FARGO, N.D. ? The North Dakota State distance medley relay team of senior Eric Stroh, freshman Dwight Finnell, sophomore Moses Heppner and redshirt freshman Alec Espeland claimed the team's first title of the 2011 Summit League Championships on the first day of competition Sunday, Feb. 27.  NDSU leads the team standings after five scored events with 62 points.  South Dakota State is second with 38 points.

The distance medley relay team's winning time of 10:10.45 is fifth in school history.

In the pole vault, sophomore Jesse Morrow claimed second and junior Joe Bredahl was third after both athletes cleared a personal best height of 16 feet 8 inches, tying for fourth all-time at NDSU.  Morrow cleared the height on his first attempt and improved his personal best by 7 ¼ inches.  Bredahl reached the height on his third and final attempt and improved his personal best by 7 ¾ inches.  Redshirt freshman Andy Lillejord earned points with a fifth place finish with a mark of 16-2, which is tied for 10^th in school history.

In the 3,000 meter run, junior Travis Fitzke placed third in 8:29.01 as UMKC's Cosmas Ayabei used a strong kick down the backstretch to pass Fitzke for the title.

Senior Ted Rud finished second in the long jump with a personal best mark of 23-7 ½, which is 10^th all-time at NDSU.  Rud also leads the heptathlon after four events with 3,067 points.

Three Bison picked up points in the weight throw.  Sophomore Casey Orgon led the way with a runner-up finish with a mark of 59-6 ¼, which is third in school history.  Senior Sam Soholt was fourth with a toss of 58-0 ½, which ranks fifth at NDSU.  Senior Logan Hollenkamp was sixth with a throw of 56-6.

In the 60 meters, junior Kevin Jackson and freshman Donte Smart advanced to Monday's finals.  Both athletes also moved on to the 200 meter finals.  Junior Jason Duchscherer qualified for the 400 meter finals.

Sophomore Matt Tetzlaff led a 1-2-3 Bison finish in the 60 meter hurdles preliminaries.  Junior Weston Leutz was second and Jackson was third.  All three athletes will run the final on Monday.  Leutz is also third in the heptathlon with three events to go.

The heptathlon concludes at 10 a.m. Monday at the Bison Sports Arena. The rest of the field events start at 12 p.m. and the running events are at 1 p.m.

Summit League Champion

Distance Medley Relay (10:10.45)

Team Scores

1. North Dakota State, 62

2. South Dakota State, 38

3. Oral Roberts, 36

4. Southern Utah, 20

5. UMKC, 18

6. Western Illinois, 10

7. Oakland, 8