EDC Indoor Concludes at NDSU
Two weeks after eight EDC teams met at NDSU for the “State Indoor” meet, the rest of the conference convened Friday for the EDC Indoor. The Red River boys finished 5th out of 11 teams. The Roughriders’ lone event winner was freshman George Nyanforh, who jumped 44’3.5 on his first and only attempt to win the triple jump. Immediately following the jump, he raced to the starting line for the 4x200m Relay. Joining Tyler Burian, Thomas O’Halloran, and Zack Topping, the quartet ran 1:34.02 and finished 3rd. The impressive time bettered the outdoor state qualifying standard and broke the indoor school record of 1:34:49, held since 2009.
The distance crew had a strong meet, posting a number of season bests and lifetime PR’s. Leading the way was senior Cole Stenseth, who ran a PR 10:13.58 to place 2nd in the 3200m Run. Others with strong races included Jake Arason (7th-10:36.78), Broden Diederich (PR), Jeff Corcoran (near PR), Gavin Dorsey (PR), and Jonah Dafoe (HS track debut). In the 1600m Run, three athletes broke 5:00 and all placed, with Dalton Byrne in 5th (4:51.76), Tim Dunham in 7th (4:56.39), and Zach Simon in 8th (4:57.12). Two athletes barely missed breaking 5:00, as Thomas Hugo ran 5:00.13 and Ryan Prusak hit 5:00.40. The 4x800m Relay team of Byrne, Stenseth, Dunham, and Marcelles Sartwell placed 4th with a time of 8:45.05, as all athletes matched or bettered season best splits. The B team of Arason, Rapha Onyeka, Prusak, and Grant Lelm also ran strong legs and placed 6th.
For the fourth consecutive meet, Bryce Enerson placed 2nd in the 60m Hurdles with a new lifetime PR of 8.89. The event group displayed tremendous improvement, with all eight athletes hitting new lifetime PR’s (Connor Arel, Samir Bhujel, Dilson Guring, Suraj Magar, Diwas Gurung, Ayam Gautam, Chayton Wocken). This group looks to continue improving as we move to the 110m and 300m Hurdles outdoors. In the 400m, Stoker Short made his return to the track after being sidelined since the first meet with an injury. He impressed with a 56.16 400m time, which earned him a spot on the A-team 4×4. Along with Burian, O’Halloran, and Alessandro Kroeger, the team placed 3rd at 3:44.05. In the 200m, Burian ran an indoor best of 23.20 and placed 4th. The time also betters the outdoor state qualifying standard of 23.24. Topping, Tyler Hoffarth, and Diwas Gurung also set lifetime or season PR’s in the race. In the 60m, Topping placed 7th with a lifetime best of 7.35. Burian followed close behind at 7.37, with Hoffarth, Austin Oehkle, and Nate Hollingshead also setting new PR’s.
In the pole vault, Kaden Rohloff managed 11’0 and placed 5th. Huge improvement was shown by freshman Erik Walker, who cleared 10’6 after hitting 9’0 the past two meets. First time vaulters Justin Erickson (9’0) and Alex Hrabchak (8’0) also posted encouraging results, matching or setting new PR’s. In the long jump, 8th grader Dilson Gurung placed 8th with a 19’10 jump. Enerson, Landon Haagenson, Arel, and Hollingshead also reached new PR’s. Over at the shot put ring, Brett Klefstad followed up his big throw from Bemidji by placing 6th (45’1). Liam Ogren (43’8.5) and Ryan Ostermeier (39’1) also set new PR’s with big throws.
Despite the frustrating outdoor track weather, the week ahead is encouraging for the Riders. The team will host its first meet at UND’s palatial High Performance Center (HPC) on Thursday, which takes the place of the outdoor Sertoma meet scheduled for Tuesday, April 17th. The meet will feature many teams from the EDC and have limited entries. The HPC features a beautiful 300m indoor track. The Dual vs. GFC, originally scheduled for Friday, April 13th, has been moved to the HPC on Saturday evening. Specific details on starting times for the meets will come later this week.
Updated Top Marks, Relay Splits, and Point Totals-CLICK HERE