Vermillion, S.D. – Minnesota State competed at the two-day Early Bird Invite hosted by the University of South Dakota, finishing with two champions and multiple personal best marks.
 
On Friday, freshman Anthony Collins set a new personal record with his time of 53.34 seconds in the 400m hurdles, placing first in the event and landing seventh on the MSU all-time top performances list. Freshman Paul Lins also ran a personal best in the 800m, placing sixth with a time of 1:54.81.
 
In the 3000m steeplechase, juniors Ray Ure and Adam Bohm placed in the top ten. Ure ran a 9:37.60 to place fifth, followed by Bohm in seventh with a time of 9:53.65.
 
Senior Carter Aguilera took second in the men's hammer throw, throwing for 55.32m (181' 06") and moving up to fourth on the MSU all-time top performances list. Just inches short of Aguilera was senior Joshua Beiswanger, placing third with a toss of 55.22m (181' 02") and ranking fifth on the MSU all-time list. Senior Liam Byrne also made the top ten at seventh, with a 53.65m (176') throw. Last in the event for the Mavericks, placing 13^th, was junior Zachery Shaner, with a throw of 50.18m (164' 07").
 
In the shot put, senior Steven Orzolek placed fourth with a heave of 16.45m (53' 11.75"). Taking sixth, sophomore Ben Wieser threw for 15.81m (51' 10.50"), followed by Byrne with a throw of 14.49m (47' 6.50") to finish in tenth.
 
On Saturday, after two days of events, sophomore Braxton Stewart took first in the decathlon with a personal best point total of 6388. Stewart took first in the long and high jumps, second in the pole vault and 1500m run, and tied for third in the shot put. This score ranks Stewart 11^th on the MSU all-time list and 15^th in the nation for the year.
 
Four Mavericks placed in the top 15 for the 100m dash, leading the group was junior D'Eric Smith, placing sixth with a time of 10.53s, with senior Nathan Sharma right behind in seventh (10.63s). Wind speed during both of these races was 4.7mph, above the national and MSU's allowed wind speed for rankings, the national record list mark is 2.0mph and 4.0mph for MSU record book. Freshman Edward Clark squeezed into the top ten with a time of 10.67s to place ninth. The final placer for the Mavericks was junior Armondo Colome at 15^th (10.82s).
 
In the 200m, sophomore Qai Hussey took fourth with a 22.09s dash. Junior Pontes Da Veiga, a junior from Massachusetts, ran a 22.58s to place ninth, with junior Marvin Dure finishing the race with a time of 22.63s to finish 14^th.
 
Junior Jalen McGee ran in the 110m hurdles, placing third with a time of 14.36 seconds. Crossing the line shortly after was senior Renald Pierre at 14.41 seconds, placing fifth in the event. Sophomore Owen Petersohn ran a 15s even to take seventh. Wind speed during each race was 4.7mph.
 
Pole vault was moved inside the DakotaDome due to unfavorable weather conditions with the high wind speeds. Freshman Colin Windorski led the Mavericks in the event, placing fourth with a vault of 4.86m (15' 11.25"). This height ties him in the national rankings at 26^th. Freshman Blake Wakeling also found the podium with a vault of 4.71m (15' 05.50") to tie for fifth. Clearing a height of 4.41m (14' 05.50), junior Jed Hansen tied for eighth in the event.
 
In the long jump, McGee placed fourth, jumping for 7.34m (24' 01") and finding his way onto the MSU all-time list at 11^th. Junior Slade Heald also competed, finishing fifth with a leap of 7.20m (23' 07.50").
 
Senior Onyekachi Ukaobasi jumped for 14.42m (47' 03.75") to take second in the triple jump.
 
For the last event, Aguilera placed third in the discus throw, with a throw of 49.39m (162').
 
The Mavericks travel to Long Beach, California this coming week, starting with the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate on April 11^th.