For Immediate Release
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week
Katlyn Sawtelle
Senior
Luverne, Minn.
Luverne HS
Sioux Falls


NSIC Team Notes
Augustana
Women’s Track: Emma Anderson ran a season-best in the women’s 800-meter run. Anderson clocked a time of 2:14.61 to take first-place at the Mount Marty Twilight. On the second day at the Drake Relays, the women’s distance medley relay squad of Emma Anderson,Irene Almarcha, Kayla Mescher, and Leah Seivert took second with a time of 11:50.09. With Anderson running the first leg of the race.  
Women’s Field: At the Kip Janvrin Open, Calliann Brunswig took sixth with a clearance of 18 feet and 1.5 inches in the women’s long jump.
The Vikings are back in action in Sioux Falls next weekend as they will compete in the Howard Wood Relays on May 1-2 at Howard Wood Field.
 
Bemidji State
Nicole Crummy, Hailey Horob, and Samantha Velde each collected a second-place finish and set career-highs in their respective events to lead the Bemidji State University track and field team at the Al Cassell Relays in Jamestown, N.D.
Women’s Track: Nicole Crummy (Jr., Argyle, Minn.) set a career-high mark, finishing second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.05-seconds. The time was good for 14th in the NSIC this season and trimmed four seconds from her previous career-best time, set earlier this season.
Women’s Field: Hailey Horob (Jr., Williston, N.D.) set a career-best pole vault height at 11-01 to take second in the event. Her height, BSU’s top vault of the season, extended her previous best mark by three inches. It also stands 18th in the NSIC this outdoor season.
The Beavers now turn their focus to the Ron Masanz Open in Moorhead, Minn. May 2.  

Concordia-St. Paul
Women’s Field: Wakpor Ighovojah had a big two days of competition in the heptathlon. She set the school record in the heptathlon as her score of 4684 beat the previous record by 522 points. She also qualified provisionally for the national NCAA meet. On her way to a fourth place finish, Ighovojah PR’d in six of the seven events. Her best finish in an event was the long jump, where she placed second with a jump of 5.59 meters.

University of Mary
Competing at the Al Cassell Relays on Saturday the Marauders won eight of the 19 events. Faith Kjelstrup was a double winner. Besides winning the 4x100 with Cassandra Jones, Sommer Haugrud and Tonie Pandohie, Kjelstrup, she captured the long jump with a leap of 5.47 meters and was third in the 100-meter dash. Kameya Johnson won the 400-meter dash in 58.94. Taking the 800-meter run in 2:16.55 was Brienna Lynch. Davina Carr captured the pole vault after clearing a high of 11’ 7”. Jasmyn Garcia edged teammate Steph Braunagel for the victory in the triple jump with a distance of 11.40 meters.
Women’s Track: Tonie Pandohie (Fr., Kingston, Jamaica) won three titles at the Al Cassell Relays on Saturday. The freshman won the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.14 and then captured the 100-meter hurdles in 15.47 seconds. She concluded the day by running a leg on the winning 4x100-meter relay team.
Women’s Field: Molly McDonald (Jr., Lakewood, Colo.) claimed Northern Sun all-conference honors with her third place finish in the NSIC heptathlon. The junior recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying total of 4,729 points over seven events. McDonald posted the top marks in both the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump and was second in the high jump and the 200-meter dash.

Minnesota Duluth
Women’s Track:  Emilee Trost (Fr., Goodhue, Minn. / Cannon Falls HS) was amongst the top finishers at the Drake Relays in the 1,500-meter race. The only freshman in the race, Trost finished sixth with a time of 4:26.75, which is an NCAA provisional time, the top time in the NSIC this season and ranks eighth best in Division II. Trost missed out on automatically qualifying by only 0.75 of a second.  
Erica Kesseh won a pair of individual titles -- the first two of her young University of Minnesota Duluth outdoor track career -- to lead the Bulldogs at the 14th annual Drake Alternative meet Saturday in St. Peter, Minn. The freshman from Burnsville, Minn., placed first in the 100-meter dash finals with a time of 12.77 and duplicated that feat in the 200-meter dash, coming in at 26.23.
Women’s Field: Amelia Maher record five personal bests including her final score as she took second-place in the 2015 NSIC Heptathlon Championships. The senior team captain, who led the 14-person field after the first day of competition, accumulated 4,893 points to trail only the University of Sioux Falls’ Katlyn Sawtelle (5,049 points). Maher placed first overall in the high jump (1.71 meters), second in the final event -- the 800-meter run (2:21.24), and third in both the shot put (10.23 meters) and 200-meter dash (25.54).  Maher finished with 528 more points than in 2014 when she took fourth at the same event.  

