For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week
Ryan Johnson
Junior
Amery, Wis.
Amery HS
St. Cloud State

Johnson won the discus throw with a heave of 168’ 6” (51.37m) at the Vance Butler Invite this past weekend. Johnson’s throw was an NCAA Division II qualifying mark, a personal record and ranks as the 11th best throw in NCAA Division II so far this season.

NSIC Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week
Will Hanson
Junior
Aurelia, Iowa
Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn HS
Southwest Minnesota State

Hanson captured first place in the 110-meter hurdles with an NCAA provisional time of 14.3 at the Vance Butler Invite in Sioux Falls, S.D. His time is currently tied for 11th in Division II this season.  His time of 14.3 broke the SMSU outdoor record of 14.43 that was previous set by Walt Larson in 1984.  

NSIC Team Notes
Augustana
Augustana’s track and field opened the outdoor season hosting the Vance Butler Invitational this past Friday at Howard Wood Field.
Men’s Track: Adam Braun opened the day for Augustana provisionally qualifying with a time of 9:19.88 in the men’s steeplechase to place second overall. He currently ranks 28th in NCAA Division II.
Men’s Field: CJ Ham notched another top-five finish after taking fourth in the men’s hammer throw on Thursday with a heave of 49.84 meters. The Duluth, Minn. native took fourth in the shot put with a toss of 15.25 meters from the circle.
The Vikings return to action next weekend traveling to Orange City, Iowa for the Red Raider Open.

Concordia-St. Paul
The Concordia-St. Paul Track and Field team opened up their outdoor season at the Vance Butler Invitational at Howard Wood Field on the campus of Augustana College.
Men’s Track: The 4x100  relay team, featuring Marvuavius Taylor, Vantwon Melton, Keante Johnson and Tyler Naumowicz were just .26 seconds short of a top finish as they took home silver with a time of 43.97. The 4x400 relay team, Melton, Taylor, Naumowicz and Adam Hausken, were nearly as successful as they were just over two seconds behind the top finisher as they finished third with a time of 3:27.57.
Men’s Field: Josh Johanson was the third place finisher in the high jump as he cleared 6’2.75” in his first outdoor collegiate meet.

University of Mary
Men’s Field: Aaron Teigen (Sr., Rugby, N.D.) captured two titles at the Vance Butler Open as he won the long jump with a distance of 22’ 7.75” and captured the triple jump with an effort of 46’ 1.5”.
He ranks first in the NSIC in the long jump and is second in the triple jump.
Right behind Teigen in the long jump was teammate Dustin Rueb, who placed second. The Marauders also grabbed four of the top six places in the triple jump. In addition to Teigen, William Kaigler, Jerrod Shaffner and Beau Nutting placed 4-5-6. Ben Gailfus placed fourth in the javelin. Travis Gavin was sixth in the hammer throw and ninth in the discus.

Minnesota Duluth
In its first outdoor activity of the 2015 season, the University of Minnesota Duluth posted 14 top-five finishes in individual events at the Ashton May Invitational in La Crosse, Wis.
Men’s Track: Senior Phil d’Entremont in the 800 meters (1:55.50), freshman Blake Anderson in the 5,000-meter run (15:33.00) both turned in second place finishes.
Men’s Field: Nick Moran met the NCAA II provisional qualifying mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 55.25 meters to finish in second place.  

Minnesota State
The second-ranked Mavericks travelled to Sioux Falls to participate in the Vance Butler Invitational.  They took home the top three spots in the 100-meters with Richard Wilhite, Jr. leading the pack with Jake Gourley and Anthony Gustafson right behind.  Wilhite would win the 200-meters as well with Gustafson in second.  Senior Slater Powell won the 110-meter hurdle title with a provisional qualifying time of 14.30.  He would also finish second in the 400-meter hurdles later in the day.  Fellow senior Matthew Stocker captured the 800-meter title with a time of 1:58.10.  Frank Veldman out jumped teammate Keyvan Rudd to grab the high jump title at 6’8.75”.  Alex Campbell and David Pearcill went second and third, respectfully, in the triple jump.
Men’s Track: Junior Richard Wilhite, Jr. put in one of his better performances for MSU this past weekend at the Vance Butler Invite.  He took home first-place in the 100-meters with a time of 10.80.  He followed that with another first-place crown in the 200-meters with a final posting of 21.39, which ranks 18th in the nation.  That effort marked as a provisional qualifying time and gives the Mavericks three athletes ranked in the top 20 in the nation.
Men’s Field: Sophomore Frank Veldman matched is provisional mark in the high jump this past weekend in winning the high jump event at the Vance Butler invite with his jump of 6’8.75”. He currently ranks 12th in NCAA Division II.

MSU Moorhead
Men’s Track: Cody Christ (Distance, So., Dazey, N.D. / Barnes County HS) led the way for the Dragon men at the Vance Butler Invitational on Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D., winning the 5,000-meter run by more than five seconds with a personal-best time of 14:54.34.
Men’s Field: Andrew Werk (Throws, Jr., Alexandria, Minn. / Alexandria HS), competing at the Vance Butler Invitational, was third in the hammer throw in 176-1, which was a personal-best toss.

