52.78, beating the previous record set in 2015 by 0.04 seconds. With that time, Kampsen crossed for third place.
Pierce placed third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.69. He entered the SDSU Top 10 with an eighth-all-time finish.
Another Jackrabbit who found success was triple jumper Tristen Hanna. Hanna hopped, skipped, and jumped his way into first with a leap of 14.32 meters (46’11.75”).
Unfortunately, near the end of the meet, SDSU’s star pole vaulter, Jaden Peters, suffered a multi-season-ending compound fracture in his leg while competing in his event. Peters still tied for first in the pole vault at a height of 4.75 meters (15’07”) before being cut short during his first attempt at 4.90 meters (16’0.25”).
On the Women’s side of the meet, the SDSU Women’s Track Team took second to NDSU. The women gained 97 combined team points compared to NDSU’s 222.
The high jump event is responsible for 22 of the team’s points, with four Jacks placing within the top eight jumpers.
Layne Kirkendoll took first with a jump of 1.65 meters (5’05”). Hadley Carlson and Taylor Jochum tied for third with jumps of 1.60 meters (5’03”). Madison Kizer also jumped a height of 1.60 meters but dropped to seventh because of previous missed jumps.
Another influential event for the women was the 200-meter dash, with two athletes making the SDSU Top-10.
Jaiden Boomsma and Maggie Madsen placed third and fourth in the dash with times of 24.74 and 25.07 seconds, respectively. Boomsma earned the fifth-all-time spot, and Madsen snagged the eighth-all-time finish on the SDSU Top 10.
Looking forward for Jacks Track, DeHaven emphasized that the team still has work to do.
“Competition is relative … it’s going to take two or three meets before we really know where we’re at,” he affirmed.
As the season progresses, SDSU’s competition will start to heat up. Early-season performances suggest that NDSU and USD will be the teams to beat this season for the Jackrabbit track squad.
This week, the SDSU track team will be gearing up for their next home track meet, the D2/NAIA Meet, Saturday, Jan. 27, at 9:30 am.
