Mankato, Minn. --- The #14 Minnesota State men's indoor track & field team is off to a fast start after six of 19 events are completed at the end of the first day of the 2023 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships by holding a commanding lead with 74 points already earned.  Wayne State stands in second with 28 points. 
 
Junior James Gilbert broke one Minnesota State's longest-lasting records with his second leap in the long jump as he soared for a mark of 7.87 m (25' 10"), bettering Ed Stuart's distance of 25' 8.75" in the 1982 North Central Conference Championships.  Gilbert also extended his Myers Field House record with the effort, which easily was good enough to win the NSIC title. 
 
In addition to Gilbert, three other Mavericks also reached the podium in the long jump, with junior Naishaun Jernigan taking third with a mark of 7.40 m (24' 3.5"), which is tied for the seventh-best mark in MSU history.  Junior Slade Heald's sixth and final jump was deemed to be fair and he was also credited with a mark of 7.40 m (24' 3.5"), although he finished in fourth due to tiebreaking procedures.  Freshman Camden Combs finished in seventh with a mark of 7.01 m (23' 0").
 
MSU junior Carter Aguilera captured the weight throw title in thrilling fashion.  Entering his sixth and final throw, he found himself in second place before unleashing a career-best throw of 19.14 m (62' 9.50").  Aguilera needed every millimeter of space on that throw as Concordia-St. Paul's Eben Mundfrom closed out the competition with an effort of 19.13 m (62' 9.25"), narrowly taking runner-up honors.  Maverick sophomore Thomas Spoehr (18.08 m; 59' 4") and junior Tommy Kucera (17.70 m; 58' 1") earned podium honors as well by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. 
 
In another thriller, sophomore Aiden Buendorf had to go to a jump-off against Wayne State's Dylan Kneifl to determine the individual champion in the high jump.  After Buendorf and Kneifl matched each other throughout the competition, including exiting at 2.07 m (6' 9.5"), the duo had to return to that height for the tiebreaker.  Buendorf went first and cleared it on his first attempt, and after Kneifl failed to clear, Buendorf had his NSIC title.
 
Two other Mavericks reached the podium along with Buendorf, with senior Caleb Cowles and freshman Jory Peters both exiting at 1.90 m (6' 2.75"), but due to tiebreaker guidelines, Cowles took seventh and Peters eighth.
 
Minnesota State had three of the top four finishers in the pole vault, with junior Carson Dittel collecting the individual title after clearing 4.97 m (16' 3.5").  A pair of Mavericks exited at 4.77m (15' 7.75"), with sophomore Jedidah Hansen taking third and sophomore Alex Berg taking fourth due to tiebreaking procedures. 
 
Freshman Braxton Stewart finds himself in fourth place after the first day of competition in the heptathlon with a total of 2,691 points, 379 points behind leader Jakob Tordsen of Concordia-St. Paul.  Stewart will complete the final three events in the heptathlon tomorrow.
 
In preliminary action, MSU will send three individuals through to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles tomorrow as junior Abel Christiansen (8.14), junior Renald Pierre (8.19) and senior Justus Adams (8.24) all qualified. 
 
The Mavericks will have half of the field in the finals of the 400-meter dash tomorrow as senior Rashion Walker (48.85), freshman Qai Hussey (48.98), sophomore Junior Pontes Da Veiga (49.17), and sophomore Marvin Dure (49.69) all made it through preliminary qualifications. 
 
Senior Ben Schmied will have an opportunity to defend his title in the 600-meter run tomorrow as he qualified with a time of 1:22.03 along with freshman Maquanet Collins (1:24.44) in the prelims.  Junior Tanner Maier coasted to a win in his heat of the 800-meter prelims, with his time of 1:58.15 good enough to advance him to the finals tomorrow.
 
A whopping five Mavericks qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash tomorrow, led by sophomore Ezekiel Clark's time of 6.80.  Also making the finals tomorrow are sophomore Steven Marks (6.81), redshirt freshman Trey Vaval (6.87), junior Armando Colome (6.95), and junior Nicholas Sharma (6.96). 
 
Similar to the 400-meter dash, half of the field of the 200-meter dash will be comprised of MSU participants, with senior Kenry Atubel posting the best preliminary time at 22.07.  Joining Atubel will be Marks (22.10), Colome (22.21), and Hussey (22.23). 
 
Minnesota State will conclude the 2023 NSIC Indoor Track & Field Championships tomorrow, with action beginning at 9:00 a.m. in Myers Field House.
 

Place	Team	Points
1	#14 MINNESOTA STATE	74
2	Wayne State	28
3	Northern State	26
4	Concordia-St. Paul	23
5	MSU Moorhead	21
6	Augustana	18
7	Minnesota Duluth	15
8	Sioux Falls	14
9	Mary	11
T-10	Minot State	2
T10	Southwest Minnesota State	2
12	Upper Iowa	0