College Station, Texas - North Dakota State's Sam Roller and South Dakota's Tre Young punched thier tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday to headline the opening day of competition amongst Summit League atheltes.

Kansas City
Tory Lanham claimed one of the top three automatic spots in his heat by sprinting a 20.73 in the 200-meter dash. The Roo sophomore ranks 12^th heading into the quarterfinals on Friday at 7:50 PM. 
 
North Dakota
Ethan Thomas (shot put) and Jiri Ceska (800 meters) were the first North Dakota track and field athletes to compete at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Wednesday.

Thomas finished 35th in the shot put with a toss of 57-11 1/4 (17.66m). His throw gave him the longest throw at the NCAA Regional in program history and he also now owns the best finish in the event in school history on the men's side at the meet. The previous best shot put throw for UND at the NCAA Regional was owned by Shawn Johnson, who had a toss of 53-9 1/4 (16.39m) at the 2014 NCAA West Preliminary Round. By throwing the shot, Thomas became just the fourth UND athlete on the men's side to compete in the event at the meet in program history.

Ceska took 40th in the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.64. With his time, he now has the second-fastest 800-meter time on the men's side at the meet in school history, trailing only Jesse Middendorf, who ran a time of 1:50.50 at the 2023 NCAA West Preliminary Round. Ceska is now the fourth runner in UND history on the men's side to compete at the meet in the 800 meters.

Ceska drew heat one and was shy of the time to qualify for the 800-meter quarterfinal on Friday. The final qualifying time in his heat went to Edouard Lecrivain of Texas Christian, who ran a time of 1:48.96.

North Dakota State
Senior javelin thrower Sam Roller advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday to headline the opening day of competition for the North Dakota State men's track & field team at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
 
Roller (Thompson, N.D.) is headed to the NCAA Championships for the first time, throwing a career best 231-1 (70.43m) on his final attempt for eighth place in the javelin on Wednesday. The top 12 finishers in each event advance to Eugene, Ore., for the national meet.
 
Bison senior Zack Ramos finished 19th in the shot put with a throw of 60-00.50 (18.30m), an improvement of 16 places over his seed entering the meet.
 
Bison sophomore Jayden Williams placed 27^th in the long jump in his NCAA debut with a leap of 23-11 (7.29m).
 
NDSU’s 110 hurdle trio of Blake Nyenati (13.92), Brooks Turner (13.96), and Brock Johnsen (14.20) finished 28^th, 32^nd, and 40^th respectively. 
 
South Dakota
South Dakota senior Tre Young punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships during Wednesday evening's NCAA West Preliminary competition in College Station. Young will make his first trip to Eugene, Oregon and the NCAA Championships after placing 12^th at Wednesday’s pole vault semifinal with a clearance of 17-5.5 (5.32m).
Spencer Buley also cleared 17-5.5 during Wednesday’s competition, but he needed third attempt clearances at all of the bars he went over putting him outside of the top 12 to finish 14^th. Beau Karst cleared 16-11.5 (5.17m) in his first NCAA West appearance. Wyatt Stewart competed as well, but was not able to clear the opening bar at 16-5.5 bar. 
 
On the track, all three Coyotes advanced to the quarterfinals Friday evening. In the first race of the night, Jaden Damiano ran 13.68 in the first heat of the 110-meter hurdles, taking the third qualifying spot in the heat. In the final heat of the 110 hurdles, Mikael Grace did the same thing as Damiano, taking the third qualifying spot of his heat with a time of 13.75.
Mason Sindelar was not able to claim one of the top three automatic in his heat, but the 1:48.93 time he finished with placed him 22^nd out of 24 qualifying spots.
 
Damiano and Grace compete in the 110-meter hurdle quarterfinal at 6:15 p.m. Friday. Sindelar's 800-meter quarterfinal is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

South Dakota State
South Dakota State's Pierre Lear competed in the preliminary heats of the 110-hurdles Wednesday at the NCAA West Regional.

Lear posted a time of 13.76, placing 21st to qualify for the quarterfinals on Friday at 6:15 PM.

Lear's teammates take the track Thursday to continue the Jackrabbits' week in Texas. 

Thursday, May 29
6 p.m. 100-meter hurdles (Brielle Dixon)
9:10 p.m. 10,000-meter run semifinals (Jessica Lutmer and Courtney Stadter)

Friday, May 30
1 p.m. discus throw (Ethan Fischer, Caymen Gebheim, Caiden Fredrick) 
3:30 p.m. High Jump-(Grayson Ring)
5:40 p.m. 3000-meter steeplechase quarterfinals (Cody Larson, Josh Becker)
6:15 p.m. 110- Hurdles (Pierre Lear)

Saturday, May 25
3:30 p.m. High Jump (Madison Kizer)
6:15 p.m. 100-meter hurdle quarterfinals (Brielle Dixon)

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