GOLDEN, Colo. – Chadron State's Courtney Williams made a statement two weeks before the RMAC championships by winning the men's decathlon at the Colorado School of Mines Midweek Track and Field Meet that ended Thursday afternoon while three CSC throwers also won events.

Williams placed in the upper half of all but one of the 10 events and scored 6,506 points. That ranks seventh on Chadron State's all-time decathlon points list and also puts him sixth in the NCAA Division II national decathlon standings. Williams's score is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark which makes him eligible for the NCAA tournament as long as it remains near the top of the national standings.

Ethan Norris, a Chadron State sophomore, finished in fourth place in the 12-man competition with 5,904 points. Two athletes from Colorado School of Mines, Nicholas Stade and Asa Keim, were second and third in final standings with 6,289 and 6,048 points, respectively. 

The women's heptathlon also concluded on Thursday, with Chadron State's Kailey Klein placing 10th with 3,636 points and Brenna Fackrell coming 12th with 3,150 points among a field of 15 competitors. 

Aside from the multi Shelby Ekwall (shot put), Ashlyn Tapio (discus) and Tavion Leatherdale (discus) were victorious in abbreviated throwing events on Thursday that featured only competitors from Chadron State and South Dakota Mines. 

Williams, a redshirt sophomore who hails from Jamaica, was competing in his first decathlon for Chadron State. He competed in multis for Olympic College, a junior college in Washington state, in 2023-24 and was on CSC's roster during 2024-25 but did not compete. In the heptathlon during the indoor season, Williams placed second in his initial competition and then was leading the RMAC Championships through four events before injuring himself on a hurdle and eventually not finishing the seven-event program.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Williams placed first in just one of the 10 individual events, but racked up points with consistency. Williams won the long jump, where he went 22 feet, 6.5 inches, then was second in both the 400 meters in 51.18 seconds and 110 hurdles in 15.08. Williams tied for second in the high jump at 6-2.75.

Williams finished third in the 100 meters, crossing in 11.4 seconds, and was third in the javelin, which he threw 146 feet-7 inches. In addition, he was fourth in both the shot put (39-9.75) and discus (125-1) and took sixth in the pole vault at 12-5.5. 

With the competition essentially in the bag as long as Williams finished the final event, the 1500, the Jamaican took his time circling the track and placed 10th, still ending with a winning margin of over 200 points.
   
This is Norris's second year of college track and he scored 216 more points this week than he earned while placing seventh in the decathlon at last year's RMAC Meet.
  
A native of Burns, Wyoming, Norris outscored Williams in the pole vault by clearing 13-1.5 and outraced Williams in the 1500, which he ran in 5:10.21, some 30 seconds faster than his teammate completed it.

Williams is now seventh in Chadron State history with his score of 6,506. He trails Brad Gamble (7,177 and 6,808 in 2011), Cory Shinkle (6,879 in 1990), Gregg Peterson (6,634 in 2018) and Danny Moore (6,628 in 1987 and 6,624 in 1988). Williams's point total is the highest in program history in a regular season meet, however, as CSC all marks above him were set at either the RMAC conference championships or the national championships of either Division II or NAIA.
 
In the throwing events held Thursday, Ekwall continued her winning ways in the shot put with a mark of 13.38 meters, or 43 feet, 10.75 inches. That was about five inches shy of her season best, but was her eighth victory in 2026 counting both indoor and outdoor meets. Teammate Ashlyn Tapio was the runner-up at 13.18m/43-3, and it was her season best by about 13 inches.

Tapio won the discus with a toss of 40.98m/134-5. She has a season best of 142-5, but her throw Thursday was plenty good enough to take the event win, as Tapio finished nearly 19 feet ahead of runner-up and teammate Kristie Jordan (36.22m/118-10).

In the men's action, the Eagles' Tavion Leatherdale sailed the discus 46.08 meters, or 151 feet, 2 inches, about 14 and a half feet farther than the runner-up from South Dakota Mines.

The Hardrockers' Kane Aberle won the shot put at 49-7.25. That was just three inches longer than CSC's Casey Miller's second place mark. Another Eagle, Quade Jordan, was third at 48-4. 

Some Chadron State competitors, primarily distance runners, will return to Colorado School of Mines on Saturday for the Kit Mayer Classic.