PITTSBURG, Kan. -- March 8, 2019 -- Both Chadron State College qualifiers at the NCAA Division II National Indoor Track and Field Meet at Pittsburg, Kansas, excelled Friday afternoon.

Sophomore Isaac Grimes of Merino Valley, Calif., won the long jump by going 25 feet, 8 ¾ inches (7.84 meters) on his last jump and junior Ashton Hallsted finished fifth in the weight throw with a career-best mark of 66 feet, 5 inches (20.24 meters).

"They had a great day," said CSC Coach Riley Northrup. "Everything clicked for both of them.  All of us are really happy."

Both of the Eagles would have placed among the top eight on any of their six performances.

Grimes, who was at the top of the long jump list entering the meet, led off with a jump of 24-10, but said he launched the attempt from well behind the board.  All of his remaining jumps were at least 25 feet and would have earned at least fifth place.

He hit 25-5 ½ on his third jump, moving him into third place in the preliminaries behind Ryan Brown and Kizan David, both of Lincoln University in Missouri.  Their prelim marks were 25-6 ¾ and 25-6 ¼, respectively. 

Moving into the finals, Grimes went 25-2 ½ and 25-4 before uncorking his winning jump of 25-8 ¾.

"I told him he was doing great," Northrup said. "He was running fast and jumping well. I kept encouraging him and his last jump was the one he needed."

Grimes said "everything came together" on his final attempt.

"I kind of surprised myself," he noted. "But I started getting the jumps that I wanted and became more confident."

David also had his best jump of 25-6 ¾ on his final attempt to finish second. Brown was third with that same mark from the preliminaries.  Lawrence Russell Jr. of Barton College in North Carolina was fourth at 25-2 ¾. No one else reached 25 feet.

Grimes, who jumped just twice at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship because of hamstring problem but still won the event at 25 feet even, said his leg felt fine Friday and he will also compete in the triple jump Saturday. 

He finished fifth in the long jump at last year's Nationals by going 24-6 ½.

Hallsted said she was "really happy" with her weight throws.  Her top mark of 66-5 was a foot and 8 ½ inches farther than her previous career best.  It came on her first attempt in the finals. She also hit 65-8 ¼ on her last throw in the finals.

"This was my best series of the season," Hallsted noted.  "It was very competitive. A lot of us threw our best today."

The weight throw winner was Bobby Goodwin, a junior from Grand Valley State in Michigan at 68-1.  Her previous best was 64- 1¼.

Two seniors from the University of Indianapolis placed second and third. Hilary Paxson hit 67-4 ¼ and Katie Monk threw 67-3 ¼. Monk was first and Paxson second on the pre-meet list at 67-5 ½ and 66-8 ¾.

Fourth place Friday went to Natalie Helenthal of Ashland University of Ohio at 66-10 ½, a foot and a half farther than her previous best. She placed third in the weight throw at last year's championships at 63-11 ¾.

Rachel Somoye of Texas A&M-Kingsville was sixth this year with a mark of 65-9 ½ after placing fifth last year at 63-1 ½.

Northrup said he was elated by how well Hallsted threw.

"It's terrific anytime an athlete has her top three marks of the season at the national meet," the coach said.  "That's what Ashton did today."