GOLDEN, Colo. -- January 28, 2017 -- Chadron State College track and field athletes won four firsts, three thirds and a fourth Friday and Saturday at the Colorado Mines Division II Invitational Track and Field Meet in Golden. 

Just seven Eagles competed and each of them placed in at least one event. The competition included a half dozen Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams along with Azusa Pacific from California, the University of Sioux Falls and Eastern New Mexico.

CSC senior Mel Herl of Eaton, Colo., won both the shot put and 20-pound weight throw by big margins.  She threw the shot 46 feet, 4 ½ inches, nearly 3 ½ feet farther than the runner-up, and hit 69-11 in the weight throw to win that event by nearly 11 feet. 

Another Chadron State veteran, Tessa Gorsuch of Rapid City, continued her comeback from the injury that sidelined her last season. She won the 60-meter high hurdles in 8.64 seconds, just 13 hundredths of a second slower than the school record she set two years ago.

The third CSC women who competed, sophomore Maddie Brashears of Fort Morgan, Colo., was fourth in the long jump at 18-5 ¾.

In the men's action, junior Jesse Bleidt, a graduate of Garden County High School at Oshkosh, won the 35-pound weight throw for the fourth time in five meets this season.  His winning throw measured 58 feet, one-half inch.  He's thrown more than 59 feet twice this winter.

Another CSC junior, Blake Jacobs, a graduate of Thunder Ridge High in Littleton, Colo., was second in the shot put at 52-6 ¾ and third in the weight throw at 54-6 ½.

In addition, Andre Woodson of Elk Grove, Calif., placed third in the 60-meter dash in 6.93 seconds.

The Eagles also got an encouraging performance from sophomore Greg Peterson, who finished third among the nine entries in the heptathlon. Peterson scored 4,516 points, exactly 500 more than his best of a year ago.

Also from Thunder Ridge High, Peterson did especially well Friday, when he had the best mark (38-7) in the shot put and was second in both the long jump (21-4 ¾) and the 60 meters (7.17 seconds.)  He also cleared 12-5 ½ in the pole vault, about 20 inches higher than his best mark last year.

Women's Results
                60-meter hurdles—1, Tessa Gorsuch, 8.64.
                Shot put—1, Mel Herl, 46-4 ¼.
                20-pound weight throw—1, Mel Herl, 69-11.
                Long jump—4, Maddie Brashears, 18-5 ¾.
Men's Results
                60-meter dash—3, Andre Woodson, 6.93
                Shot put—2, Blake Jacobs, 52-6 ¾.
                35-pound weight throw—1, Jesse Bleidt, 58- ½; 3, Blake Jacobs, 54-6 ½.
                Heptathlon—3, Greg Peterson, 4,516 points.