HOUSTON, Texas – Junior Kristi Dahlheimer secured a first place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday as the track and field teams participated in day two of the Great West Conference Outdoor Championships.

The Fighting Sioux women remained in fourth place Friday evening while the UND men are in sixth place heading into the final day of competition.

Dahlheimer (Anoka, Minn.) clinched the event title in a winning time of 11:46.81, over six seconds faster than runner-up Mandy Gefroh (Sr., Bismarck, N.D.), who captured second place in a time of 11:53.21 while Katherine Enabnit (Fr., Carmichael, Calif.) finished fifth (12:25.67).

Senior Jay Schroeder (Cavalier, N.D.) pulled in a third place finish in the men’s pole vault with his leap of 4.60 meters. Eric Johnson (Sr., Chaska, Minn.) finished eighth in the event while Cal Nauman (Fr., Billings, Mont.) took ninth place.

Sarah Fegley (So., Berthhold, N.D.) earned the UND women’s top spot in the long jump with her eighth place finish of 5.30 meters. Sara Carpenter (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) took 16th in the event (5.03 meters) while Mikaela Hirst (Fr., Bismarck, N.D.) finished 19th (4.73 meters).

For the UND men, it was Nicholas Wilkens (Jr., Bismarck, N.D.) leading the way with his sixth place finish in the event with a jump of 6.53 meters.

Newcomer Ashley Gierke’s (Fr., Valley City, N.D.) first throw of 32.33 meters in the javelin secured a sixth place finish in the event, while Brooke Biederstedt (Fr., Dickinson, N.D.) finished ninth in the shot put with a throw of 11.29 meters.

Travis Schultz (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) threw his way to a fifth place finish in the shot put with a throw of 14.13 meters while Dan Sjarpe (Fr., Lanesboro, Minn.) finished ninth (12.73 meters).

Rusty Kjos (Sr., Kenmare, N.D.) pulled in an 18th place finish in the javelin with his throw of 27.46 meters.

Qualifying Friday for event finals to be held on Saturday were Jessica Clausnitzer (Sr., Bismarck, N.D.) and Jessica Butler (So., Grand Rapids, Minn.) in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. For the UND men, Chris Stoks (Fr., Virginia, Minn.) and Mark Barclay (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) advanced to the 400-meter dash finals while Matt Elbert (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) will compete in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday.

The meet, which is being held at the Rice University Track and Field Stadium in Houston, Texas, features seven participating teams: Chicago State, North Dakota, University of Texas-Pan America, Utah Valley, Houston Baptist University, New Jersey Institute of Technology and South Dakota.

The competition will resume Saturday with the event finals for the women’s high jump, men’s triple jump and men’s discus throw set to begin at 4:30 p.m.

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Women – Team Rankings – Through Day Two

1. Utah Valley                            95

2. South Dakota                         80

3. Texas-Pan American              56

4. North Dakota                        34

5. New Jersey Tech.                   3

5. Chicago State                        3

7. Houston Baptist                     2

Men – Team Rankings – Through Day Two

1. South Dakota                         98.50

2. Utah Valley                            76.50

3. Houston Baptist                     46

4. Texas-Pan American              27

5. New Jersey Tech.                   25

6. North Dakota                        22

7. Chicago State                        14