Sagan Osborne – Dickinson State Sports and Marketing Information Director
Billings, Mont. – Dickinson State track and field produced a strong all-around performance on Saturday as the Blue Hawks took advantage of favorable weather and several athletes posted national-caliber marks across multiple events.
Madison Wahl led the way with a pole vault clearance of 3.75m (12-3.5), which currently ranks No. 2 in the NAIA. On the men's side, Chase Waters delivered a personal-best throw of 44.02m (144-5) in the discus to move into the top 25 nationally and finished second overall.
"A short week of practice this week but the kids were able to take advantage of some good weather today," head coach Shayne Wittkopp said. "We were able to get into some events in that we weren't able to last Saturday."
Dickinson State dominated the throwing events. Corbin Harris won the men's hammer throw with a toss of 54.08m (177-5), ranking him No. 6 in the NAIA. Dylan Dahlgren took second in the event at 52.16m (171-1). Harris also placed second in the shot put (15.53m), followed by Galen Brantley III in first (15.85m). Brantley added a third-place finish in the discus.
The Blue Hawk women's throws group had a strong showing led by Taylor Laumeyer, who won the hammer throw (49.23m) and placed second in both the discus (46.76m) and shot put (13.39m). Chloe Gunderson tied Laumeyer for second in the shot put and added a fourth-place finish in the discus.
On the track, Quentin Lewis placed seventh in the 200m with a personal-best 21.75, ranking No. 17 in the NAIA. Kaitlyn McColly won the women's 100m hurdles in 14.42 and contributed to the women's 4x400m relay team, which finished fourth with a time of 4:09.97, currently No. 8 nationally.
In the men's 400m hurdles, Jarett Schuchard clocked 57.96 to place fourth and is now ranked No. 42 in the NAIA. The men's 4x400m relay "A" squad of Lewis, Carl Askins, Hayden Lockie, and Kohbe Smith ran 3:26.88 to finish third, placing them No. 20 in the country.
Distance runner Caleb Sarsland won the men's 1500m in 4:13.66, while Eli Heacock took fifth in the same event. On the women's side, Lauren Taylor finished fourth in the 1500m at 5:10.36.
In jumps, Faith Brennan led the women with a win in the triple jump (11.82m), which is now No. 4 in the NAIA, and a fourth-place finish in the long jump (5.59m). Wahl's vault was supported by Taylynd Stuhr's third-place finish (3.20m). Adrien Calderon paced the men's pole vault group by placing second at 4.65m.
