3 throwers hit qualifying marks at Yellow Jacket Holiday Classic

The Chadron State track and field teams kicked off the 2016-17 season at the Yellow Jacket Holiday Classic at Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota, with an NCAA D-II Indoor Track and Field Championships automatically qualifying throw and three provisional qualifying throws.
Mel Herl, graduate student of Eaton, Colorado, automatically qualified for the national meet and set a school record by nearly seven feet, winning the women’s weight throw with a 21.36-meter toss.
“The opportunity to get back into a Chadron State uniform and represent my team this weekend was a great feeling,” Herl said. “I’m excited to have a strong start in the weight throw, but there is still a lot of work to be done before nationals.”
Herl redshirted last season so she could finish her degree and eligibility at the same time and recover from an illness.
In addition to Herl’s automatically qualifying mark, Jesse Bleidt, junior of Lewellan; Blake Jacobs, junior of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; and Ashlyn Hanson, junior of Seward, marked three provisional qualifying throws for the team.
Bleidt won the men’s weight throw competition with a toss of 17.62m, Jacobs threw the shot put 16.37m, leading the field, and Hanson finished third of 15 competitors in the weight throw with a 16.56m mark.
Joining Bleidt and Jacobs as event winners were double-winner Matt Klein, senior of Scottsbluff, who ran the 200m dash in 23.29 seconds and the 60m hurdles in 8.42; Cory Salitrik, junior of Rock Springs, Wyoming, ran 51.60 in the 400m dash; Gregg Peterson, redshirt sophomore of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, leapt 6.23 in the long jump; and Kharon Hall, freshman of Parker, Colorado, went 14.07 in the triple jump.
In addition to Herl, CSC women who won their events include Tessa Gorsuch, senior of Rapid City, South Dakota, winning both the 60m dash in 7.82 and the 60m hurdles in 8.72; Cassie Johnson, redshirt sophomore of Rock Springs, Wyoming, in the 200m dash, running 26.45; Alisha Heelan, junior of Oshkosh, crossing the line in 59.52 for the 400m dash; and Maddie Brashears, sophomore of Fort Morgan, Colorado, long jumping 5.58.
Nicky Banzhaf, senior of Chadron, competed unattached at the meet, winning the 3k in 10:53.
Stachia Reuwsaat, senior of Black Hawk, South Dakota, was voted as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Preseason Athlete of the Year by the RMAC’s head track and field coaches. Reuwsaat won the 2016 NCAA D-II Indoor Track and Field Championships long jump becoming CSC’s first female national champion.
Andre Woodson, senior of Sacramento, California, and Herl were also chosen by the conference’s head track and field coaches to be on the Preseason All-RMAC teams.
Woodson qualified for the 2016 NCAA D-II Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 60m dash.
CSC’s women’s track and field team is ranked second in the team poll and the men are ranked fourth. Both teams were runner-ups at last year’s conference meet at the NPAC.
The CSC track and field team are competing at the Alumni Classic & Multi meet at Colorado School of Mines, Golden.