Wilhite, Powell Guide Minnesota State at Vance Butler Invitational

Sioux Falls, S.D. --- In a cold, breezy day, the Minnesota State men's track and field team sizzled in early April action.

Newcomer Richard Wilhite, Jr. (Minneapolis, Minn.) put in one of his better performances in the purple and gold as he captured a pair of first-place crowns. In the 100-meters, he topped three Mavericks with his time of 10.80. Jake Gourley (Eagan, Minn.) and Anthony Gustafson (Faribault, Minn.) followed in second and third with times of 10.94 and 10.98, respectively. Wilhite went at it again in the 200-meters with his provisional qualifying time of 21.39. Gustafson followed in second with his time of 21.74. For the 200-meters, Wilhite's effort puts three Mavericks in the top-ten nationally.

In the hurdle events, it was senior Slater Powell (Corvallis, Mont.) taking control. Powell finished first in the 110-meters with his time of 14.30. This marked as a provisional qualifying time and currently ranks him 10th in the nation. Ben Ojika (New Brighton, Minn.) followed in third at 14.60 and Zechariah Copeland (Brookfield, Wis) was in fifth. Powell would continue his day in the 400-meter hurdles finishing second with a final time of 56.08.

Freshman Javontee Brice (Bradenton, Fla.) finished the 400-meters in fifth with a time of 50.91. Matthew Stocker (Salon, Iowa)would grab another first-place title for MSU in the 800-meters with his posting of 1:58.10. Rounding out the running events was freshman Austin Pasch (Tomah, Wis) finishing third in the 3000-meter steeplechase with his time of 9:48.46.

Frank Veldman (Eagan, Minn.) kicked off the field events with his first-place posting in the high jump at 6'8.75". Senior Keyvan Rudd (Davenport, Iowa) was right behind in second with Ojika finishing fourth. Alex Campbell (Ellsworth, Wis.) and David Pearcill (Eagan, Minn.) would see similar success in the triple jump finishing second and third, respectively, with Campbell leading the way at 44'9.75".

A pair of Mavericks would round out the competitions finding success in the throwing events. Sam Udermann (Foley, Minn.) finished third in the discus with a toss of 153'1". Samuel McKay (Rhinelander, Wis.) would also finish third in the javelin with his heave of 183'10".

Full meet results may be viewed HERE.

Up next for Minnesota State is the Lee Krough Invitational hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., on April 11th.

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Players Mentioned

Ben Ojika: Sophomore; So.

Frank Veldman: Sophomore; So.

Richard Wilhite, Jr.: Freshman; Jr.

Zechariah Copeland: Freshman; Fr.

Austin Pasch: Freshman; Fr.

Jake Gourley: Freshman; Fr.

Sam Udermann: Freshman; Fr.

Players Mentioned

Ben Ojika
: Sophomore; So.

Frank Veldman
: Sophomore; So.

Richard Wilhite, Jr.
: Freshman; Jr.

Zechariah Copeland
: Freshman; Fr.

Austin Pasch
: Freshman; Fr.

Jake Gourley
: Freshman; Fr.

Sam Udermann
: Freshman; Fr.