NDSU Men’s Throwers Dominate for Early Lead at Summit League Championships

Thursday, May 12

Vermillion, S.D.

10 a.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Summit League Outdoor Championships - Day One

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

NDSU Men’s Throwers Dominate for Early Lead at Summit League Championships

5/12/2016 9:41:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

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VERMILLION, S.D. – The North Dakota State men's track & field team racked up 63 points in two throwing events on the first day of the Summit League Outdoor Championships, opening up an early lead in the hunt for its seventh straight team title.

NDSU leads the men's team race with 63 points through three events on the first day. South Dakota State is second with 31 points.

The Bison swept the top five places in the hammer throw and the top three spots in the javelin, dominating both throwing events contested on Thursday. Junior Conrad Schwarzkopf won his first Summit League title in the hammer throw with a mark of 200-8 (61.16m), and junior Matti Mortimore claimed his second straight javelin crown at 222-1 (67.69m).

In the hammer throw, NDSU finished 1-2-3-4-5 for 33 team points, keyed by a couple of personal-best efforts from Rosemount HS (Minn.) grads. Senior Brandt Berghuis threw a career-best 199-7 (60.84m) for second place, and sophomore Payton Otterdahl registered a personal-best by 17 feet, throwing 196-4 (59.85m) to finish third. Berghuis and Otterdahl rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in NDSU history.

NDSU junior Alex Renner was fourth in the hammer throw, and sophomore Steffan Stroh finished fifth.

The Bison had four additional placewinners behind Mortimore in the javelin, led by senior Quinn Baumann (210-4 / 64.11m) in second and sophomore Austin Schmidt (206-3 / 62.86m) in third to sweep the awards stand. Brock Larson took fifth place, and Kevin Drotts was seventh with a personal-best effort of 185-2 (56.45m).

The Bison have now tallied 30 or more team points in the javelin at the conference meet for four consecutive years.

NDSU redshirt freshman Ryan Enerson leads the decathlon by 108 points, totaling 3,549 points through five events for a first-day personal best. Enerson's day was highlighted by a personal-best clearance of 6-08.00 (2.03m) in the high jump.

Bison senior Brock Larson also recorded the highest first-day point total of his career, scoring 3,441 points through five events to stand in second place. Larson posted career-best marks in three events on Thursday – 11.45 seconds in the 100m dash, 20-11.75 (6.39m) in the long jump, and 6-00.75 (1.85m) in the high jump.

NDSU's Matt Moberg stands third in the decathlon standings with 3,195 points, Grant Mjelstad is fourth with 3,181 points, and Daniel Asa is fifth with 3,101 points.

Competition will continue at South Dakota's Lillibridge Track Complex on Friday and Saturday.