Minnesota State
The MSU women saw a long-standing school-record fall at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa over the weekend.  The 4x200 relay, comprised of Karlona Gregory, Mackenzie Beals, Sid’Reshia Floyd and Brieanna Puckett posted a time of 1:41.68, besting the previous record set in 1988 by approximately 2.5 seconds.  Those same four finished eighth in the 4x100 relay as well.  The Mavericks also travelled to the Drake Alternate in St. Peter, Minn.  Notable performances included Megan Allen finishing second in the 800-meters at 2:16.93, Halee Peterson in second for the 1,500-meters at 4:46.76, and Kellie Wong taking third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.21

MSU Moorhead
Women’s Track: Molly Montonye (Distance, Jr., Graceville, Minn. / Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley HS), competing at the prestigious Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, ran a season-best time of 4:27.62 in the 1,500-meter run and placed eighth, ahead of runners from Division I schools Drake and South Dakota. That is the fastest time in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this season.
Women’s Field: Bailey Reiner (Jumps/Sprints, Fr., Bismarck, N.D. / Bismarck HS) was second in the long jump at 16-11 1/2 at the Al Cassell Relays on Saturday in Jamestown, N.D.
 
Minot State
Minot State won a hurdle event, a throwing event and a distance event for a well-rounded meet at the University of Jamestown Al Cassell Relays.
Women’s Track: DelRay Audet (Hurdles, 5-10, Jr., Minot, N.D. / Minot) continued an outstanding month on the track, winning the women’s 400-meter hurdles and finishing runner-up in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She ran a personal best 1:3.81 to win the 400 hurdles and followed that up with a 15.66 in the 100 hurdles race.
Allison Windish (Distance, 5-5, Jr., Wimbledon, N.D. / Barnes County North) won her second consecutive race by earning a title in the women’s 5,000-meters. She ran a solid 18:56.17 to win the 5000m.
Women’s Field:  Kayla Lewis (Javelin, 5-7, Fr., Pinesdale, Mont. / Corvallis) earned her first collegiate title by winning the javelin. She finished with a solid throw of 125-9.
Minot State has two regular season weekends remaining, starting with the Minnesota State University Moorhead Masanz Open Saturday.

Northern State
The Northern State University women’s track and field team had a busy weekend in Iowa at the Drake Relays, Kip Javrin Open and the Grand View Classic. Shasha Hovind and Dakotah Bullen earned top ten finishes while destroying the 27-year old school record of 37:11.81 set by Marlene Calmus by nearly two minutes. Breann Jackson led the way at the Grand View Classic in the hammer throw with a lifetime best toss of 52.27m (171’06”) for the victory and her first career national qualifying mark in that event.
Women’s Track: Sasha Hovind (Distance, So., Stirum, N. D./North Sargent HS)  destroyed the 27 year old school record of 37:11.81 set by Marlene Calmus by nearly two minutes in the 10,000m run at the Drake Relays. Hovind ultimately finished sixth overall in a school record 35:29.83, with the 19th fastest mark in NCAA DII.  Sasha was back at it the next day from the Kip Javrin Open, competing in the 5000m run. With under a mile to go, Hovind found herself slowly pulling away from Creighton’s Maddy Ivy for the outright lead en route to her second school record in 24 hours.  Hovind would go on to win by four seconds in a meet record 17:08.73, shattering her own school record she set just a week before by 13 seconds.
Women’s Field: Breann Jackson (Throws, Jr, Wheatland, Woyo./Wheatland HS) led the way at the Grand View Classic in the hammer throw with a lifetime best toss of 52.27m (171’06”) for the victory and her first career national qualifying mark in that event. Jackson now sits 34th in the nation in the hammer throw, which is the outdoor counterpart of the weigh throw.  Jackson earned All-American honors in the weight throw this winter at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships.  

Southwest Minnesota State
Women’s Track: Freshman Kim Shabino (Spencer, Iowa / Spencer HS) finished second in the 200-meters and placed third in the 100-meters at the Drake Alternative Meet at Gustavus on Saturday. She was also a member of SMSU’s 4x100 relay team that captured first place with a time of 50.21.

Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls had a very successful weekend that culminated in a NSIC Multi-Event Heptathlon victory by Katlyn Sawtelle. The senior from Luverne, Minn. tied her school record and shook off four previous runner-up finishes in NSIC combined event competitions to collect her first conference title. While Sawtelle waited to compete on Sunday and Monday, Sioux Falls concluded their busy week at the Mount Marty Twilight Open on Wednesday night and the Drake Alternative Meet on Saturday. Kimberly Peterson stole the show with an automatic qualifying mark in the pole vault, guaranteeing her a trip to the NCAA Championships on May 22-24. Ashley Ostrem and Kara Koth both won their events with Ostrem winning the women’s javelin throw and Koth taking the women’s long jump title.  
Women’s Field:  Sioux Falls’ Katlyn Sawtelle (Sr., Luverne, Minn. / Luverne HS), after four runner-up finishes at previous NSIC Multi-Event Championships, came from behind to win the NSIC Heptathlon Championship. In her seven events, Sawtelle tallied 5,049 points, tying the school record she set two weeks prior. Her school-record total is a provisional qualifying mark and currently ranks eighth in NCAA Division II. She also broke the USF 100-meter hurdles record with a 14.24-second time, reaching the provisional standard and the 29th-fastest time in Division II this year. Of the seven events, Satwelle posted the top mark in four, edging out UMD Amelia Maher by 156 points.  In her final two events of day one, Sawtelle moved up from fourth with winning marks of 10.38  meters (34 feet-0.75 inches) in the shot put and 25.11 seconds in the 200-meter dash.  Sawtelle was in second place after day one and moved into first on day two with a personal-best javelin throw (34.20 meters; 112-02) then secured the victory with another PR, clocking a 2:20.92 winning time in the 800-meter run.  
Kimberly Peterson (Fr., Elizaebth, Colo./Elizabeth HS) placed second in the women’s pole vault, first among attached competitors, with an automatic qualifying mark of 4.00 meters (13 feet-1.5 inches), which sets a new personal-best and is tied for the second-highest mark in NCAA Division II this season.
Women’s Track: Ashley Evers (Jr., New Ulm, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran HS) placed in the top four of two events at the Drake Alternative and second in another at their midweek meet.  She recorded two second-place finishes in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking a 1:08.08 on Wednesday and 1:08.33 on Saturday.  She also placed fourth in the 100-meter dash at the Drake Alternative, going 13.22 seconds in the prelims and 13.29 in the finals

St. Cloud State
Women’s Track: Patience Yalartai (So. Bloomington, Minn.) Becky Schmidt (Sr. White Bear Lake, Minn.) Alicia Evans (Melrose, Minn.) and Jasmine Grant (So. Surrey Canada) set a school record when they finished 11th in the prelims of the 4x100 with a time of 47.75. They Also set a school record in the 4x200 with an 8th place finish and a time of 1:43.52 at the Drake Relays.
Women’s Field: Heather Clankie (Jr. Brodhead, Wis.) and Cassanadra Cardinal (So. Foley Minn.) placed back to back in the discus  throw. Clankie’s 41.90m (137-06) throw landed her third place, while Cardinal took fourth with a 41.49m (135-09) throw at the Drake Alternative.
Natalie Gottschalk (Fr. Waukesha, Wis.) finished 5th in heptathlon with 4677 total points, setting personal records in six events and reached the NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Wayne State
Women’s Track: Kinsey Clark (Jr., Broken Bow, Neb.) hit personal best marks in both the 800-meter run (2:24.31) and the 400-meter dash (1:01.17) at the Grandview Invite held Friday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Women’s Field: Megan Svitak (Sr., Howells, Neb.) scored a sixth place finish in the NSIC Heptathlon with a personal best score of 4,610 points to earn an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.  She had personal best marks in five of the seven events, and improved her score by a total of 663 points.
The Wildcats will have a select group compete at the MSU Twilight Meet on Wednesday and then also compete in the Howard Wood Relays on Friday and Saturday in Sioux Falls as their final tune-up to the NSIC Championships.

Winona State
Women’s Track: Jordan Skelly (Sr., Buffalo, Minn.) ran another lifetime best in the steeplechase at the Drake Relays this weekend to move her up to 12th in NCAA Division II.  She placed eighth overall at the Drake Relays in a field of mostly Division I athletes.  
Women’s Field:  Alissa Rausch (Sr., Merrill, Wis.) placed 4th in the Discus at the Drake Relays among a strong field of mostly Division I competitors.  She currently stands second in Division II with an automatic qualifying mark of 174’2” (53.09m).
The Winona State track and field team’s next meet will be in Mankato, Minn. on Wednesday for the Minnesota State Twilight before hosting the Warrior Open on Saturday.
The Winona State track and field team’s next meet will be in Mankato, Minn. on Wednesday for the Minnesota State Twilight before hosting the Warrior Open on Saturday.

NSIC Athletes of the Week
Women’s Field
4/7/15    Sara Wells - Wayne State
4/14/15    Sara Wells - Wayne State (2)
4/21/15    Sara Wells - Wayne State (3)
4/29/15    Katlyn Sawtelle - Sioux Falls
Women’s Track
4/7/15    Jordan Skelly - Winona State
4/14/15    Hannah Olson - Minnesota Duluth
4/21/15    Leah Seivert - Augustana
4/29/15    Emilee Trost - Minnesota Duluth