ST. PAUL, MINN. – A trio of defended titles and a 39-year-old record broken highlight the opening day of the 2024 Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday inside O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
 
Women’s Current Standings (through five events scored)

Place	School	Score
1.	North Dakota State	59
2.	South Dakota	58
3.	South Dakota State	37.5
4.	North Dakota	18.5
5.	St. Thomas	16
6.	Omaha	6

 
Men’s Current Standings (through four events scored)

Place	School	Score
1.	North Dakota State	47
2.	South Dakota	36
3.	South Dakota State	33
4.	St. Thomas	17
5.	Oral Roberts	12
6.	North Dakota	6
7.	Kansas City	5

Top Performers
Reigning heptathlon champion Nell Graham of NDSU leads the event with a total of 3,164 points through four events. The NDSU senior finished in the top three in two of the day’s four events. She was the top finisher in the 200-meter after clocking a career-best time of 23.92 seconds and took third in the high jump (5-04.25; 1.63m).
 
Through five events, NDSU’s Paul Olson holds the lead in the decathlon with 3,996 points. The sophomore achieved personal-best performances in four of the five events including the 100m (10.93), long jump (22-03.50; 6.79m), high jump (6-10.75; 2.10m) and 400m (49.64).
 
St. Thomas’ Anna Swanson captured the women’s javelin, snapping a nine-year title streak that was held by NDSU. She captured the gold medal with a personal-best throw of 156-04 (47.65m).
 
NDSU’s Matt Kraft led a trio of Bison to the awards podium en route to his second-consecutive men’s javelin title. He defended his title with a career-best toss of 234-11 (71.61m). His victory today marks the 12^th straight Bison to take home the League javelin crown.
 
The South Dakota women walked away with the top three spots in the women’s pole vault. Reigning champion Gen Hirata led the efforts capturing her third career event crown with a clearance of 14-01.25 (4.30m).
 
South Dakota State’s Leah Hisken ran away with her third career 10,000m League title. She captured the top spot on the podium after crossing the finish line in 35:23.27.
 
For the men’s 10,000m, Oral Roberts’ Abraham Chelangam and SDSU’s Carson Noecker crossed the finish line in under 30 minutes to take down a 39-year-old record set by Northern Iowa’s Chris Leonard (30:10.14). Chelangam took the event title in a new meet record time of 29:53.02. Noecker finished runner-up with a time of 29:59.61.
 
Women’s Champions Crowned
Hammer: Lexi Maples, North Dakota State | 200-04 (61.06m)
Javelin: Anna Swanson, St. Thomas | 156-04 (47.65m)
Pole vault: Gen Hirata, South Dakota | 14-05.25 (4.40m)
High jump: Arienne Birch, North Dakota State | 5-10.75 (1.80m)
10,000m: Leah Hisken, South Dakota State | 35:23.2
 
Men’s Champions Crowned
Hammer: Hunter Wallster, South Dakota State | 189-02 (57.66m)
Long jump: Michael Haugo, North Dakota State | 24-03.75 (7.41m)
Javelin: Matt Kraft, North Dakota State | 234-11 (71.61m)
10,000m: Abraham Chelangam, Oral Roberts | 29:53.02
 
Up Next
The championships continue Friday inside the O’Shaughnessy Stadium with the final multi-events starting at 9:45 a.m. CT, field events at 4 p.m. CT and track events at 6 p.m. CT.