FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State women's track and field team heads to Des Moines, Iowa for the 101st running of the Drake Relays April 23-24.  10 athletes will compete in nine events for the Bison at the prestigious meet.  Live stats will be available on GoBison.com. (See bottom of page for competition schedule.)

Brost named athlete of the week

Sophomore Leslie Brost picked up her second Summit League Athlete of the Week honor of the season after winning the pole vault with a school record mark at the Mt. SAC Relays. Brost cleared 14 feet 1 1/4 inches to break her own school record of 13-9 1/4 set in 2009.  The Watertown, S.D. native currently leads the league by almost a foot and a half.  She is tied for fourth in the country and is the first Bison ever to clear 14 feet in the pole vault.

Bison lead nine events in Summit League

Junior Whitney Carlson leads the Summit League in four events while four other Bison also lead their respective events.  Carlson holds the top spot in the 100 hurdles (13.80), the 400 hurdles (1:00.53), the long jump (20-10 1/2) and the heptathlon (5,343).  Freshman Ashley Tingelstad leads the 200 meters in 24.45.  Redshirt freshman Toni Tollefson is tops in the high jump with a school record mark of 5-11 1/2.  Junior Christine Bruins leads the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.01 and sophomore Leslie Brost is no. 1 in the pole vault with a mark of 14-1 1/4.  Freshman Lauren Rice leads the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:04.19.

Five Bison in national top 20

Five student-athletes are ranked in the national top 20 of their respective events, while four are in the top 10.  Junior Whitney Carlson is ranked eighth in the heptathlon with 5,343 points and ninth in the long jump with a mark of 20-10 1/2.  Senior Heather Zander is also ranked in the heptathlon, coming in at No. 18 with 5,203 points.  Sophomore Leslie Brost is tied for fourth in the pole vault with a mark of 14-1 1/4 while redshirt freshman Toni Tollefson is tied for eighth in the high jump after clearing 5-11 1/2.

Carlson, Brost set school records to lead successful weekend in California

Junior Whitney Carlson scored 5,343 points to set a new NDSU record in the heptathlon at the Mt. SAC/Cal Invitational Combined Events.  She broke Andi Noel's 2001 record of 5,294 points.  Sophomore Leslie Brost won the pole vault at the Mt. SAC Relays with a school record mark of 14-1 1/4.  At the Beach Invitational, freshman Ashley Tingelstad led the way, winning both the 100 meters and the 200 meters.  Her time of 11.90 in the 100 is ranked fourth all-time at NDSU.  She won the 200 in 24.53.