SPEARFISH, S.D.--February 25, 2017 -- The Chadron State College women finished a strong third and the men were sixth, just nine points out of third place, in the final team standings at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

With Chadron State women posting season-best marks 14 times, they scored 106.5 points, just 2.5 points out of second place.  Adams State won the conference title with 130 points. Western State was the runner-up, followed by Chadron State and New Mexico Highlands, which tallied 100 points.

Adams State also won the men's championship with 158 points, 20 more than second place Western State.  Colorado Mines was third with 64 points, followed by Colorado-Colorado Springs, Colorado State-Pueblo and the Eagles.

Chadron State women won four events, two of them by senior Mel Herl.  She shattered the conference record by more than eight feet winning the weight throw with a heave of 71-6 ¼ on Friday, then hit 50-2 ½ on Saturday to become the first CSC female to exceed 50 feet in the event.

The other CSC conference champions are Rapid City seniors Stachia Reuwsaat, who repeated as the long jump champion by going 20-7 ¾ on Friday, and Tessa Gorsuch, who sped to victory in the 60-meter hurdles Saturday in 8.50 seconds.  Both marks are Young Center records at Black Hills State and Gorsuch's time also improves the Chadron State record she set in 2015 by one hundredth of a second.

Reuwsaat also was the runner-up in the 60-meter finals Saturday in 7.50 seconds and Gorsuch was sixth in the race. 

Chadron State coach Brad Gamble said all three seniors will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 10 and 11. 

The CSC women added two more medal winners Saturday. Sophomore Michelle Carbajal was the silver medalist by going 36-9 ¾ in the triple jump and junior Alisha Heelan earned the bronze medal in the 400 in 57.89 seconds.

Another junior, Ashlyn Hanson, also received the silver in the weight throw with her career-best mark of 59-2 ¾ on Friday. The Eagles earned 26 points in the weight throw with senior Keri Ruff and freshman Danielle Weyer placing fourth and sixth, respectively, both with career-best marks.

Ruff also placed eighth in the shot put.

Several sophomores besides Carbajal fared well for the CSC women. Maddie Brashears was fourth in the long jump, Haley Gallagher took fourth in the pole vault and seventh in the high jump, Chasidy Hortion was fourth in the pentathlon and seventh in the long jump and Cassie Johnson was eighth in both the 200 and 400 dashes.

The Lady Eagles also added a sixth in the 4x400 relay.

In the men's competition, four Eagles earned medals. Three of them are throwers, which provided 30 of CSC's 55 points.  Jessie Bleidt claimed the silver and Cory Martens the bronze in the weight throw and Blake Jacobs was third in the shot put.

Jacobs also was fourth in the weight throw and Martens was fifth in the shot put.  Frantzlee LaCrete added an eighth in the weight.

In addition, redshirt freshman Justin Leman earned the bronze medal in the 60-meter hurdles in addition to finishing fourth in the heptathlon.    

Other CSC men who placed were Andre Woodson, fourth in the 60 dash; freshman Javan Lanier, eighth in the same event; and three triple jumpers: Kahlil James finished fifth, Dez Smith sixth and Kharon Hall eighth.                        

A summary of the Eagles' placings follow:

Women's Events
               60—2, Stachia Reuwsaat, 7.50 (7.43 prelims, CSC and Young Center record); 6, Tessa Gorsuch, 7.69.
               200—8, Cassie Johnson, 26.15.
               400—3, Alisha Heelan, 57.89; 8, Cassie Johnson, 59.64.
               60 hurdles—1, Tessa Gorsuch, 8.50 (CSC and Young Center record).
               4x400 relay—6, Chadron State (Alisha Heelan, Cassie Johnson, Sierra Martinez, Alyssa Valko), 4:00.87.
               Shot put—1, Mel Herl, 50-2 ½; 8, Kerri Ruff, 39-3 ¼.
               20-pound weight throw—1, Mel Herl, 71-6 ¼ (RMAC and Young Center records); 2, Ashlyn Hanson, 59-2 ¾; 4, Keri Ruff, 55-4 ¾; 6, Danielle Weyer, 50-4.
               Long jump—1, Stachia Reuwsaat, 20-7 ¾ (Young Center record); 4, Maddie Brashears, 17-11 ¾; 7, Chasidy Horton, 17-2 ½.
               Triple jump—2, Michelle Carbajal, 36-9 ¾. 
               High jump—7, Haley Gallagher, 5-1 ¼.
               Pole vault—4, Haley Gallagher, 11-1 ½
               Pentathlon—4, Chasidy Horton, 3,147 points.
Men's Events
               60—4, Andre Woodson, 6.88; 8, Javan Lanier, 7.00 (prelims—6.88).
               60 hurdles—3, Justin Leman, 8.39.
               Shot put—3, Blake Jacobs, 53-3 ¾; 5, Cory Martens, 52-6 ½.
               35-pound weight throw—2, Jesse Bleidt, 57-10 ½; 3, Cory Martens, 56-8; 4, Blake Jacobs, 56-4 ½; 8, Frantzlee LaCrete, 52-10 ¾.
               Triple jump—5, Kahlil James, 46-5 ½; 6, Dez Smith, 46-4; 8, Kharon Hall, 45-5 ½.
               Heptathlon—4, Justin Leman, 4,596 points