SEATTLE -- February 11, 2017 -- Chadron State College seniors Mel Herl and Stachia Reuwsaat won their primary events Saturday during the Husky Classic at the University of Washington in Seattle.  In addition, teammate, Tessa Gorsuch, tied for fifth in the 60-meter high hurdles.

The three Eagles were competing against many of the elite athletes from the PAC-12 Conference and other Division I schools on the West Coast as well as athletes who have turned professional after concluding their collegiate eligibility.

Herl won the 20-pound weight throw with a heave of 70 feet, 9 ¾ inches.  It was her seventh consecutive victory and the fifth time she has exceeded 70 feet this season. Her best of 71-10 leads NCAA Division II and just two women from Division I have longer throws this winter.

The runner-up in the weight throw Saturday was Destiny Parker of the University of California at 66-3 ¾. Valarie Allman of Stanford was third at 63-11 ¾

Despite being bothered by a knee injury, Reuwsaat won the Husky Classic long jump by going 19-3 ½.  She has a season best of 19-11 and a career best of 21-1 ¼. She won the NCAA Division II indoor long jump championship a year ago with a leap of 20-4 ½.

A member of the University of Washington team, Kennadi Bouyer, was second in the long jump Saturday at 19 feet even.

Gorsuch ran the finals of the high hurdles in 8.74 seconds.  Her fastest time this season is 8.53 seconds, just two one-hundreds of a second off her school record in the event.  Courtney Robinson of Cal State-Northridge won the highs Saturday in 8.45 seconds.

While the three women were competing in Seattle this weekend, the remainder of the Chadron State track and field athletes were at the mammoth South Dakota State University Indoor Classic at Brookings, where more than 100 athletes were in some of the events.

Several of the Eagles' best performances at SDSU were in the throws.

Blake Jacobs was third among 68 entries in the shot put with a mark of 53-2 ¾, while Cory Martens was ninth at 52-1 and David Aldridge 11th at 51-1 ¾.  In addition, Jesse Bleidt was sixth among the 56 men in the 35-pound weight throw with a career-best mark of 59-7 ¾. Martens was 14th at 55 ¾ and Jacobs was 16th at 54- 3 ¾.

In the women's weight throw, the Eagles' Ashlyn Hanson was fifth with a toss of 58-4 ½, her career-best by 11 inches.  Just three Chadron State women, including Herl, have ever had a better mark.

Highlights on the track at South Dakota State included Alisha Heelan's 400-meter time of 57.96 seconds, the fourth best by a CSC woman all-time.  She was 12th among the 104 entries.