VERMILLION, S.D. – The North Dakota State men's track & field team captured the distance medley relay title to highlight the first day of competition at the Summit League Indoor Championships on Saturday.
 
Josh Samyn, Isaac Huntington, Jacob Rodin and Hunter Klimek teamed up to win the conference title in the distance medley, finishing in 10:09.61.
 
The Bison are third in the team standings through five scored events with 40 points. South Dakota State leads with 54, and South Dakota is second with 45.5.
 
The Bison men finished second, fourth and sixth in the weight throw with Kaden Pastian (65-5 / 19.94m), Levi Rockey (personal-best 61-5 / 18.72m), and Tristan Bush (57-03.50 / 17.46m).
 
Bison sophomore Symon Keiser ran a personal-best 8:14.06 to place fifth in the 3000m. He moved up to No. 3 on the NDSU all-time list in the event.
 
Hunter Merkley placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 23-03.50 (7.10m).
 
Sophomore Jacob Van Dusseldorp and freshman Jarod White tied for fifth in the pole vault, with both clearing 16-02.25 (4.93m).
 
The NDSU men also positioned themselves to score points in the running event finals on Sunday with a number of qualifiers.
 
The Bison men put three qualifiers in the Summit League 60m hurdles final with Blake Nyenati (7.93), Logan Mathieu (8.01), and Brock Johnsen (8.08) – all among the top-five fastest qualifiers. Mathieu's personal-best 8.01 moved him up to sixth-fastest in NDSU history.
 
Josh Knutson (49.24), Cullen Curl (49.32), and Jacob Levin (49.78) all qualified for the 400m dash final. Rodin (1:54.84) and Keiser Freetly (1:55.22) advanced to the 800m final.
 
NDSU sophomore Zach McGlynn stands fourth in the Summit League heptathlon after Day 1 with 2,929 points through four events. Bison freshman Paul Olson is in seventh with 2,667. McGlynn opened the day with personal-best performances in three straight events – the 60m dash, long jump and shot put.
 
Competition will resume with the heptathlon 60m hurdles at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. Field events start with the women's triple jump at 11:30 a.m., and running events begin at 1 p.m.