CHADRON, Neb. -- February 24, 2021 -- Members of the young Chadron State College track and field team continued to improve their marks last Friday and Saturday at the Stinger Open Meet hosted by Black Hills State in Spearfish.

Six men and four women had at least season-best marks. Many of the highlights were in the jumps, where even Coach Riley Northrup got involved.

The CSC men swept the jumps to be sure.  On Friday, freshmen Morgan Fawver of McCook and Emory Yoosook of Casper finished one-two among 20 contestants in the long jump with career-bests.  Fawver went 23-1 ¾ to take top honors and Yoosook was second at 22-2 ¼.  Their previous bests were 22-11 ¼ and 21-6 ¼. 

On Saturday, sophomore Naishaun Jernigan of Smithfield, Mass., won the triple jump at 47-9 ¾ and junior Joss Linse of Plattsmouth was the runner-up at 47-3 ¾. Jernigan reached 49-3 while placing second in the triple jump at last year's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships, while Linse's latest mark is a smidgen farther than of his previous best and improved his season-best jump by 16 inches.

The high jump is where things got interesting.  Northrup, who cleared 6-10 ½ as a student-athlete at CSC in 2007 and after that went seven feet or higher at least 20 times, decided he'd take a more active role in trying to get Joe Dumsa of Sandy, Utah, and Alec Penfield of Lusk "over the hump," so to speak.

Both had gone 6-4 a couple of times this season, but hadn't quite lived up to their coach's expectations. So Northrup became an athlete for the first time in five year and also entered the high jump since it was an open meet, thinking it might inspire his protégés to see their coach compete.

Northup wound up winning the event by going 6-5.  A bit later, both Dumsa and Penfield also cleared that height, but their coach beat them because he had fewer misses. 

The big thing was, they had done better than before and Northrup hopes they continue to go higher and higher this winter and spring.

In the women's action, freshman Hannah Christie of Alpine, Wyo., placed second in the 60 meters in 8.10 seconds, had a best of 16- ¼ in the long jump and won the high jump at 5-1 while getting ready to compete in the pentathlon this weekend during the RMAC Championships that also will take place at Black Hills State.

Sophomore throwers Becca Monahan of Cheyenne and Courtney Smith of Rock Springs, Wyo., both improved their season bests in the shot put and weight throw, respectively, by about two feet and freshman Tukker Romey of Gering ran the mile four seconds faster than before. 

Northrup is eager to see how the Eagles will fare at the conference showdown, while begins at noon Friday and continue through mid-afternoon Sunday.  The Chadron State team will be without last year's Male Athlete of the Meet Brodie Roden of Riverton, Wyo., because of the pulled hamstring he sustained on Feb. 13 at the Yellow Jacket Open in Spearfish.

Northrup said the injury isn't severe and Roden should be ready to go again when the outdoor schedule opens in late March, but the Eagles will definitely miss his points this weekend.  He won both the 200 and 400 meters, set the RMAC record in the latter event and helped the 4x400 relay team place third a year ago.

The conference's leader board going into this weekend's meet has Roden first in the 400 with an altitude-converted time of 48.41 seconds and the relay team's time of 3:17.70 is four seconds faster than the team in second place.

The Eagles have other excellent 400 runners and still expect to be competitive in both the individual race and the relay. .

Most of the CSC men's points are expected to come in the jumps and sprints. Fawver's time of 6.82 seconds leads the 60-meter dash and he ranks fifth in the long jump.  Jernigan is tied for second through fourth in the latter event with a best of 23-8 and he's also second on the triple jump chart at 48-4.

Northrup also expects junior Julianne Thomson of Custer and Christie to be at least top five contenders in the pentathlon, which is comprised of five events.

The Eagles' placings and marks at the Stinger Open follow:  
Men's Results
                3000--5, Jesse Jaramillo, 9:07.73.
                Shot put--7, Reid Spady, 45-9.
                Weight throw--5. Dan Reynolds, 51-7; 8, Shane Collins, 50-5 ½.
                Long jump--1, Morgan Fawver, 23-1 ¾; 2, Emory Yoosook, 22-2 ¼.
                Triple jump--1, Naishaun Jernigan, 47-9 ¾; 2, Josh Linse, 47-3 ¾; 6, Brock Voth, 42-4 ¼.
                High jump--1, Riley Northrup, unattached, 6-5; 2, Joe Dumsa, 6-5; 4, Alec Penfield, 6-
 
Women's Results
                60 meters--2, Hannah Christie, 8.10.
                Mile--7, Tukker Romey, 5:30.55.
                Shot put--8, Becca Monahan, 38-9. 
                Weight throw--5, Courtney Smith, 51-10 ½.  
                Long jump--5, Hannah Christie, 16- ¼.
                High jump--1, Hannah Christie, 5-1.