NDSU Men Take Dual Title at Bison Classic

FARGO, N.D. - Winter weather limited the amount of athletes competing at the Bison Classic on Saturday afternoon, but the North Dakota State men's track & field team still turned in strong performances in the inaugural event at the Shelly Ellig Indoor Track & Field Facility on the NDSU campus.

The Bison posted a 91-53 dual meet victory over the University of Manitoba after South Dakota State withdrew from the meet late due to travel concerns.

NDSU athletes earned wins in the heptathlon, 60m hurdles, mile, 800m, 200m, long jump, triple jump, weight throw and shot put on Saturday.

NDSU senior Lee Dhein claimed first in a pair of events, winning the 200m dash in 22.96 seconds and the long jump with a leap of 21-08.75 (6.62m).

The Bison dominated the throwing events, as senior Casey Orgon threw 59-08.25 (18.19m) to win the weight throw and Brandt Berghuis took the shot put title with a mark of 51-00.25 (15.55m) that ranks him just outside the NDSU top-10 list in the event. Junior college transfer Trevor Berner, Blake Elsen and Berghuis were second, third and fourth, respectively, in the weight throw.

Elsen's personal-best toss of 57-03.75 (17.47m) moved him to No. 8 on the NDSU all-time list. Orgon tops that list, and Berner is No. 5 all-time at NDSU.

Junior Andy Lillejord totaled 5,400 points to win the heptathlon, posting the top mark in six of the seven events.

Senior Matt Tetzlaff, owner of The Summit League's fastest 60m hurdles time in 2012, picked up a victory in the event on Saturday, finishing in 8.10 seconds. Sophomore Parker McKittrick took second place in 8.45 seconds.

McKittrick was also NDSU's top finisher in a special 40-yard dash event, taking third in 4.85 seconds. Wilfred Samking of Manitoba won the novelty event in 4.80 seconds.

NDSU senior Travis Fitzke ran away with the 800m title, topping the rest of the field by more than three seconds with his winning time of 1:55.13. Junior Alec Espeland claimed the mile title, winning in 4:23.77.

Freshman Colin Paarmann won the triple jump with a mark of 43-09.75 (13.35m) and placed second to Dhein in the long jump.

Several unattached NDSU freshmen also turned in strong performances. Pres Harris ran 51.04 to win the 400m dash and was a member of the unattached team, along with Cody Pelowski, Matt Jennings and Dalton Herding, that won the 4x400m relay in 3:28.83. Freshman Alex Renner was the runner-up in the shot put with a mark of 50-10.00 and Thomas Ryan surpassed the 48-foot mark for fourth place.

North Dakota State will travel to the University of Minnesota for the Jack Johnson Classic on Jan. 18-19.