NDSU Men’s Track & Field Targets 6th Straight Summit League Outdoor Title

Wednesday, May 13

Macomb, Ill.

11 a.m.

North Dakota State

Summit League Outdoor Championships - Day One

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

NDSU Men’s Track & Field Targets 6th Straight Summit League Outdoor Title

5/11/2015 12:47:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

Meet Information | Schedule of Events
Live Results
Summit League Men's Performance List
NDSU Track & Field on Twitter

FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State University men's track & field team will attempt to capture its sixth consecutive Summit League outdoor team title at the Summit League Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Macomb, Ill., on May 13-15. The three-day meet will be hosted by Western Illinois University at Hanson Field.

Since joining The Summit League prior to the 2008 season, NDSU has won six of a possible seven team titles in outdoor track & field. The Bison won the championship in their first shot in 2008, and then again each year from 2010-14. Last season, NDSU shared the crown with South Dakota as the schools finished in a tie with 260 points apiece.

The Bison are joined by Oregon, Liberty, Albany and Grambling State as the only five Division I schools to own current winning streaks of five or more outdoor conference titles.

South Dakota has won three straight indoor team championships from 2013-15.

The Bison return defending league champions Quinn Baumann (javelin) and Grant Mjelstad (decathlon), as well as the 4x400m relay. Baumann, a junior from Grand Forks, N.D., won Summit League titles in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

NDSU will enter this week's meet with the league's top performers in six events this season, including in three of the four throwing events with Alex Renner (shot put), Brandt Berghuis (hammer throw) and Matti Mortimore (javelin). Sophomore Angus Stoudt tops the league in the decathlon this year, and senior Brett Kelly (steeplechase) and the 4x400m relay lead the Bison on the track.

NDSU will once again look for big contributions from its men's throwing corps in the team race. Over the two most recent league meets, the Bison men's throwers have scored 156 team points. No other school in the league has scored more than 85 in that time frame.

This season, the Bison enter the meet with the top 7 javelin throwers in the league. NDSU also has five of the league's top six in the shot put and five of the top eight in the hammer throw.

Competition begins at 11 a.m. Wednesday with the decathlon 100m dash.

The League Leaders
Alex Renner, shot put
Brandt Berghuis, hammer throw
Matti Mortimore, javelin
Angus Stoudt, decathlon
Brett Kelly, 3,000m steeplechase
4x400m relay

The Defending Champions
Quinn Baumann, javelin
Grant Mjelstad, decathlon
Jerome Begin, 400m hurdles (redshirting)
4x400m relay (Jonah Warwick, Dalton Herding, Alex Neumiller, Jerome Begin)

The Veterans
Lucas DeGree, ranked 3rd in 5000m and 4th in 1500m, placed 5th in 1500m last year
Trevor Berner, ranked 2nd in hammer throw, placed 3rd last year
Parker McKittrick, ranked 2nd in 110m hurdles, placed 3rd as a freshman and sophomore
Colin Paarmann, ranked top-five in long jump, triple jump and 110m hurdles
Tyler Parker, ranked 2nd in javelin, placed 3rd as a freshman and 2nd as a sophomore

The Newcomers
Payton Otterdahl, ranked 2nd in the shot put and discus
Landon Jochim, ranked 2nd in the 400m and 5th in the 200m
Aron Klos, ranked 3rd in the 400m hurdles
Conrad Schwarzkopf, ranked 4th in the shot put and 6th in the hammer throw
Austin Schmidt, ranked 3rd in the javelin