For Immediate Release
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
NSIC Media Relations
 
NSIC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Molly Montonye
Junior
Graceville, Minn.
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley HS
MSU Moorhead


NSIC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Kimberly Peterson
Freshman
Elizabeth, Colo.
Elizabeth HS
Sioux Falls


NSIC Team Notes
Augustana
Augustana opened its 2015 season in fine fashion at the Dordt Invitational, hosted by Dordt College on Saturday with seven Vikings’ picking up individual victories.
Women’s Field: Bree Woelber hit provisional status in the high jump, placing first clearing 5 ‘ 7.75”.
Women’s Track: Anne Parsley won the title in the women’s 600-meter dash finishing with a time of 1:38.07.
The Vikings are back in action next weekend at the MSU Alumni Open on Jan. 23 and 24 in Mankato, Minn.

Bemidji State
Women’s Track: Emily Turner (Jr., Windom, Minn. / Windom, HS) placed first in the 3,000-meter run at the Super 8 Open Jan. 17, with a time of 11:39.75. She finished nearly 10 seconds in front of her closest competitor. Turner also placed fourth in the mile run, posting a personal-best time of 5:45.78, breaking her individual mile record of 5:53.02.
Women’s Field: Hailey Horob (Jr., Jr., Williston, N.D. / Williston, HS) cleared 10-6 in the pole vault to claim first place at the Super 8 Open Jan. 17. The mark matched her 2015 indoor-best set at The Opener Dec. 6.
Bemidji State next travels to Menomonie, Wis. Jan. 24 to participate in the University of Wisconsin-Stout Open.

Concordia-St. Paul
Women’s Track: Gloria Williams (Sprints, So., Minneapolis, Minn. / Roosevelt HS) placed fourth in the 60m dash at the Minnesota Open at the University of Minnesota with a time of 7.97.

University of Mary
Women’s Track: Kathryn Stewart (Sprints, Sr., Kingston, Jamaica) won two events in NCAA provisional qualifying times at the Montana State University Open.  Competing at the NCAA Division I meet, Stewart won the 60 meter dash in a time of 7.71 and also won the 200 meter dash in 25.04 seconds, which tops in the NSIC and 4th is in the nation.  Stewart is a six-time All-American.
Women’s Field: Danylle Kurwchak (Jumps, Jr., Cameron Park, Calif.) won the triple jump and placed second in the long jump at the Montana State University Open.  Her winning mark of 39’ 5” in the triple jump is seventh in the nation and second in the NSIC while her leap of 17’ 8.75” in the long jump placed her second.
The Marauders posted six NCAA provisional qualifying marks at the Montana State Open. In addition to Stewart in the 60 and 200 and Kurywchak in the triple jump, Davina Carr captured the pole vault with a provisional mark of 11’ 11.75”, Molly McDonald placed first in the high jump with a provisional height of 5’ 5”, and the 4x400 relay team of Crystal Hovland, Bri Lynch, Sommer Haugrud and Cassandra Jones won the event with a provisional and NSIC-leading time of 3:50.01.
 
Minnesota Duluth
A number of University of Minnesota Duluth women made their 2014-15 indoor track debuts Saturday at the University of Minnesota Open in Minneapolis and a trio of them wound up turning in NCAA Division II provisional marks.
Women’s Track: Sophomore All-American Samantha Rivard took third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:42.53, the fifth fastest clocking in the NCAA II ranks this season and best in the NSIC.
Women’s Field: Amelia Maher was third in the high jump (5’6”; 14th nationally) and fellow senior Jennifer Hitchcock was fourth in the weight throw (55’ 4.75”; 22nd nationally).
The defending NSIC indoor track and field champion Bulldogs will be in Mankato, Minn. next Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 23-24) for the Minnesota State University Open and Multi.

