Bison Women in Third After First Day of Summit League Track and Field Championships

FARGO, N.D. - Emily Lesser finished second in the hammer throw to lead the North Dakota State women's track and field team on the first day of The Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday, May 10 at the Ellig Sports Complex. The Bison are in third place with 29 points after four scored events. South Dakota leads the field with 38 points and Southern Utah is second with 30.

Lesser took second in the hammer with a mark of 177 feet 9 inches to earn eight points for the Bison. Katie Johnson also picked up two points by finishing seventh with a mark of 164-5.

Freshman Abbi Aspengren clocked in at a personal best time of 37 minutes 11.01 seconds to finish third in the 10,000 meters and earn six points. Her time ranks eighth all-time at NDSU. Heidi Peterson picked up two points by finishing seventh in 38:02.20.

In the javelin, Chrissy Knuth placed fifth with a personal best mark of 134-4, ranking eighth all-time at NDSU. It was a personal best for Knuth by 12 feet as she picked up four points. Paige Nash earned two points with a seventh place finish with a mark of 120-0.

In the heptathlon, Twila Moser is in second place after the first four events with 3,027 points. She won the 100 meter hurdles in 14.41 seconds and the 200 meters in 25.32 seconds. Moser is 59 points behind leader Camila Pirelli of Oral Roberts. Emily Stalpes is third with 2,984 points and Ashley Heinze is fifth with 2,728 points. Emily Roesler rounds out the Bison contingent, sitting in seventh with 2,489 points.

The Bison women continue their title defense Friday, May 11 beginning with the final three events of the heptathlon at 12 p.m. Field events begin at 3 p.m. and running events start at 4:30 p.m.

Team scores after day one
1. South Dakota, 38
2. Southern Utah, 30
3. North Dakota State, 29
4. Western Illinois, 23
5. Oral Roberts, 15
6. IPFW, 10
7. South Dakota State, 8
8. UMKC, 3