White Wins Pole Vault, Bison Capture DMR Title on Day One of Summit Indoor

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Jarod White won the pole vault in dramatic fashion, and Hunter Klimek anchored the Bison distance medley relay to a third consecutive title to highlight the opening day of the Summit League Indoor Championships for the North Dakota State men’s track & field team.
 
White entered the meet ranked third in the conference this season for the pole vault, but he was the lone competitor to clear 17-09.00 (5.41m) on Friday – improving his own school record in the process. He now stands at No. 32 on the NCAA performance list this season.
 
Klimek ran the 1600m anchor leg to carry the Bison to a conference title in the distance medley relay for the third straight season. Will Gerber, Cullen Curl, Jonah Dafoe and Klimek clocked 9:59.22 for the third-fastest time in school history.
 
The Bison men finished 3-4-5 in the long jump for 15 team points. Senior Hunter Merkley placed third with a mark of 23-06.25 (7.17m), freshman Reece Grosserode took fourth at 23-05.50 (7.15m), and sophomore Jayden Williams was fifth at 23-04.75 (7.13m).
 
NDSU sophomore Jack Packer placed third in the weight throw, throwing a personal-best 60-3 (18.36m).
 
Ethan Moe took fifth place in the 3,000m, running a PR of 8:14.19 to rank fourth-fastest in NDSU history.
 
Jacob Van Dusseldorp placed fifth in the pole vault, clearing 16-03.25 (4.96m).
 
In addition to the events that were completed on Friday, the Bison men are positioned to score well in Saturday’s finals.
 
Through four events of the heptathlon, the Bison men are 1-2 atop the standings. Paul Olson has 2,982 points, and Bryce Enerson has 2,816.
 
Four Bison men advanced to the Summit League 60m hurdles final, led by redshirt freshman Brooks Turner with a personal-best 7.85 seconds to move up to fourth on the NDSU all-time list. Trey Heinrich, Logan Mathieu and Brock Johnsen all also qualified.
 
Freshmen Tyler Milkes (21.64) and Jeran McNichols (21.68) both clocked personal-bests to advance to the Summit League 200m dash final. Milkes moved up to sixth on the NDSU all-time indoor list, and McNichols is now No. 7.
 
McNichols also advanced to the 60m dash final, clocking 6.81 in the prelims.
 
Bison sophomore Gabe Miles ran a personal-best 48.29 to qualify for the 400m dash final.
 
With 5 of 17 events completed, South Dakota State holds a slight lead in the team race with 50.5 points. The Bison stand in second with 49 points, and South Dakota is third with 45.5.
 
Men’s competition will resume with the heptathlon 60m hurdles at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Running events begin at 1 p.m.