Farland Earned All-America Honors at NAIA Championships

Dakota State earned their third NAIA All-America award on the final day of the NAIA Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Championships Friday.

Cody Farland collected his first NAIA All-American honor in the 800-meter run for the Trojans in a thrilling fashion. He finished eighth in the national finals with a personal record time of 1 minute, 51.64 seconds, edging out Nate Conkel of Taylor by just .01 second.

To earn an All-America honor, an athlete or relay team needs to place in the top eight in the national finals. Farland became the first DSU outdoor 800-meter runner to collect All-America honors in school history.

Farland’s time is the second fastest 800-meter run in DSU men’s outdoor track & field school history (Andy Coy holds the current school record time of 1:50.54 in 2013 and current third fastest of 1:52.02 in 2010).

Conner Tordsen competed on the third straight day, throwing shot-put Friday. He threw 51 feet, 5 inches on his first try and fouled on the next two attempts.

Tordsen finished 17th overall and was the top NSAA place finisher in the event. Friday’s shot-put national event marked the end of Tordsen’s astounding throwing career at Dakota State.

He finished as a four-time NAIA All-America honor at DSU, with three coming from the outdoor season. He earned two NAIA All-America in this national meet, after placing fourth in the hammer throw Wednesday and capturing the national discus throw title Thursday.

Tordsen finished as a 13-time NSAA Track & Field All-Conference honors at Dakota State (15 total All-Conference honors as he was a 2-time NSAA Football All-Conference Second Team). He also earned back-to-back NSAA Outdoor Field Athlete-of-the-Meet and NSAA Most Valuable Track & Field Athlete. In addition, he earned back-to-back NAIA Men’s Outdoor National Field Athlete-of-the-Week earlier this spring.

Dakota State finished in a four-way tie for 19th out of 76 teams in the men’s team standings at the 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships with Spring Arbor, Cumberlands, and Carroll with 16 points each. The Trojans were the top NSAA team place finisher in the standings.

The NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships officially ends the 2022-23 athletics season at Dakota State University.