Fargo, N.D. – The Northern State University track and field team opened 2018 from the NDSU Thundering Herd Classic notching 17 top-15 finishes from the men, 12 top-15 finishes from the women, three NCAA provisional mark, one event win, and one school record.
 
In the first meet of her Northern State career, freshman Shanice Burrell finished second overall in the 60m hurdles as the top Division II placer in the event. She hit the line at 9.01, which is the second fastest time in school history behind fellow teammate and school record holder Hanneke Oosterwegel.
 
Hanneke Oosterwegel notched a victory in the 400m dash, finishing with a time of 57.10, nearly a second faster than the next closest finisher. She currently ranks sixth nationally in the event after hitting the NCAA provisional time. Madison Barnes also landed in the top-10 in the event finishing with a time of 1:01.34. Following her was freshman Emma Rezac in 13^th, hitting the line at 1:01.98. Oosterwegel went on to take third in the 200m dash, as the top Division II finisher, with a national provisional time of 25.33.
 
The 4x400m relay team of Barnes, Isabel Kinzer, Kylie Werner, and Rezac took tenth in the event, crossing the finish line at 4:09.04.
 
Freshman Dakota Hutzler notched a top-10 finish in the triple jump, jumping 10.74m on her first attempt of the afternoon. Fellow freshman, Shannon Katz finished 11^th in her first competition for the Wolves, vaulting 3.06m.
 
Freshman Tanner Berg kicked off competition for the Northern State men in exciting fashion. He finished seventh overall in the weight throw, notching a school record on four of his six tosses, as well as an NCAA provisional mark. He currently ranks 28^th nationally in the event. Berg threw 17.61m on his final toss of the event, and went on to take 14^th in the shot put with a 14.20m toss. Jake Olson followed in 11^th, throwing 15.50m.
 
Zach Busch continued the field events, finishing 13^th in the long jump with a 6.28m mark, followed by Trey Tiefenthaler in 14^th with a 6.25m mark. Tiefenthaler went on to finish eighth overall in the triple jump with a 13.49m mark.
 
Monte Meyerink took on the high jump and finished second overall clearing 1.94m, in his first competition in the event in over four years. Bryce Malsam notched an eight place finish in the pole vault, clearing 4.17m, with Kelson Brewer close behind in tenth, clearing 4.02m.
 
Malsam opened competition for the NSU men in the running events, qualifying for finals in the 60m hurdles and finishing in sixth overall. The sophomore finished with a time of 8.64. Jarreth Martina just missed finals in the 60m dash, finishing ninth overall with a time of 7.13.
 
Itoitz Rodriguez notched a third place finish in the 400m dash, as the top Division II finisher with a time of 50.03. The junior missed second by just 3-tenths of a second. Romario Thomas also finished 13^th in the event with a time of 52.21.
 
Jacob Schweitzer opened the distance events for the Wolves taking seventh in the 800m run with a time of 2:02.40. He was followed by Asher Wahl and Nathan Patterson in 11^th and 12^th. Luke Wietgrefe was the top finisher in the 600m run for the Wolves, taking 11^th with a time of 1:26.64.
 
Tanner Peltier broke into the top-10 of the 3000m run, finishing in eighth overall with a time of 9:10.12.
 
The 4x400m relay team of Rodriguez, Brewer, Thomas, and Wietgrefe finished seventh overall as the top Division II team, crossing the line at 3:26.17.
 
The Wolves return to action next Friday from the SDSU Division II Open in Brookings.