Bison Women Look Strong on Opening Day of Summit League Indoor Championships

VERMILLION, S.D. - The North Dakota State women's track & field team entered the 2013 Summit League Indoor Championships in search of a sixth-consecutive team title.

Whether it was sprinter Antoinette Goodman matching the 60m dash school record, senior thrower Katie Johnson notching a personal-best and fourth-place finish in the weight throw, or freshman Erin Teschuk erasing a 30-meter deficit on the final lap to claim the distance medley relay title, the Bison showed no signs of slowing down on Sunday inside the DakotaDome.

Through five events, NDSU leads the team race with 47 points. Omaha currently stands in second with 38 points.

Teschuk was a big reason the Bison tallied 10 of those points. The distance medley relay quartet of Faith Kruchowski, Melissa Kitching, Paige Stratioti and Teschuk trailed host South Dakota by approximately 30 meters with just 200 meters remaining on the anchor leg, but Teschuk rallied the Bison with a stellar final lap and took first place by nearly one-half second at 12:11.82.

Teschuk's finish was the exclamation point on a day in which a lot went right for NDSU. The Bison totaled 18 points in the pentathlon behind a 3-4-5-6 finish from senior Emily Stalpes, freshman Lexy Boschee, sophomore Ashley Heinze and junior Twila Moser. Stalpes (3,441 points) and Boschee (3,340) each recorded personal-best scores, and Stalpes now ranks No. 8 all-time at NDSU in the pentathlon.

Goodman matched teammate Deborah John's 60m dash school record of 7.58 seconds in the prelims, as both advanced to Monday's final in the event. John is the two-time defending league champion.

John is also the two-time defending league champion in the 60m hurdles, and on Sunday she set a DakotaDome record of 8.56 seconds to claim a spot in Monday's final. She'll be joined by Twila Moser, who had the seventh-fastest qualifying time.

Senior Katie Johnson entered the meet ranked No. 6 in the league in the weight throw, but registered a personal-best toss of 55-05.00 (16.89m) to take fourth place. She now ranks No. 8 on the NDSU all-time list in the event.

Redshirt freshman Brecca Wahlund placed fourth in the 3,000m in 10:03.09, and junior Heidi Peterson was sixth in 10:04.62. Goodman claimed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 18-03.25 (5.57m), and Katie Dockter took seventh place.

There were very few surprises when it came to the Bison qualifying through preliminary rounds to Monday's finals in the running events. There are three events in which NDSU sent three athletes to the finals - the 200m, 400m and 800m.

Goodman set a Summit League Championships record of 24.47 seconds in the 200m prelims, and junior Ashley Tingelstad and senior Brittany Page both advanced as well. Tingelstad, Page, and Kitching all won prelim heats in the 400m to qualify for Monday's final, and Stratioti, Kruchowski and Teschuk all moved on the 800m final.

The Summit League Indoor Championships will resume with the heptathlon 60m hurdles at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. Field events begin at 11:30 a.m. with the women's triple jump, and running events kick off at 1:00 p.m.