The UND men’s and women’s track teams came home from a recent Dakota Duals meet with several first place finishes and a few more records broken.

Men’s team

Finishing first in shot put and second in discus, senior Shawn Johnson put himself on the Big Sky Conference map Saturday. Johnson finished first in the shot with a throw of 56 feet, 6.5 inches (17.23 meters), capturing the longest toss in the Big Sky so far this season.

The Eveleth, Minn. native also had the third-longest discus throw recorded in the Big Sky this season, finishing second with a throw of 164-6 (50.13).

Freshman Ian Collins had a productive day in the field, placing second behind Johnson with a shot put throw of 49-11.25 (15.22).

UND had success on the track Saturday as D’Monte Farley, Tyler Olson and John LeClerc all crossed the finish line first in their respective races.

Farley put in the sixth fastest 100-meter dash time in the Big Sky this year, winning the sprint in 10.86 seconds.

Olson was winner of the 400 meters, running the quarter mile in 49.18 seconds.

The third event champion for UND, LeClerc had no one in front of him as he crossed the finish line for the 110-meter hurdles in 15.03 seconds. But teammate Jimmy Evers was close behind, taking second with a time of 15.08 seconds.

Women’s team

Sophomore Ke-Ke Burks continues to compete with her own record in the hammer throw, smashing her previous record of 178 feet by over 10 feet Saturday to capture first in the event and break the school record for the fourth time in her less than two-year collegiate career.

Burks finished with a throw of 187 feet, 4 inches (57.11 meters) to take home yet another first in the hammer.

Teammate Molly Griep, a sophomore from Whitewater, Wis., had a successful day at the South Dakota meet, finishing first in the discus with a throw of 163-04 (49.79). Griep set a PR in the hammer throw and won third place in the shot, with tosses of 166-7 (50.78) and 45-03.75 (13.81), respectively

Blazing her way down the track yet again, Sophomore Stephanie Clarke took first in the 400-meter run with a time of 57.55 seconds.

The two other individual track champions for the women were Savana Weller, who won the 800 in 2:18.18, and Anne Van Heel, who took first in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.47.

The final UND champs of the day, Van Heel, Weller, Alyssa Espinoza and Jessica Lindsay averaged just over a minute apiece in their victorious 4×400 meter relay. The team finished with a time of 4:00.73 to take home the title.

North Dakota gets back on the track April 11-12 when the teams head to the Team Nodak Decathlon/Heptathlon in Fargo.

Marie Monson is the multimedia editor for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].