The Wayne State men are in third place and the women sit in 11th place after the first day of the Northern Sun Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at Myers Fieldhouse in Mankato, Minn.
Two Wildcat throwers recorded personal best marks in the weight throw to each score points in the event. Sophomore Matt Nemec came in sixth place with a throw of 56 feet, 1 3/4 inches, more than two feet better than his previous personal mark. Freshman Cade Kalkowski was right behind in seventh place at 55-6 1/2, a personal-best mark that was more than three feet further than his previous best.
Other points scored on the opening day came from juniors Derek Lahm and Brady Metz in the long jump as Lahm came in fourth at 23-6 3/4 while Metz finished seventh with a top mark of 22-11 3/4.
The distance medley relay team of Nick Schmit, Brandon Marker, Kak Ayaj and Nick Fly came in eighth place with a time of 10:45.61.
In the prelims, junior Antoine Bardou had the top qualifying time in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:23.69 while senior Nick Fly also made the finals in the event with the eighth-fastest qualifying time of 2:36.22.
Junior Braxton Adams won his heat and had the third-fastest qualifying time in the 60-meter prelims at 6.96 seconds. Sophomore Robert Sullivan made the finals in the 60-meter high hurdles, winning his heat while posting the fourth best qualifying time of 8.31 seconds. Sophomore Clay Kramper qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.39 seconds that was sixth-fastest in prelims.
Other points already scored by the Wildcats came from sophomore Robert Sullivan, who won the NSIC heptathlon two weeks ago with a new school record point total of 5,141 points while junior Derek Lahm was third at 4,970 points.
In women’s action, junior Michaela Dendinger earned All-NSIC honors with a second place finish in the weight throw. The Hartington High graduate recorded a personal-best mark of 63-4 1/4, which was also an NCAA provisional mark that now ranks ninth in NCAA Division II.
In Friday’s prelims, senior Melissa Kroll qualified for the finals in the 600 meter run recording a time of 1:38.39 that was the seventh best qualifying time for Saturday’s final.
Host Minnesota State holds the team lead after the first day with 54.5 points followed by Sioux Falls in second with 38 and Wayne State third with 29. Augustana (25) and Minnesota Duluth (23) fill out the top five teams with the University of Mary a close sixth at 22.5 points.
Minnesota State also leads the women’s team race after the first day with 52 points with Concordia-St. Paul second at 35.66. Winona State (35.5), Augustana (30) and Sioux Falls (29.33) round out the top five teams.
The NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships wrap up on Saturday in Mankato with field events scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and all finals in running events beginning at 1 p.m.