Minot State
Minot State competed in its second meet of the year at the Vance Butler Memorial Track & Field meet in Sioux Falls, S.D.  
Men’s Track: Tyler Flatland (Hurdles, 6-0, Sr., Watford City, N.D. / Watford City) won the men’s 400 hurdles by just over a second, powering to a time of 54.91 seconds at the 2015 Vance Butler Memorial Invitational Friday at Howard Wood Field. It was the second individual title for Flatland this season. He was also a part of the Beavers 4x400-meter relay team that took seventh overall.
Men’s Field: Cody Schmidt (Javelin, Jr., 5-11, Stanley, N.D. / Stanley) won his first college meet in the javelin, finishing with a toss of 58.32 meters, just .02 meters short of the NCAA Division II provisional mark of 58.34. He edged teammate Phillip Streccius by just .9 meters. Phillip Streccius (Javelin, Sr., 5-8, Minot, N.D. / Minot) finished second to teammate Schmidt in the javelin with a season best 58.23. He ended just .11 meters short of a NCAA Division II provisional mark.

Northern State
Northern State traveled to the Vance Butler Invite this past weekend. The Wolves recorded five top ten finishes from the meet, led by Andrew Johnson with a pair of third place marks. Zach Fiel finished fifth in the long jump and eighth in the high jump.
Men’s Track: Andrew Johnson (Sprints / Jumps, Sr., Aberdeen, S.D. / Central HS) had a productive outing for the men with a pair of third place finishes in the 200m and 100m dashes with times of 21.83 and 10.98 respectively. Johnson also anchored the third place 4x100m and lead off the sixth place 4x400m relay teams for the Wolves.
Next up for NSU is the NSU Invite this coming weekend.   

Southwest Minnesota State
Men’s Track:  Junior Will Hanson (Aurelia, Iowa / Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn HS) captured first place in the 110-meter hurdles with an NCAA provisional time of 14.3 at the Vance Butler Invite in Sioux Falls, S.D. His time is currently tied for 11th in Division II this season. Hanson also placed sixth in the javelin with a throw of 49.81m. Hanson was an NCAA championship qualifier in the 60-meter hurdles last month.
Men’s Field: Sophomore Shawn Jensen (Winthrop, Minn. / Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop HS) placed eighth out of 25 in the discus at the Vance Butler Invite with a personal best throw of 43.35m.
Southwest Minnesota State competes next Friday and Saturday at the Northwestern College Invite in Orange City, Iowa.

Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls opened their outdoor season at the Vance Butler Invitational hosted by Augustana. Chase Jensen set a personal-best in the men’s pole vault, winning the event for the first time in his collegiate career. Jensen’s mark reached the provisional qualifying standard. Jordon Bents was the top attached finisher in the men’s shot put, Matt Horan was the runner-up in the men’s 5,000-meter run.
Men’s Track:  Matt Horan (Distance, Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D. / Roosevelt HS) placed second in the men’s 5,000-meter run and was one of two runners to clear 15 minutes in the 5K, turning in a 14:58.48.
Men’s Field: Chase Jensen (Pole Vault, So., Fremont, Neb. / Fremont HS) won his first collegiate pole vault title, taking the Vance Butler Invitational men’s pole vault victory clearing a provisional-qualifying 4.90 meters (16 feet-0.75 inches) for a personal-best. He is currently is tied for 11th in NCAA Division II on the national qualifying list.

St. Cloud State
SCSU traveled to the Vance Butler Invite this past weekend
Men’s Track: JoVonte Suber (So., St. Louis, Mo.) won the 400 meters in 49.72 while Isaiah Pitchford (Fr. Waukesha, Wis.) placed fourth in the 400 meter dash in 50.82.
Men’s Field: Ryan Johnson (Jr., Amery, Wis.) won the discus with a throw of 168’ 6” (51.37m) at the Vance Butler Invite this past weekend. Johnson’s throw was an NCAA Division II qualifying mark, a personal record and ranks as the 11th best throw in NCAA Division II so far this season.

Wayne State
Men’s Track: Nick Schmit (So., Randolph, Neb.) ran a personal best mark of 2:00.33 in the 800 meter run on a very windy day in Kearney, Neb. to take ninth place.  He also ran a time of 4:20.74 in the 1500m, less than .1 off of his personal best mark in the event, which was good for 10th place at the UNK Loper Invite.
Men’s Field: Derek Lahm  (So., Columbus, Neb.) placed second in the triple jump at the UNK Loper Invite in Kearney, Neb. with a personal best mark of 47’ 3”, which ranks as the third best NSIC mark this spring.  He also jumped 6’ 0 1/2” in the high jump and ran the 200 meter dash in a time of 22.58 seconds, both of which were personal best marks.


NSIC Athletes of the Week
Men’s Field
4/7/15    Ryan Johnson - St. Cloud State
Men’s Track
4/7/15    Will Hanson - SMSU