Roberts Breaks DSU Record in Decathlon at South Dakota Early Bird Meet

In the South Dakota Early Bird Meet this past weekend, Treshawn Roberts of Dakota State won the decathlon event in record-breaking fashion. 

The day kicked off with the decathlon in the 110-meter hurdles, led by Treshawn Roberts with a time of 15.61 seconds to earn 777 points. Caleb Roberts added a time of 18.49 seconds to finish with 478 points. Caden Gortmaker followed up with a time of 18.97 seconds to earn 435 points.

Treshawn Roberts threw (125 feet, 6 inches to claim 629 points in the discus throw for DSU.  Gortmaker added a toss of 89 feet, 7 inches for 412 points, while Caleb Roberts posted a mark of 74 feet, 4 inches for 322 points.

In the pole vault, Treshawn Roberts cleared the height of 14 feet, 1.25 inches to finish with 702 points. Gortmaker added 10 feet, 10 inches for 431 points. Caleb Roberts cleared the height of 9 feet, 10 inches for 357 points.

Treshawn Roberts was the top javelin mark of 176 feet, 2 inches to rack up 644 points. Caleb Roberts added a personal record 97 feet, 10 inches for 297 points, Gortmaker fouled out.

The decathlon wrapped up with the 1500-meter run, led by Gortmaker with a time of 4 minutes, 39.32 seconds to collect 685 points.Treshawn Roberts hit a time of 5:19.18 to tally 454 points, while Caleb Roberts registered a personal best time of 5:21.16 for 444 points.

Overall, Treshawn Roberts finished as the top NAIA place finisher in the decathlon with a school record 6,772 points. The decathlon total points currently top the NAIA after Saturday’s meet, where he produced the NAIA national qualifying mark.  He broke the previous record of 6,411 points in 2022. 

Caleb Roberts finished with a personal decathlon record of 4,675 points (seventh most points scored in DSU’s history of decathlon), followed by Gortmaker with 4,666 points (ninth most decathlon points scored in school history). It was the first time Gortmaker had competed in the decathlon event at DSU. 

Conner Tordsen produced the NAIA ‘A’ automatic qualifying mark in the discus throw, tossing 178 feet, 2 inches. He was the top NAIA place finisher in the event and second overall. 

Jacob Joachim added a career-best discus throw toss of 147 feet, 9 inches for a 19th-place finish for the Trojans. 

Ethan Damerum threw a season best 124 feet, 4 inches in the javelin throw for Dakota State.  Xander Sheehan added 121 feet, 7 inches in his collegiate debut. 

Evan Slominski fueled to a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run with a career best time of 1 minute, 57.90 seconds for DSU. Daniel Green added a time of 2:03.61 for a 19th-place finish.  

Riley Greenhoff led the Trojans with a time of 10.81 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Greenhoff also paced DSU with a time of 21.98 seconds in the 200-meter dash.  . 

Joshua Krull registered a time of 51.87 seconds in the 400-meter dash for the Trojans.  

Isaac Jaacks finished with a time of 15.99 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles for Dakota State. 

Ben Hoverson leaped 21 feet, 3.25 inches in the long jump for DSU. Hoverson was also 11th in the triple jump after hitting a mark of 43 feet, 10 inches.  

Dakota State continues their busy outdoor track & field action in April, when they compete in the two-day 2023 Sioux City Relays on the campus of Morningside this Friday and Saturday.