VCSU T&F: Vikings Win 11 Events; VCSU Men Win Team Title

(VCSU) MORRIS, MINN. – Valley City State University athletes won 11 events, and the Viking men won the team title Saturday at the Minnesota-Morris Cougar Invite.

VCSU's men won nine out of the 18 events as they racked up 167 team points, defeating four NCAA Division III schools to win the team title. The Viking women scored 108 points, placing third out of six teams. Bemidji State won the women's title with 214 points.

Individually, the Viking men and women won 11 different events and had nine secondplace finishes Saturday at their second outdoor meet of the season.

Complete Results

Wesley Koetz (100 meters), Cody Fuchs (400 meters) and Clay Kummer (110 hurdles) won victories in the men's sprinting events. The trio also teamed up with Cody Jundt to win the 4x100 relay in a time of 45.06 seconds. Fuchs finished the 400 meters in career-best 50.61 seconds which ranked him second in the North Star Athletic Association.

In the field events, Hayden Thingvold won the men's pole vault and Garrett Ward took first in long jump. The Vikings throwers dominated the top spots Saturday with seven first or second-place finishes. Zachary Co and Colby Mendiola placed first and second in both the shot put and discus. Kyle Odegard and Alex Otto went 1-2 in the javelin, and Co placed second in hammer throw.

Odegard improved upon his national-qualifying mark from last week with a season-best javelin throw of 59.49 meters Saturday. He is currently ranked third in the NAIA.

Valley City State's women had two individual champions. Brooke Malsom won the long jump with a mark of 5.02 meters. The Vikings went 1-2 in the 5000 meters as Jasmine Barnes took first place in 20:14 and Allyssa Weitkum finished 15 seconds back to place second.

Malsom now ranks second in the NSAA. Ashanti Guertin also moved into second in the NSAA rankings with a career-best time of 1:02.04 in the 400 meters on Saturday.

Up next: Valley City State will compete at another Minnesota-Morris Cougar Invite on Saturday, April 10.

Minnesota-Morris Cougar Invite #1

Team Scores

Men: 1. Valley City State, 167; 2. Bethany Lutheran, 124; 3. Minnesota-Morris, 105; 4. Martin Luther, 48; 5. North Central (Minn.), 20

Women: 1. Bemidji State, 214; 2. MinnesotaMorris, 139.5; 3. Valley City State, 108; 4. Bethany Lutheran, 51; 5. North Central (Minn.), 37; 6. Martin Luther, 25

VCSU Men - Top 4 Finishers

100 Meters: 1. Wesley Koetz, 12.05

200 Meters: 3. Wesley Koetz, 25.15

400 Meters: 1. Cody Fuchs, 50.61

5000 Meters: 3. Jayden Wheeling, 17:08.40

110 Hurdles: 1. Clay Kummer, 16.42; 3. Hayden Thingvold, 18.70

4x100 Relay: 1. VCSU, 45.06 (Kummer, Koetz, Jundt, Fuchs)

4x400 Relay: 2. VCSU, 3:45.45 (Kummer, Jundt, Fuchs, Femling)

High Jump: 2. Alex Otto, 1.90 meters

Pole Vault: 1. Hayden Thingvold, 3.04 meters

Long Jump: 1. Garrett Ward, 5.85 meters

Shot Put: 1. Zachary Co, 16.50 meters; 2. Colby Mendiola, 14.43 meters; 4. Taylon Sad, 13.45 meters

Discus: 1. Zachary Co, 45.00 meters; 2. Colby Mendiola, 39.13 meters; 4. Garrett Ward, 35.72 meters

Hammer Throw: 2. Zachary Co, 46.98 meters

Javelin: 1. Kyle Odegard, 59.49 meters; 2. Alex Otto, 50.58 meters

VCSU Women Top 4 Finishers

200 Meters: 4. Ashanti Guertin, 27.67

400 Meters: 3. Ashanti Guertin, 1:02.04

5000 Meters: 1. Jasmine Barnes, 20:14.05; 2. Allyssa Weitkum, 20:29.56

100 Hurdles: 2. Taylor Sargent, 16.03

4x100 Relay: 2. VCSU, 51.49 (Malsom, Guertin, Sargent, Harris)

Long Jump: 1. Brooke Malsom, 5.02 meters

Shot Put: 3. Hannah Gordon, 12.21 meters

Hammer Throw: 4. Hannah Gordon, 38.40 meters

Javelin: 3. Peyton Halverson, 36.92 meters