Jacks continue to break personal bests

Abby Fullenkamp

ABBY FULLENKAMP Junior Kyle Burdick runs in the men’s 3,000 meter run during the SDSU Indoor Classic last year.

John Begeman, Sports Reporter

It was a busy weekend for the track and field team as athletes were spread out competing at three different locations.

Most athletes competed in the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet in Vermillion, others in Lincoln, Nebraska, and seniors Rachel King and Kyle Burdick competing in Notre Dame, Indiana.

The Jacks showed continued success as they compiled 28 personal-best marks and six top 10 all-time marks on the weekend.

At the DakotaDome, sophomore Trent Francom set an SDSU record in the pole vault clearing (16-10.75) and breaking the three-way tie while adding four inches to his personal best. Francom now ranks second in the Summit League and already owns the outdoor record as the only Jack to clear 17 feet.

Senior thrower Logan Ammons added another 7.75 inches to his best weight throw setting his personal record at (61-03.00) and remains No. 3 all-time.

Freshman sprinter Emmanual Phoulom-Smith added two personal records running 6.94 seconds in the 60m and 8.51 seconds in the 60m hurdles. The only event winner of the day in Vermillion was sophomore Nick Wessels running a time of 8.29 to win the 60m hurdles.

For the women, redshirt freshman sprinters Madisson Gay and Chloe Bernel both notched personal bests. Gay finished 10th in the 60m with a time of 8.18 seconds and eighth in the 200m with a time of 26.98 seconds. Bernel recorded her first top-three finish running 26.46 seconds in the 200m.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, both sophomore Colby Hilton and junior Sam Zenner reached the finals of the 60m while teammate Landon Larson missed the cut by 0.007 seconds. In finals, Zenner finished third (6.84) with Hilton behind him finishing fourth (6.89).

Junior Wyatt Gatrost showed off his speed running (1:51.91) in the 800m landing himself at No. 6 on SDSU’s top-10 list and finishing fourth overall, but he wasn’t the only Jack torching the track in the 800m, as sophomore Oksana Covey ran a (2:11.80) cutting 2.49 seconds off of her best and landing at No. 2 all-time at SDSU.

The sprinters weren’t alone in their success as eight athletes running the mile and 3,000m set personal bests.

Seniors Rachel King and Kyle Burdick rounded out the weekend for the distance crew as they competed in Notre Dame, Indiana. King placed sixth overall in the 3,000m running 9:29.79. The time was short of her personal best, but it was a season-best by 31.09 seconds. Burdick set his personal best in the mile running a time of 4:02.27 trimming 2.62 seconds off of his best. He now sits No. 2 all-time for SDSU behind current head coach Rod DeHaven who ran a 4:00.95.

The teams will return home this weekend Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9 hosting the SDSU Classic in the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

There will also be the Fastest Student on Campus. The competition will be held around 2 p.m. after the commencement of the track meet Saturday.

The competition is a 60m dash open to current students who are non-athletes with a $100 cash prize. An additional $25 will be given to the winner if they wear jeans and another $25 will be given if the student beats last years’ time of 7.63 seconds.