NCAA Championship Day 1 Headlines ...

Here's a quick update on what took place on Friday on the tracks and in the infields of the NCAA Indoor Championships ...

Division I ...

U of M junior Aaron Studt finished runner-up in the shot put with a career-best throw of 63-6 1/4. The Gopher have a recap of the event HERE. Studt had entered the meet as the #7 seed with a career-best of 62-11 1/4.

Heather Dorniden and Laura Hermanson both advanced to what should be a delicious women's 800m final. The Gophers' Dorniden won the third qualifying heat in 2:05.57. NDSU's Hermanson was runner-up in the first heat in 2:04.44.

The Gopher women's DMR of Dorniden, Julie Schwengler, Jamie Cheever, and Gabriele Anderson finished 12th. Dorniden split 3:26.43 for the 1200m leg, Schwengler ran 55.10 for the 400m, Cheever sped 2:09.79 for 800m, and Anderson brought the baton home with a 4:55.10 1600m leg.

Quinn Evans clocked a 47.90 400m split in the DMR, but his Wisconsin Badger team placed second-to-last in 17th place.

Division II ...

Katelin Rains of MSU-Mankato won her third-straight D2 indoor pole vault title with a clearance of 13-9 1/4. Rains, who had competed in the long jump earlier in the day -- where she finished 9th -- had misses at every height she attempted on the way to the winning clearance.

MSU-Moorhead's Jennifer Hensel, the D2 outdoor pole vault champ, finished 3rd with 12-9 1/2. Rains' teammate Lauren Stelten was 6th with 12-1 1/2.

The #1-ranked Mankato women's team was in 4th place with 13 points after the first day of competition. Ashland University of Ohio led with 29 points.

The University of Minnesota-Duluth's Liz Palkie, Kristen Haak, Alyssa Wendt, and Morgan Place finished 3rd in the women's DMR in 11:55.86.

Earlier, Palkie had advanced as the #7 qualifier in the 800m running 2:12.97.

Kelvin Rodgers of Mankato finished 4th in the long jump in 24-0 1/4.

Winona State sophomore Rebecca Stier finished 4th in the weight throw with 58-3 3/4.

Denise Mokaya, the #1 seed in the men's 800m, did not advance to finals after finishing last in his prelim heat in 1:56.81.

Kawaskii Bacon of Concordia (St. Paul), the #2 seed in the men's 60m, did not advance to finals running 6.85 for 5th in his prelim.

Brittany Henderson of Mankato advanced to finals in both the 60m and 200m dashes. She was the #4 qualilfier in the 60m at 7.46 and the #7 advancer in the 200m with 24.89.

Division III ...

The University of St. Thomas team of Erin Sprangers, Nikki Arola, Kelly Russ, Katie Theisen finished runner-up in the DMR in 11:46.96.

St. Scholastica freshman Wendell Booth finished 4th in the long jump with a leap of 23-2.

Gustavus Adolphus junior Kaelene Lundstrum finished 5th in the pentathlon with 3366 points. Concordia (Moorhead) junior Leah Kay was 8th with 3195.

The #1-seeded St. Thomas men's DMR, running without stars Brian Sames and Patrick Jager, finished 6th in 10:05.23 with a team of Kyle Brandon, Joe DeFrance, Mike Hutton, Matt Boumeester.

Defending D3 women's indoor mile champ Marie Borner of Bethel University won her prelim heat in the event in 5:01.14. Borner is the #2-seed in the event.

St. Thomas' Brian Sames, the #3-seed entering the meet, advanced to the 800m final as the fastest qualifier in 1:53.70.

Tommie teammate Patrick Jager advanced to the 400m finals as the 3rd-fastest qualifier in 49.00.

Gustavus Adolphus College's Tyler Geyen advanced as the #4 qualifier in the 60m hurdles with a 7.54 clocking.

Hamline University cross country all-American Brandon Gleason did not advance to the final of the mile, running 4:14.18 for 6th in his heat.


Find full Day 1 results and links to live Saturday results for all three NCAA Championships in the Short-Cut post below ...