Mjelstad Takes Summit League Decathlon Title; Bison Men Lead after Day Two

Friday, May 16

Fargo, N.D.

11 a.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Summit League Outdoor Championships - Day Two

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

Mjelstad Takes Summit League Decathlon Title; Bison Men Lead after Day Two

5/16/2014 10:37:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

Results
Live Results | Meet Schedule

FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State redshirt freshman Grant Mjelstad won The Summit League's decathlon championship on Friday, leading a group of Bison decathletes who totaled 32 team points to build a second-day lead for NDSU at the Summit League Outdoor Championships.

Four-time defending champion NDSU leads the team race with 127 points with one day remaining in the meet. South Dakota is currently second with 89 points.

Mjelstad scored 6,640 points for the first league championship of his career, as NDSU placed 1-2-3-4-7-8 in the decathlon. Sophomore Brock Larson was the runner-up with a personal-best 6,586 points, and Angus Stoudt and Beau Gagnon took third and fourth, respectively, for NDSU. Jamison Kath placed seventh and Adam Coykendall was eighth.

NDSU once again scored a large sum of points in a throwing event, this time claiming second, third and fourth in the shot put. Redshirt freshman Alex Renner added more than 13 inches to his school record in the event, taking runner-up honors with his throw of 57-05.75 (17.52m). Sophomore Brandt Berghuis was third at 56-10.25 (17.33m) – also surpassing Renner's previous school-record mark – and redshirt freshman Brian Blasey registered a big conference-meet PR of 52-06.50 (16.01m) for fourth place.

Both Renner and Berghuis moved into position to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds with their improved season-best marks in the shot put.

Junior Brett Kelly claimed a runner-up finish in the 3,000m steeplechase for the second straight year, leading three Bison placers in the event. Kelly clocked a personal-best 9:02.19 that ranks fifth in school history. Sophomore Brendan Skime entered the Bison all-time top 10 list with his 9:17.29 for fifth place, and Grady Anderson finished seventh in a personal-best time of his own at 9:23.19.

NDSU sophomore Colin Paarmann jumped 22-08.00 (6.91m) for fourth place in the long jump, and Mjelstad came back after his decathlon to place sixth in the long jump. Beau Kashmark cleared 6-05.00 (1.96m) for sixth place in the high jump.

NDSU also qualified three runners to Saturday's finals in both the 800m and 400m. In the 800m, Dalton Herding, Alec Espeland and Moses Heppner registered the three fastest times in the prelims. Freshman Jonah Warwick ran a season-best 49.10 in the 400m, qualifying into the final with Alex Neumiller and Pres Harris.

Freshman Loren Bothun clocked a season-best 14.64 to lead three Bison into the 110m hurdles final, with Paarmann and Stoudt also advancing.

Saturday's action begins at 11 a.m. with the women's discus and triple jump competitions. The men's pole vault starts at 11:30 a.m., and running events begin at 12:20 p.m. with the 4x100m relay.