THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State men's track & field team is set to compete at the UCLA Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational in Los Angeles on April 13, and also the Long Beach Invitational on April 14.

The Bison will also be sending a smaller squad to Des Moines, Iowa for the Jim Duncan Invitational on Saturday, April 14.

JANUSZEWSKI, SCHILLING SHINE IN TEXAS: Jake Januszewski blew by the competition in the steeplechase and was one of nine top-10 finishers for North Dakota State at the Bobby Lane Arlington Invitational track and field meet at Maverick Stadium on Saturday, March 31.

Januszewski, who won the steeplechase at the Division I independent championships last season, finished the event in 9:06.89, almost 26 seconds faster than his closest competition. This is his third career title in the event and the second-fastest time of his career.

Ross Schilling ran a personal best in the 1,500, completing the event in 3:52.60. Schilling placed runner-up, finishing less than two seconds behind the winner, Shaun Smith of Oral Roberts (3:51.15).

MIAMI OPENER: The Bison opened the outdoor season at the University of Miami hurricane Invitational on March 15-17. Senior steeplechase ace Jake Janusewski cruised to a dominating win to lead the Bison. Januszewski defeated the field of runners with a commanding 17-second victory after crossing the finish line in 9:28.38, well off of his personal record time of 9:04.61 set last year at the University of Oregon. Daniel Sammons, competing for Dayton finished in second place with a 9:46.00

Redshirt freshman Scott Johnson entered the school's all-time top-10 list with a ninth place finish in the hammer throw. Johnson launched the 16-pound steel ball 159-1 for No. 8 on the school's history chart.

Matt Bishoff finished in second place in the decathlon with a near 200-point personal record of 6,854 points. His 10-event tally in Miami moved the sophomore up two places on the list to No. 5, directly behind current coach Bison Stevie Keller, who gathered 6,963 points during the 1996 season.

Mike Hagen and Ted Rud, in their first decathlon for the Herd, placed fifth and sixth overall with totals of 6,287 and 6,275. In his second effort in the decathlon, Jeremiah Sellheim added nearly 1,000 points to his 2006 DI independent third-place sum of 5,294 points with a 6,269 haul for seventh place.

INDOOR RECAP: Matt Bishoff and Greg Liebl made the biggest impact on the school's all-time leaderboard during the indoor season. Bishoff became the first Bison to crack the 5,000-point barrier in the heptathlon to extend his school record to a sum of 5,077 points. Bishoff also entered the school's elite in the pole vault with the No. 8 jump at 16-0. Liebl dug deep to threaten the school's 3,000-meter run record with an 8:19.86 at the University of Washington, coming in less than a second from Doug Hanson's 1990 mark of 8:18.94. Chad Bergan climbed the rankings in the mile to No. 8 all-time with a 4:10.76, nearly becoming only the second runner this decade to run a sub 4:10 for the Bison.

Other breakout performances included Michael Krings clearing 16-6 in the pole vault to tie for No. 3 all-time and James Schanandore hitting a huge personal record in the 3,000 to move to No. 5 all-time with an 8:24.59.

2007 BISON: NDSU returns 16 pointwinners from last year's DI independent champion squad while losing five contributors. The Bison have 58 student-athletes on the roster, up from 46 a year ago. The roster includes only five seniors.

HOMEGROWN TALENT: The 2007 men's roster includes 10 athletes out of the Fargo-Moorhead area. Fargo South leads the group with four (Matt Bishoff, Ben Hendricks, Mike Svaleson, Jayten Shook). Fifty of the 58 student-athletes on the roster have roots in Minnesota (26) or North Dakota (24).

MID-CON: North Dakota State University formally accepted an invitation to become a member of the Mid-Continent Conference on August 31, at a press conference in the NDSU Alumni Center in Fargo, N.D. NDSU will begin league competition in the 2007-08 academic year, and will be immediately eligible to compete for conference championships. The Mid-Con Presidents Council voted unanimously on August 30, to extend an invitation for membership to North Dakota State.

DI INDEPENDENTS: The Bison will look to grab their third straight Division I independent championship when they travel to Davis, Calif., on May 11-12. NDSU won its first DI independent title when UC Davis hosted the meet in 2005. The Bison took the crown last season when the event was held at Northern Colorado.

THE RECLASSIFICATION: North Dakota State is in its fourth year of a five-year NCAA reclassification from Division II to Division I. The Bison will not be eligible for NCAA playoffs until the 2008-09 season in any sport except wrestling and women's volleyball, which become tournament eligible in 2006-07.

COACHING STAFF: Don Larson will lead the Bison men's team for the 28th straight season. In his eighth season of duty at NDSU, head women's coach Ryun Godfrey will handle the middle distance and distance crews. Stevie Keller, a 2004 Olympic Trials qualifier in the decathlon, returns for his seventh year with the program. Keller will work with the pole vault, javelin and the multi-events. A four-time All-American from Michigan State, Desire'e Larson will focus on the high jumpers. Brent Parmer will assist with the long and triple jumps, while Robby Beyer will spend time with the throwers.