NDSU Men Dominate Weight Throw, Jochim Blazes 300m at Bison Open

Friday, February 3

Fargo, N.D.

3 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Bison Open - Day One

Photo by: Richard Svaleson

NDSU Men Dominate Weight Throw, Jochim Blazes 300m at Bison Open

2/3/2017 9:25:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

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FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State men's track & field team strengthened its position as the No. 1 weight throw squad in the nation with a dominant performance on the first day of the Bison Open.

The Bison men swept the top five places in the weight throw, with four men surpassing the 20-meter mark in the same meet for the first time in school history. NDSU was led by event champion Payton Otterdahl, who recorded a toss of 68-04.25 (20.83m) for the second-best mark of his career.

NDSU senior Alex Renner registered a huge personal-best of 67-01.50 (20.46m) in the weight throw for a five-foot improvement and the No. 2 spot all-time at NDSU behind Otterdahl. Senior Conrad Schwarzkopf took third at 66-01.75 (20.16m).

Bison junior Steffan Stroh threw a lifetime best by 5 feet, 7 inches in the weight throw, moving up to fourth all-time at NDSU at 65-09.50 (20.05m). Redshirt freshman Michael Keogan (60-07.75 / 18.48m) placed fifth and entered the NDSU all-time top 10 at No. 8.

The Bison men were already ranked No. 1 in the country in the weight throw in the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings, but the significant improvements by Renner and Stroh solidified that ranking. Each of NDSU's top four performers in the event rank among the top 40 in the NCAA this year.

On the track, Bison junior Landon Jochim set a new facility record in the 300m and ranks third all-time at NDSU with his winning time of 34.43 seconds. NDSU sophomore Jacob Richter ran the fourth-fastest 300m dash in NDSU history, crossing the line in 34.54 for runner-up honors.

Sophomore Byrne Curl won the 600m, clocking 1:21.56.

NDSU freshmen are first and second in the heptathlon standings after Day 1 at the Bison Open. Tony Ukkelberg is first with 2,961 points, and Ben Klimpke is second with 2,882. Bison senior Angus Stoudt (2,784 points) and sophomore Ryan Enerson (2,768 points) are third and fourth, respectively.

Klimpke (River Falls, Wis.) posted the top mark in three of the four heptathlon events contested on Friday, clocking 7.22 seconds in the 60m dash, leaping 22-07.75 (6.90m) in the long jump, and clearing 6-08.75 (2.05m) in the high jump.

The Bison Open resumes at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday with the heptathlon 60m hurdles. Unseeded sections of running events begin at 12:20 p.m., field events start at 1 p.m., and running event finals start at 1:30 p.m.