Dakota Duals: Dually noted
NDSU 4-0 as both teams beat SDSU and Mary
Resurrecting dual scoring proved beneficial for the men’s and women’s track and field teams Saturday at the BSA.
Both teams disposed of their opponents, SDSU and University of Mary, on the way to a sweep of the Dakota Duals.
“ (The Dakota Duals) is a great way to wind down the indoor season,” men’s head coach Don Larson said. “It is something we used to do more often in the past.”
The men won 10 total events spread across the board, dominating the field.
“ We pride ourselves on being a well-rounded team,” Larson said.
With five of its six wins coming from the field competitions, the women also showed supremacy, especially in the throwing competitions.
Teammates Amanda Benz and Barbora Ungermannova split the shot put and the weight throw capturing the top honors in each.
“ As we continue to train together, we continue to push each other,” Benz, who took first place in the shot put, said. “Each practice is almost like a mini competition because our throws are so close.”
In the shot put, Benz won by .07 of a meter and placed third in the weight throw behind teammates Ungermannova and Kalie Seltvedt.
The men’s pole vault was decided by nearly a foot by sophomore Shawn Francis with a personal record 16-0.
Second-place finisher Kyle Herman from Team Nodak, an NDSU club team, posted a jump of 15-1.
Francis cleared his personal record on his third attempt drawing loud support from the crowd. He had never tried to clear 16-5, the height that eliminated him.
“ I’ve never tried it, we have put the bungee up a couple times in practice but that’s it,” Francis said.
School record in pole vaulting is 17-04 set in 1996.
“ I’ve got three and a half years,” Francis said about breaking the record.
The 800-meter run was a blowout for the men with NDSU taking the top honors outright over SDSU.
Jedd Danielson was first with a time of 1:53.74, 10 seconds more than the closest competing team’s time of 2:03.91.
Ross Schilling and Todd Schmidt took second and third respectably, six seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher from SDSU.
Rodney Gross swept the men’s throwing events with distances of 51-02 feet in shot put and 51-06 feet in the weight toss.
In the women’s pole vault, Julie Strenkowski tried three times to beat the BSA record of 12-6 that she set in 2004.
The record still stands as she could not clear 13-0, but took top honor anyway with a height of 12-3.
Side note: Dual scoring pairs two schools against each other without counting the results of other schools competing in the same event. This method explains why it is possible for a school to score better against one opponent in an event than another opponent.