Bison Men in Contention for Summit League Title after Day One at Indoor Championships

Friday, February 24

Brookings, S.D.

9:30 a.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Summit League Indoor Championships - Day One

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

Bison Men in Contention for Summit League Title after Day One at Indoor Championships

2/24/2017 8:34:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

By: Photo courtesy Richard Svaleson

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Day One Results
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BROOKINGS, S.D. – The North Dakota State men's track & field team put itself in contention to defend its Summit League indoor title on the opening day of the Summit League Indoor Championships Friday at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

After the five events completed on Friday, South Dakota State leads with 59 points. The Bison stand in second with 54 points, and South Dakota is third with 45. Last year, NDSU had 52 points at the end of the first day.

NDSU is in position to add significant points in the heptathlon, shot put and 800 meters, among other events on Saturday.

Bison junior Payton Otterdahl claimed his first Summit League weight throw title to get NDSU on the board on Friday, throwing 67-04.75 (20.54m) for the win. Senior Conrad Schwarzkopf took runner-up honors at 65-07.75 (20.01m), senior Alex Renner placed sixth, junior Jacob McBride was seventh, and junior Steffan Stroh took eighth.

McBride threw a personal-best 61-01.50 (18.63m) to rank eighth in NDSU history. It was his best throw of the season by two and a half feet.

Freshman Tony Ukkelberg (Clitherall, Minn.) came up huge for the Bison, claiming runner-up honors in the long jump at a season-best 23-02.75 (7.08m). Freshman Ben Klimpke added three team points for NDSU in the long jump, placing sixth with a mark of 22-07.00 (6.88m).

Evan Kottsick, Jacob Richter, Matt Jennings and Camron Roehl finished second in the distance medley relay, clocking 10:12.37 to rank ninth in NDSU history.

In the 3,000m, junior Jake Leingang finished third in 8:15.43, and redshirt freshman Elliott Stone placed sixth in 8:29.03 for NDSU.

Freshman Connor Salisbury (Dilworth, Minn.) also picked up some team points for the Bison, placing seventh in the pole vault.

NDSU junior JT Butler ran 22.04 in the 200m dash prelims to tie for eighth-fastest all-time at NDSU, but he finished 10th in the meet and did not advance to the final.

The Bison men are positioned to score big when the heptathlon is completed on Saturday. NDSU holds the top four spots and six of the top seven in the heptathlon standings through four events, with Ukkelberg leading the way with 3,030 points. Ryan Enerson is in second at 2,890 points, Klimpke is in third, and Ted Rainwater-Walker is fourth.

Enerson was also the second-fastest qualifier to the 60m hurdles final at 8.33 seconds, and senior Angus Stoudt advanced third-fastest in 8.47 seconds.

The Bison men sent four athletes through to the finals of the 800m – Jonah Warwick, Byrne Curl, Brant Gilbertson and Matt Jennings. Landon Jochim and Jacob Richter both qualified for tomorrow's final in the 400m dash.

Heptathlon competition resumes at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Field events start at 11:30 a.m., and running events begin at 1 p.m. The Bison are in search of their second consecutive Summit League indoor title and their sixth league indoor championship overall.