ABERDEEN, S.D. - The Bemidji State University men's track team got a jump start on the rest of the 2007 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships field Monday when three of its members finished in the top four in the heptathlon, the first team event of the championships, at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen, S.D.
Zac Preble led the group with an NSIC record 4,780 points while Tommy Crummy finished third and Michael Hougen took fourth.
Preble took home top honors winning three of the seven events highlighted by clearing a personal-best 6-2 in the high jump, recording the fastest time of his career in the 60-meter hurdles, 8.70, and out distancing the rest of the field in the shot put by 12 feet seven-inches at 47-10.
Preble's 4,780 breaks the NSIC's previous standard held by Jesse Heinz of Northern State who scored 4,353 in the 2005 championship. The record-breaking score also set the BSU mark previously held by teammate Crummy.
Crummy finished 361 points back in third place with a total of 4,419. The senior also captured three first-place finishes in the two-day event. He earned the top spot in the pole vault with a height cleared of 14-5 1/4, took first in the long jump with a leap of 20-10 3/4 and was the first to break the tape in the 60-meter dash clocking a time of 7.31.
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Rounding out BSU's best overall heptathlon performance was Hougen who took fourth with a score of 4,196. The Bemidji native consistently posted solid events all weekend garnering second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.86 and was the first BSU participant to finish the 1,000-meter run crossing the finish line in a time of 3:07:53 -- good for third.
With 20 team points earned in the event, BSU heads into next weekend's NSIC Indoor track and Field Championships with a 12-point lead over its nearest competitor. The meet will take place at BSU's own Gillette Recreation/Fitness Center next weekend.
Bemidji State also had a trio of women participating in the pentathlon.
Nicole Friend was BSU's top finisher scoring 2,776 and landing just out of team point contention in seventh place while Rebecca Hougen was just two places back in ninth with a score of 2,735. Angela Miller recorded no height in the high jump and did not finish the event.
The Bemidji State track and field teams will be back in action this weekend (Feb. 17) as they travel to Collegeville, Minn. to compete in the St. John's Invitational.
2007 NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships
Heptathlon Final Results
1. Zac Preble, Bemidji State, 4,780
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2. Dan Fetzer, MSU Moorhead, 4,445
3. Tommy Crummy, Bemidji State, 4,419
4. Michael Hougen, Bemidji State, 4,196
5. Alex Kipp, Mary (N.D.), 3,914
6. Brady Lesner, Northern State, 3,836
7. Greg Schenevarum, Mary (N.D.), 3,630
8. Cody Bendickson, MSU Moorhead, 3,505
9. Tyler Williams, Northern State, 3,496 10. Cody Hageman, Northern State, 3,328 11. Tony Franzwa, MSU Moorhead, 3,164
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2007 NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships
Pentathlon Final Results
1. Ashley Roemer, MSU-Moorhead, 3,162
2. Jessica Devine, Winona State, 3,024
3. Jade Lipman, Wayne State, 2,950
4. Ambria Brantner, Mary (N.D.), 2,881
5. Brianna Perry, Mary (N.D.), 2,842
6. Ashley Grammens, Mary (N.D.), 2,841
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7. Nicole Friend, Bemidji State, 2,776
8. Laura Smith, Northern State, 2,746
9. Rebecca Hougen, Bemidji State, 2,735
10. Katie Flemming, MSU Moorhead, 2,636
11. Kaitlyn Jensen, Winona State, 2,612
12. Amy Oldenburg, Winona State, 2,582
13. Angela Miller, Bemidji State, 629
