Orgon Wins Weight Throw to Lead Bison at Iowa State

AMES, Iowa - North Dakota State senior Casey Orgon claimed the title in the weight throw to lead the Bison men's track & field team at Saturday's Bill Bergan Invitational hosted by Iowa State inside the Lied Recreation Center. Orgon, ranked 18th in the nation in the event entering this weekend, posted a winning toss of 61-02.00 (18.64m).

Saturday marked the third time this season that Orgon topped the 60-foot mark in the weight throw. The senior from Bemidji, Minn., also had a potential personal-best throw of 64-plus feet land outside the throwing sector.

Redshirt freshman Brandt Berghuis, junior Trevor Berner and senior Blake Elsen also had success in the throwers' ring on Saturday. Berghuis recorded a personal best of 52-10.75 (16.12m) in the shot put, putting him at No. 3 in The Summit League this year.

Berner threw a personal-best 59-01.50 (18.02m) in the weight throw to move up to No. 4 all-time at NDSU and take fifth place at the meet. Elsen was seventh in the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 57-10.25 (17.63m).

Senior Matt Tetzlaff placed fourth in a fast 60m hurdles final with a time of 8.01 seconds for a new season-best that leads The Summit League by a quarter-second. Summit League leader Jerome Begin ran 49.52 in the 400m for 13th place.

Alec Espeland was NDSU's top finisher in the mile at 4:16.16 - a three-second personal best - for 14th place. Espeland followed up with a time of 1:55.06 in the 800m for 11th place.

Lucas DeGree recorded the fastest 3,000m time by a Bison this season, clocking in at 8:45.95.

Freshman Colin Paarmann took fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 43-04.25 (13.21m).

Multi-event athlete Andy Lillejord cleared 16-00.75 (4.90m) for fifth place in the pole vault and jumped 22-02.50 (6.77m) for seventh place in the long jump. Jesse Morrow was sixth in the pole vault with a mark of 15-07.00 (4.75m).

North Dakota State will host the Thundering Herd Classic in the Shelly Ellig Indoor Track & Field Facility on Feb. 1-2.