Trojans Finish Third in NSAA Championship

Dakota State finished third as a team, highlighted by an individual champion and a pair of runner-up finishes on the third day of the NSAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Trojans scored 143 points after the three-day NSAA meet.  

Dickinson State captured the women’s team title after scoring 300 points in the meet. Viterbo was second with 180 points. Valley City State placed fourth with 75 points, followed by Waldorf fifth with 50 points, Bellevue sixth with 37 points, and Iowa Wesleyan seventh with 34 points.

Points are scored from first place through eighth places (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). 

Friday kicked off with a runner-up honor in the discus throw from Traia Hubbard. She produced the NAIA ‘B” provisional qualifying standard of 139 feet, 7 inches. Gabriella Peitzmeier added a seventh-place finish with a toss of 114 feet, 3 inches, followed by Oliviyah Thornton with an eighth-place finish with a 114 feet throw. Alexis Olson was 10th after throwing 111 feet, 2 inches.

Hubbard earned a third-place finish in the shot-put, tossing 41 feet, 8 inches. Kiana Mounga threw a personal record 35 feet, 4 inches to finish ninth, followed by Peitzmeier with a toss of 34 feet, 11 inches for a 10th-place finish. Britni Plucker finished with a 33 feet, 1.75 inches toss for a 14th-place finish.

Carson Quigley leaped 15 feet, 4 inches to finish eighth in the long jump for the Trojans.

The running events began with the 4×100-meter relay Friday afternoon. The team of Raylee Wallis, Lahna Matucha, Shaylee DeBeer, and Fane Sauvakacolo clocked a time of 52.50 seconds to finish fifth in the race.

Lindsey Roth captured the 1500-meter run title for Dakota State, clocking a time of 5 minutes, .76 seconds. Madelyn Sylva registered a personal record time of 5:04.55 to finish third, followed by Caitlin Dyer with a fourth-place finish in 5:05.46. Saddie Palmquist was sixth in 5 minutes, 26.58 seconds, while Courtney Meyer posted a personal best time of 6:03.37 to place tenth.

After placing fourth in the 100-meter dash prelims Thursday, Sauvakacolo clocked a personal record time of 12.57 seconds in Friday’s finals to place fourth. Wallis was 12th in Thursday’s prelims in 13.48 seconds.

The NSAA announced its Champions of Character after the 100-meter dash and before the 800-meter run. Sauvakacolo was this year’s recipient for DSU.

Roth paced the Trojans with a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 26.28 seconds. Dyer was sixth with a time of 2 minutes, 31.28 seconds. Palmquist finished with a time of 2:39.77 for a 14th-place finish, while Meyer was 18th in 3:01.54.

Shaylee DeBeer collected a second-place finish with a time of 1 minute, 10.14 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles for DSU. 

Sauvakacolo finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.68 seconds. Shakiera Gronenthal was 15th after registering a time of 30.59 seconds.

Sylva led Dakota State with a time of 20:05.37 in the 5000-meter run, placing fourth. Roth was eighth in 20 minutes, 28.90 seconds. Jada Anderson was 13th in 21:46.40, followed by Brooke Beaucaire’s 16th place in 23:03.36.

The conference meet wrapped up with the 4×400-meter relay. Wallis, Dyer, DeBeer, and Sauvakacolo teamed up with a third-place finish with a time of four minutes, 26.10 seconds.

It was the final collegiate track meet for the Trojans’ seniors Jada Anderson, Shaylee DeBeer, and Britni Plucker.

Dakota State will be taking Traia Hubbard (discus throw, shot put) and Fane Sauvakacolo (100-meter hurdles) to the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Marion, Indiana on May 24-26.