Minnesota State
The Mavericks split up their squad this past weekend sending athletes to both the Holiday Inn Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., and the Minnesota Open in Minneapolis, Minn.  Anna Veroeven finished the Holiday Inn Invitational in eighth-place in the triple jump.  Switching to Minneapolis, freshman Briana Holt finished in second-place in the 60-meter dash.  Holt would again finish in fifth-place in the 200-meters.  Bonnie Pickford took home the 400-meters crown at 1:00.01.  Teammates Maddi Sjelin and Halee Peterson finished behind in fourth and fifth, respectively.  One the field side, senior Amanda Stangler finished in fourth-place in the high jump.  
Women’s Track: Sophomore Brieanna Puckett (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) placed in three events at the Holiday Inn Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.  She took home third place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.68 then followed up with an eighth place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.33.  She rounded out the day in fifth place in the long jump at 18’8”.
Women’s Field: Faryn Wirkus (Edgar, Wis.) raised her season-best in the pole vault setting her new mark at 12’1.5”.  This currently places her sixth in the nation across all of Division II.
The Mavericks return to action next weekend as they are set to host the MSU Open and Multi within Myers Field House in Mankato, Minn.

MSU Moorhead
Women’s Track: Molly Montonye (Jr., Distance, Graceville, Minn./Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley) had an impressive indoor debut at Bison Classic in Fargo, N.D. on Saturday. She finished second in the mile in 4:58.95 with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:58.95.  The time was just over a second away from a personal best and ranks fourth in all of NCAA Division II this season.
Women’s Field: Chelsea Klemetson (Sr., High Jump, Sabin, Minn./Moorhead HS) finished in a tie for fourth in the high jump at the Bison Classic in Fargo, N.D. on Saturday She had a height of 5-3 in the event.

Minot State
Minot State won four individual titles and had five runners and throwers in the top three at the Beavers opening meet of the season, the Bemidji State Super 8 Open.
Women’s Track: Sienna Dailey (Sprints, 5-9, Sr., Glasgow, Mont. / Glasgow) sprinted her way to a title in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes at the Bemidji State Super 8 Open Saturday. Dailey, in her first indoor meet of the year, won the 200 in a time of 26.37 seconds. She edged teammate Dijah Nash (Sprints, 5-4, Jr., Fallon, Nev. / Churchill County) in the women’s 400 with a time of 59.59 to pace the Beavers.
DelRay Audet (Hurdles, 5-10, Jr., Minot, N.D. / Minot) earned a title in the 60-hurdles, sprinting to a time of 9.64 in the finals after a 9.61 preliminary time. Shefinished off a solid day with a tied for third with Nash in the 200.
Women’s Field: Mary Roy (Sprints/Jumps, 5-5, So., Mount Vernon, Ore. / Grand Union) won the Super 8 Pentathlon in her first time entering the event in college with a total 2,973 total points - the second highest in program history. She captured event wins in the 60-hurdles, the long jump, the high jump and the 800-meters.
Minot State has a week break before traveling to the Concordia College Cobber Duals Jan. 31.

Northern State
Northern State competed for the first time since December inside Wachs Arena at the NSU Open. The Northern women won eight events on the day.
Women’s Field: NSU had two student-athletes hit provisional marks Saturday as Gena Burley won the high jump with a leap of 5’-5” just off her career-high. In the weight throw, Breann Jackson set a new career-best with a throw of 56’-1.75” to hit the NCAA provisional mark.
Women’s Track: Makenzie Hageman rolled to a victory in the 55-meter dash, running a time of 7.36 in the finals. The Wolves also got victories in the running events from Lindsey Gast in the mile, as she ran a time of 5:32.71. Dakotah Bullen smashed her career-best in the 3,000 and finished with a time of 11:01.83 in the event. The 4x400 relay team of Elizabeth Raecke, Molly Wynn, Josie Ostermann and Makayla McConnell won the relay with a time of 4:21.23.
The Wolves return to action next weekend as they travel to Mankato, Minn., for the Minnesota State Open on Friday and Saturday.

Southwest Minnesota State
Women’s Track: Kim Shabino (Fr., Spencer, Iowa / Spencer HS) placed fourth in the 55-meter dash with a school record 7.54 at the Dordt Invite on Saturday. She was also a member of SMSU’s 4x400 relay team that finished seventh out of 13 teams with a time of 4:14.54
Women’s Field: Rylee Armstrong (So., Peace River, Alberta, Canada / Glenmary HS) earned a fourth place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 10.76m and also placed fifth in the long jump at 5.18m at the Dordt Invite on Saturday.
The Mustangs return to action next weekend as they travel to Mankato, Minn., for the Minnesota State Open on Friday and Saturday.

