South Dakota State track and field traveled south to Vermillion for their first meet of the year on Saturday. The USD Alumni Invitational saw the Jacks achieve success across the board, including four first-place finishes.
Womens
Freshman Lindsey Rotz took first place in the mile run, clocking in a time of 5:08.84. Accompanying Rotz in the top three was fellow Jackrabbit sophomore Nicole Swanson, who placed third with a time of 5:10.84.
“We did well to execute and get victories, it’s a productive event.” Said coach Rod DeHaven regarding both mile runs.
Maggie Madsen achieved a personal best time of 7.84 seconds as she took third in the 60-meter dash.
The long and high jumps saw SDSU in the top three. Senior Jaden Boomsma placed first in the long jump with a 5.77-meter leap. A comfortable .47 meter gap separated Boomsma from 2nd place. The high jump saw senior Madison Kizer tie for second place with USD’s Maddie Olson, both achieving a 1.70-meter jump.
Sophomore Josie Curry and junior Cloe Kalanick achieved personal records in the Weight Throw with 16.33 and 15.15-meter throws. Curry and Kalanick placed 5th and 7th respectively.
The 4×400 meter team placed third out of the four competing teams with a time of 4:08.91. The team consists of sophomore Reese Luze, junior Hannah Spoden, Lindsey Rotz and Nicole Swanson.
Mens
Two Jacks placed within the top three in the 60 meters. Sophomore Carter Toews achieved a personal best 6.81-second dash to secure second place and senior Evan Henderson got a season-best 6.86-run to get third place.
Freshman Lucas Flemmer placed third in the 200-meter dash with a 22.57-second run.
Sam Castle had a season-best 49.78 run to secure the number one spot in the 400-meter dash.
The mile run was dominated by the Jackrabbits, with seven runners placing in the top eight. Freshmen Cade Sanvik and Cashton Johnson both posted personal records, running 4:18.43 and 4:19.97 to get first and second place. Fellow freshman Dale Johnson got third with his 4:21.90 run.
Jared Lutmer placed second in the 3000-meter run with an 8:45.34 time. Following him in third was Freshman Luke Johnson, who achieved a time of 8:49.99.
The 4×400 team placed third overall out of 10 competing teams. The squad consisted of Sam Castle, Keaton Olson, Cade Sanvik and sophomore Sean Murphy. The team ran a time of 3:28.44.
The long jump saw sophomore Hudson Schroeder place second with a 6.83-meter attempt.
Caiden Fredrick placed third overall in the shot put. The sophomore achieved a personal high of 16.77 meters with his throw.
The mile run was successful for both the men’s and women’s teams, with two runners taking first place and five taking the top five spots.
The Jackrabbits will return home for their next meet, the Jim Emmerich Alumni Meet, named after the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
“If we are going to have a mount rushmore of coaches… we are going to put Stick [Emmerich] up there,” said DeHaven. “When you go into an era before videotape, Jim Emmerich’s impact on the track and cross country programs was incredibly significant.”
The meet will take place on Saturday at noon and will take place at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.