BROOKINGS, S.D. -- February 15, 2020 -- Chadron State College's young track and field team continued to show plenty of promise Saturday at the huge South Dakota State Indoor Classic in Brookings on Saturday.

With at least 26 teams in the competition, the CSC men finished fifth in the team standings and had 11 career-best marks. The women's team posted six career-bests.

"We had a really solid meet," Coach Riley Northrup said. "We competed well in a big meet and continued to show that we have a bright future. Once again, our freshmen and sophomores, who make up most of the team, really came through for us."

The Eagles' senior leader, Javan Lanier, who had excelled in both the 60-meter dash and the long jump this winter, was 11th in the 60-meter preliminaries in 7.04 seconds, but did not long jump as a precautionary measure to protect a sore knee.

Although other Eagles also had outstanding performances, sophomore Brodie Roden of Riverton, Wyo., again blazed the trail. He broke the Chadron State record in the 200 meters and posted CSC's second fastest time ever in the 400 meters.

Roden ran the 200 in 21.59 seconds, eclipsing the 21.76-second mark set by all-time great Joel Duffield at the NCAA II National Indoor Championships in Boston in 2006. The new record is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark and near to making the 2020 Division II indoor field.

Roden's 400 time Saturday, which also comes into NCAA qualifying range, was 48.13 seconds. Only Duffield ever ran faster for the Eagles. The former record also occurred during the Morrill native's senior year in 2006, when he initially set the RMAC record of 48.40 seconds and then won the silver medal at nationals in 47.22 seconds two weeks later. Roden's time Saturday slips in between those two marks as CSC's all-time bests.

Roden finished fourth in the 200 and third in the 400 in Brookings. Both races were won by entries from Iowa Central Community College. Courtney Lindsey won the 200 in 21.12 and Lee Eppie was the 400 winner in 47.60.

Seventy men entered the 200 and 61 ran the 400.

Chadron State had some other high placings Saturday, particularly in the men's jumps.

Freshmen Naishaun Jernigan of Springfield, Mass., was third in the long jump by going 22 feet, 11 ¾ inches and Chadron State entries captured four of the top eight places in the triple jump.

Another freshman, Derrick Nwagwu of Aurora, Colo., was the Eagles' triple jump leader by placing third with a career-best of 47-4 ½. Jernigan was fourth at 46-4 ½ and sophomores Brock Voth of
Berthoud, Colo., and Joss Linse of Plattsmouth, Neb, placed sixth and eighth, respectively, with marks of 45-04 and 45-2 ¼.

There were 53 long jumpers and 22 triple jumpers at the classic.

Sophomore Joe Dumsa of Sandy, Utah, shared seventh place by clearing 6-4 ¾ in the high jump.

Coach Northrup also was pleased that freshman Logan Moravac of Gering had season-best times of 2:00.12 in the 800 and 4:27.30 in the mile run. Another freshman, Garrett Avery of Sheridan, Wyo., ran the mile in 4:29.95, also his collegiate best.

In the women's action, both freshman Carlie Collier of Dunning and sophomore Celeste Cardona of Mitchell ran the 400 meters in under a minute for the first time and junior Madi Watson, also of Mitchell, chopped nearly 50 seconds off her previous best in the 5000 meters. Watson's time was 18:24.08.

The Eagles will enter the Stinger Open at Black Hills State this coming Saturday. It will be the final tune-up for the RMAC Championships on Feb. 28-29.