Sioux Falls
In their second meet of the New Year, the University of Sioux Falls track and field team continued to perform at an extremely high level, this time at the Dordt Open. The Cougars won the women’s pole vault competition posting top-three national marks. A total of three USF vaulters recorded provisional qualifying marks. Hannah Steele topped the women’s shot put final results and Rachel Huffman won the women’s mile and Katlyn Sawtelle took the women’s 200-meter dash title.
Women’s Field: Kimberly Peterson (Pole Vault, Fr., Elizabeth, Colo./Elizabeth HS) won her second-straight pole vault event and posted the top mark in Division II this season.  She took the Dordt Open women’s pole vault title, clearing 3.88 meters (12-8.75) for the win.  Her mark currently ranks No. 1 on the Division II performance list and was 12 centimeters shy of an automatic qualifying mark.
Women’s Track: Rachel Huffman (Mid-Distance, So., Potter, Neb./Gering HS) won an event and posted two top-five finishes at the Dordt Open on Saturday. She edged out a Dordt runner for the women’s mile event win, posting a time of 5:22.35.  She then took fifth in the women’s 1,000-meter run with a personal-best 3:09.52.

St. Cloud State
Women’s Track & Field: Senior Becky Schmidt (White Bear Lake, Minn.) won the 60 meter dash in 7.83 and had a winning jump of 19-00.50 in the long jump. Schmidt met an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the long jump at the recent Minnesota Open on Jan. 17.  The meet was hosted by the University of Minnesota and held at the U. of M. Fieldhouse in Minneapolis, Minn.
Other highlights for the women included a second and third place finish in the women’s 400 meter dash. Junior Alicia Evans (Melrose, Minn.) was second in a time of 1:00.04 while sophomore Jasmine Grant (Surrey, Canada) placed third in a time of 1:00.40.
Sophomore Patience Yalartai (Bloomington, Minn.) placed second in the women’s long jump with a jump of 19-00.50 and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships.
The Huskies return to action on January 24 when they travel to the SDSU Jim Emmerich/Alumni Invitational in Brookings, S.D.

Wayne State
Women’s Track: Megan Svitak (Sr., Howells, Neb.) raced to a personal best mark of 9.21 in the 60 meter hurdles in the prelims, then ran a 9.31 in the finals to pick up a 4th place finish at the Scot Nisely Invite at Doane College in Crete, Neb.  Svitak also picked up personal best marks in the 200 meter dash 28.22 seconds and the high jump 5’ 1 3/4”.
Women’s Field: Michaela Dendinger (So., Hartington, Neb.) captured the 20 pound weight throw with a mark of 56’ 11 1/4” to lead a 1-2-3 sweep by the Wildcats in the weight throw.  She also picked up a second place finish and improved her NCAA Provisional National Qualifying mark in the shot put with a mark of 46’ 10”, which was an improvement of over two inches in the event and moves her to seventh nationally in the event.
The Wildcats will travel to Mankato, Minn. to compete on Friday and Saturday in the Minnesota State Open & Multi at Myers Fieldhouse.

Winona State
Women’s Field:  Kaitlyn Long (Fr., Cottage Grove, Wis.) won the weight throw with a mark of 61’ 11” (18.87m) at the St. Mary’s Early Birdinal meet.  Marking three throws over 18 meters, her winning toss is good enough for fourth best in NCAA II this season behind three seniors.  This is also the furthest throw by any freshmen this winter at any division of the NCAA.  She also leads the NSIC by almost five feet (1.50m).
Women’s Track: Catherine Whitcomb (Sr., Shakopee, Minn.) bested a strong field in the 400 meters at the St Mary’s Early Birdinal meet winning in a time of 58.67 seconds while running a leg on the winning 4x400 meter relay.  Whitcomb led the Warriors on the track to a Triangular meet win against St. Mary’s and Viterbo.
The Warriors return to action next weekend as they travel to Mankato, Minn., for the Minnesota State Open on Friday and Saturday.

NSIC Women's Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week
Women’s Field
12/09/14    Sara Wells, Wayne State
1/13/15    Kimberly Peterson, Sioux Falls
1/20/15    Kimberly Peterson, Sioux Falls (2)
Women’s Track
12/09/14    Alissa Mears, MSU Moorhead
1/13/15    Brieanna Puckett, Minnesota State
1/20/15    Molly Montonye, MSU Moorhead