TOLEDO, Ohio ? The North Dakota State women's track and field team captured four event titles on the second day of action at the Summit League Championships. Senior Heather Zander and sophomore Leslie Brost set new league records with their respective victories. The Bison take over first place with 97 points while Southern Utah is second with 87.5 points.
Zander broke her own league record en route to winning her second straight heptathlon with 5,328 points. Her score is a personal best and second on the NDSU all-time performance charts.
Zander won two of the three final events. Her winning long jump mark of 19 feet 7 inches is seventh all-time at NDSU, while her winning time in the 800 meters was 2:21.22. Freshman Emily Staples picked up three points for the Bison after finishing sixth in the heptathlon with 4,296 points.
“It's always tough to win the multi once, let alone twice. You have to be mentally tough to do it and that is why I love it,” said Zander. “I wasn't aware I was close to breaking my league record so that is nice.”
Brost also broke the league record she set last year in winning the pole vault with a mark of 13-5 ¼. Senior Sammantha Kouba finished third after clearing 11-11 3/4 and sophomore Amy Marquardt tied for fourth with a mark of 10-11 ¾.
In the long jump, junior Whitney Carlson defended her title after leaping 20-1 ¾ on her second attempt in the finals. Sophomore Kristen Killoran finished second for the second straight year with a mark of 19-10 ¼. Senior Brittni Bruenjes posted a personal best mark of 19-6 ¾ to finish fourth and Zander was fifth with a leap of 18-4 ½.
Freshman Toni Tollefson claimed the high jump title after clearing 5-5. Senior Courtney Carpenter finished third with a mark of 5-5.
In the shot put, freshman Katie Johnson picked up two points for the Bison with a seventh place finish after a throw of 41-9 ¼.
In the only running final of the day, junior Amy Jo Reuter finished second in the steeplechase with a personal best time of 10:45.64. Her time is third all-time at NDSU.
The Bison also had athletes advance to the finals in all six running events.
Carlson won the 100 meter hurdles preliminaries in 14.04 and the 400 meter hurdles prelims in 1:01.92. Senior Devon Wentz will join her in the finals of both events. Wentz posted a prelim time of 14.55 in the 100 hurdles and 1:02.00 in the 400 hurdles. Zander will also compete in the 100 hurdles finals after running a time of 14.45 today.
Freshman Ashley Tingelstad won the 200 meter preliminaries with a time of 24.60. She will also compete in the 400 meter final after finishing second in the prelims in 56.06. Junior Emily Black also booked a spot in the 400 final with a time of 57.86.
Sophomore Brittany Page was third in the 200 meter prelims with a time of 24.82. She also came in second in the 100 meter prelims after running a time of 12.17. Junior Jennifer Nagberi will also run the 100 meter final after finishing seventh in 12.38.
All four Bison athletes in the 800 meters advanced to tomorrow's final. Junior Brittany Gigstead led the way, winning the preliminaries in 2:13.89. Fellow junior Christine Bruins was right behind her in second with a time of 2:14.28. Senior Amy Bestland was fourth with a time of 2:15.07 and freshman Faith Kruchowski was one-tenth of a second behind Bestland for fifth place in 2:15.17.
The Summit League Championships conclude on Saturday, May 15 beginning at 9 a.m. Central with the women's discus and triple jump.
Team Standings after Day Two
1. North Dakota State, 97
2. Southern Utah, 87.50
3. South Dakota State, 60
4. Oral Roberts, 54
5. Oakland, 25
6. IPFW, 18
7. Western Illinois, 6.50
8. UMKC, 3
