Men’s and women’s track and field become NSIC champs

It was a busy weekend for the Minnesota State men’s and women’s track and field team as they competed in the NSIC indoor track and field championships at the Myers Field House on campus.

MSU sophomore Makayla Jackson, who previously held the record for the 60m dash, broke her own record in both the preliminaries and the finals, running a final time of 7.32. Maverick sophomore Denisha Cartwright also improved on her time from the preliminaries as she finished with a time of 24.22 in the 200m dash, setting another NSIC record. Cartwright and Jackson both earned NSIC high point performer honors earning a combined total of 56 points for the Mavericks in the championship. 

The 200m dash was an impressive performance for Minnesota State, as the top five runners featured all Mavericks. They combined for 33 points in total for the single 200m event.

Junior jumper Zoe Stone also had a good performance for MSU in the high jump pentathlon competition. Stone tied for first place with Sioux Falls freshman Emily Swanson, both finishing at 1.70m. 

Maverick sophomore Samantha Sunnarborg took home first place in the shot put pentathlon event. She ended with a final distance of 11.49m.

Minnesota State would go on to win its second straight NSIC women’s indoor track and field championship as they ended with 243 team points on 19 events scored. 

Several Mavericks were named to the NSIC indoor track and field all-conference team. 

On the men’s side of things, Maverick senior Kornelius Klah impressed in both the 60m hurdle and 400m dash events. Klah finished with a 60m hurdle time of 7.92 and a 400m dash time of 48.45, taking first in both events. 

Senior Nick Durnin also had an impressive day, taking home first in the 60m dash heptathlon with a time of 7.19. Durnin also claimed first in the 60m hurdle heptathlon event with a final time of 8.26.

MSU also had other first place finishers in individual events. Senior sprinter Shaheed Hickman claimed first in the 60m dash with a final time of 6.74. Junior distance runner Ben Schmied finished first in the 600m run with a time of 1:21.11.

Minnesota State finished first in the men’s 400m relay event with a final time of 3:18.67. 

The Mavericks claimed their 11 straight NSIC men’s indoor track and field championship. They ended the weekend with a dominant team score of 200.16 on 19 events scored, which was 65.16 pts ahead of second place Augustana. 

The men’s team also saw several student-athletes take home NSIC indoor track and field all-conference team honors. The NCAA National Championships for the men will take place March 11-12 in Pittsburgh, Kansas. The women’s Championships will be held in Winston-Salem, NC the same weekend. The field of participants will be announced on March 1 at 5 p.m. 

Header Photo: Minnesota State celebrates their NSIC championship. (Emily Lansman/The Reporter)

Write to Karson Buelow at karson.buelow@mnsu.edu.