Throwers dominate at Myrle Hanson

Mel Herl, senior of Eaton, Colorado, led the CSC women’s track and field team throwers in sweeping the first five places in the weight throw competition Saturday at the Myrle Hanson Memorial Open Meet at Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota.
Herl tossed the weight 21.36 meters for first place, just nine inches short of her nation-leading throw she marked in December 2016. The following CSC women took second, third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively: Ashlyn Hanson, junior of Seward, 15.52; Ashton Hallsted, freshman of Casper, Wyoming, 15.35; Keri Ruff, senior of Eaton, Colorado, 14.82; and Danielle Weyers, freshman of Fremont, 14.56.
Herl also won the shot put with a personal best throw of 14.33. Hallsted earned third with an 11.22-toss.
In the men’s weight throw, Jesse Bleidt, junior of Lewellan, claimed the top spot with a 16.85-throw, followed by Blake Jacobs, junior of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with a toss of 16.38. In the shot put, Jacobs took first with a 16.31-throw and Cory Martens, redshirt sophomore of Newton, Kansas, grabbed third place with a 14.15-toss.
In the pole vault, Tory Snyder, senior of Pierre, South Dakota, took first with a 3.35-vault and Haley Gallagher, redshirt sophomore of Erie, Colorado, took second, vaulting 3.05.
For the CSC distance runners on the men’s side, Kyle Dietsche, senior of Sheridan, Wyoming, claimed second place in the 800m run with a time of 2 minutes, .83 seconds. Dietsche also crossed the line in 4:29.46 for fourth place in the 1-mile run. Alejandro Garcia, senior of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, competed unattached but claimed first in the 3000m run in 8:56.85 and second in the 1-mile run in 4:23.81.
For the women, Margaret Vinton, senior of North Platte, took third place in the 1-mile run, crossing the line in 5:31.91 and fifth in the 3000m run in 11:14.12. Nicky Banzhaf, senior of Chadron, who also competed unattached, earned second place in the 1-mile run in 5:29.51 and fourth in the 3000m run in 11:13.9.
While only a fraction of the team competed last weekend, the majority of the team will compete this weekend at the Jim Emmerich/Alumni Invitational, South Dakota State University, Brookings; the Air Force Invitational, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado; or Dave Little Alumni Mile Meet, Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota.