GRAND FORKS, N.D. - - For the first time in 32 years, the University of North Dakota track and field team hosted an indoor meet. The inter-squad meet consisted of two teams, Black and Green. The Black team topped the Green squad to win the meet by 59 points. A True Team scoring system was used and the total number of scoring positions equaled the number of entrants in each event.
“I am very happy that we got a chance to get a feel for hosting,” said head coach Kevin Galbraith. “This was a dry run for hosting bigger meets and we had a lot of fun.”
On the track, the team decided to run some off-events including, the 300-meter and the 4x300.
“The events made for an interesting day. It made for some fun competition, took some pressure off the team, and we got in a good workout,” said Galbraith.
In the 300-meters, the focus was on Heather Harrower and Steph Clarke, who were neck-and-neck the whole race. Harrower finished at 39.99 seconds while Clarke clocked a run of 40.02 seconds.
The 4x300 relay was run by mixed gender teams consisting of two women and two men. The women ran the first and third legs while the men ran the second and last.
The winning relay team, consisting of Megan Kienholz, Nolan Hovland, Kylee Alexander and Tyler Olson, clocked a time of 2:39.94.
Right behind them, teammates Alyssa Espinoza, Riley Miller, Harrower, and Kelly Nordling finished at 2:39.95.
“The running events were exciting to watch. There was a lot of close competition, and we had friends and family come down to make it a fun atmosphere,” said Galbraith.
Molli Detloff and Cody Mach tooRak the top two spots in the weight throw. Detloff won the event with her throw of 61 feet, 3.50 inches (18.68). Mach threw for 58-02.50 (17.74).
In the pole vault, Zac Ray and Kyley Foster took first and second place with clears of 14-11 (4.55) and 11-05 (3.50), respectively.
Sophomore Nolan Hovland, who was just a few marks short of his conference championship height from last year's indoor season, won the high jump.
“This meet was a great way to get the new building broken in,” said Galbraith. “We had a lot of people come out to help, and we are walking away feeling really good about today.”
The team will be back in action Jan. 14 at North Dakota State's Bison Classic.
