Trojans Compete in First Track Meet of the Year

The Dakota State Trojan track and field team competed in their first meet of the new year this weekend at the South Dakota State D2 Invitational at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings. It was a solid meet for both the men and women teams, both of who hadn’t competed in over a month after their meet last weekend was canceled due to the weather.

The women’s team had several solid performances. Traia Hubbard had a huge meet for the Trojans. She was able to throw the shot put 13.49 meters, a throw that surpasses the NAIA ‘A’ Standard national qualifying mark. The mark made her the top NAIA thrower in the event as well as broke the school record. She also hit a personal-record in the weight throw with a throw of 14.76 meters that placed her 15^th in the event.

Other throwers that competed in the meet included Tyra Payne who placed 24^th in the shot put with 9.53 meters and 30^th in the weight throw with 13.32 meters. Jobi McCreary placed 30^th in the shot put with a throw of 9.18 meters and 22^nd place in the weight throw with 14.07 meters. Going into the meet, Trojan throwing coach Coach Glover was excited to watch his throwers compete. On the women’s side, he was hoping for big improvements over the offseason. The girls did just that.

The women’s team raced well on the track as well. Ashley Robinson placed 5th in the 3000-meter run with a time of 11:21.21. Jada Anderson finished closely behind in 6^th place with a time of 11:21.82, and Juliette Rios placed 20^th with a time of 13:14.51.

For the sprinters, Jenni Giles led the Trojans with an 11^th-place finish in the 400-meter race, finishing in 1:02.49. Abbie Strasser followed with a time of 1:03.01 placing 14^th, and Josie Wolf ran a time of 1:04.63 placing 21^st. Strasser and Wolf also competed in the 200-meter dash. Strasser clocked a time of 27.13 placing her 14^th and Wolf clocked a time of 27.39 placing her 16^th. Coach Hoskins was also looking forward to watching his sprinters compete. He said the goal of the meet for his athletes was to focus on technique while dealing with the stress of competition.

Madison Whitcomb placed 12^th in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:48.14. Christianna Green competed in the 1000-meter run where she placed 24^th with a time of 3:31.31 and the mile where she placed 22^nd with a time of 5:58.35. Lahna Matucha was the lone jumper for the Trojans on the women’s side. She tied for 22^nd in the high jump with a height of 1.4 meters.

It was also a successful day for the Trojan men’s team. Maxwell Cruse ran a time of 14:49.29 in the 5000-meter run to place third and set a new personal record. Right behind him was Braden Curnow who placed 4^th with a time of 14:50.01. Both times qualified Cruse and Curnow for the NAIA Indoor National meet. SenQuavius Johnson won the 60-meter dash title with an impressive time of 6.98 seconds. Riley Greenhoff placed 11^th with a time of 7.2 seconds.

In the 200-meter dash, Josh Snook placed first with a time of 22.05 seconds. Johnson placed 10^th with a time of 22.79 seconds. Other Trojans who competed in the event were Trey Reindl who placed 13^th with a time of 22.91 seconds, Greenhoff placed 15^th with a time of 22.94 seconds, and Brenner Furlong placed 21^st with a time 23.38 seconds. Furlong also placed 8^th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.59 seconds.

Tyler Kennedy placed 3rd in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:06.24 seconds. He was followed by his teammates Grant Vizzini who placed 7^th with a time of 9:24.75, Hunter Baer who placed 12th with a time of 9:58.91, Mathew Dunn who placed 13^th with a time of 10:05.10, and Jonathan Lein who placed 19^th with a time of 10:49.54.

Walker Olivier was the lone hurdler competing for the Trojans. He placed 11^th in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.87 seconds.

Competing in the field portion of the meet was Treshawn Roberts who cleared a height of 1.75 meters in the high jump and jumped 5.75 meters in the long jump. Both were personal bests for Roberts. Obang Ojulu placed 13^th in the long jump with a jump of 6 meters. Payton Olson placed 27^th with 5.48 meters and Kennan Kelly 28^th with 5.43 meters.

In the pole vault competition, Anton Hejna placed 5^th with a personal-best height of 4.33 meters. His teammate Nathan Motherway placed 7^th with a vault of 4.03 meters, and Evan Slominski placed 13^th with a vault of 3.73 meters.

The Trojan throwers had a big day on the men’s side as well. Another goal that Coach Glover had for his athletes was to be able to hit PRs. Three throwers hit personal records in the weight throw. Tyler Moulton led the team with an 8^th place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 15.72 meters. He was followed by teammate Conner Tordsen who threw 14.99 meters to place 10^th and Evan McCreary placed 19^th with a throw of 13.53 meters. Moulton also placed 17^th in the shot put with a throw of 13.12 meters and Tordsen placed 21^st with a throw of 12.84 meters. Dakota State men also competed in the 4 x 400-meter relay. A group of Mayberry, Krull, Winter, and Hermann ran a time of 3:42.55 to place 25^th.

Overall, it was quite a weekend for the Trojans track teams. Dakota State will compete again next Saturday, Feb. 1, where they will head to Mitchell to compete in the Dakota Wesleyan Invitational. Good luck and go trojans!