TULSA, Okla. – The North Dakota State men's track & field team swept the top four places in the shot put to headline the second day of the Summit League Outdoor Championships for the Bison.
 
Kristoffer Thomsen led the Bison dominance in the shot put with a winning throw of 62-04.50 (19.01m). Trevor Otterdahl was the runner-up, and Clayton Hannula (59-08.25 / 18.19m) and Levi Rockey (58-05.25 / 17.81m) both registered personal-bests to finish third and fourth, respectively.
 
The Bison men finished 1-2 in the long jump, as Brandon Lewis defended his Summit League title with a mark of 24-05.75 (7.46m). Sophomore Hunter Merkley (23-10.25 / 7.27m) took runner-up honors for NDSU.
 
Eric VanErp scored a personal-best 6,658 points in the decathlon, taking second place.
 
Sophomore Payton Smith was the Summit League runner-up in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing in 9:10.94.
 
In addition to those events that were finalized on Friday, NDSU advanced a strong contingent to Saturday's finals on the track. The Bison qualified three men apiece in the 110m hurdles, 400m dash, and 400m hurdles.
 
Trent Davis (14.16), Brock Johnsen (14.51), and Logan Mathieu (14.60) all qualified in the top five for the 110m hurdles final.
 
Adrian Harris (47.93), Cody Roder (48.14), and Jacob Levin (48.28) all advanced in the 400m. Josh Knutson (54.30), Cullen Curl (personal-best 54.44), and Drake Daniels (55.38) moved on to the Summit League 400m hurdles final.
 
Levin ran a career-best 21.14 in the 200m prelims to qualify second-fastest for the final and rank seventh-fastest in NDSU history. Alex Brosseau clocked a lifetime-best 21.24 to qualify third and stand at No. 9 on the NDSU all-time list.
 
Dante White (10.61) and Brosseau (10.66) advanced to the 100m dash final. Jacob Rodin cruised into the 800m final, running 1:51.63 in the prelims.