Chadron State sophomore Hunter Dittbenner won the decathlon Monday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Colorado School of Mines, and two of his teammates also placed in the top 5, helping put the Eagles in the team lead through 6 men’s events.
Dittenbenner, from Mitchell, edged freshman Cameron Morley of Mines by just 4 points in the 10-event competition…5,911 to 5,907…with CSC sophomore Jazz Bozner of Rock Springs, Wyo, 3rd with 4,895.
The Eagles’ Sean Munger, a senior from Imperial, placed 5th with 5,769 while CSC senior Kelley Troester of Marsland just missed giving the Eagles 4 placers…ending 9th with 5,265.
Dittbenner had been close to the lead throughout the decathlon, but posted his lowest score of the competition in the javelin…the next-to-last event…and trailed Morley by 14 points going into the 1500. He needed to beat Morley by almost 3-seconds to win and did just that…finishing in 4:50.47 to Morley’s 4:53.45.
Dittbenner was tops in the long jump and had the second-fastest time in the 110-HH. Munger was best in the discus, and Bozner the best in the 1500 and tied for the second-best height in the high jump.
CSC also placed 3 in the men’s hammer, led by 3rd place finisher junior Charith Kapukotuwa at 157-8. Freshman Tanner Rein from Mitchell was 6th at an even 155’…his best by nearly 5’…and sophomore Kyle McCarthy of Aurora was 7th at 153-1…topping his previous best by over 11-feet.
Junior Brandon Segelke finished 2nd in his preliminary in the men’s 100 in 10.67, the 4th-fastest time of the day, while senior Trae Patch advanced to the women’s final in the 100 with the 7th-fastest time, 12.56.
Black Hills had placed 3 men as of 3:30. Mitch Kraft was 3rd in the 3,000 steeplechase, Jacob Johnson 4th in the discus, and Riley Meissner 6th in the decathlon. Marcel Gaines-Banister qualified for the finals in the men’s 100.
Through 6 events, the Eagles have 63 points…12 more than overwhelming pre-meet favorite Adams State. Black Hills was 5th with 20 points.
Junior Alyssa Norton placed 3rd in the women’s hammer with a toss of 156-3, about 3 feet less than her season best, but Western State’s Jennifer Swartwood blew away the field with a toss of 170-11 while Bailey Hoover of Colorado Mines was 2nd at 162-4.
CSC had two others just miss placing as freshman Mel Herl finished 9th and senior Cyndi Thomas 10th…Thomas landing just one counting throw.
Earlier, CSC senior Chelsey Murray of Highland, Michigan, finished 5th in the heptathlon with 4235 points. That was just 16 points out of 3rd and 430 behind winner Danisha Phillips of New Mexico Highlands. Phillips edged teammate Destiny Dillworth by 33 points.
Western State senior Barbara Szabo broke her own shared RMAC meet record in the women’s high jump, clearing 6-2…7-3/4″ higher than anyone else.
Trish Koch placed 7th in the heptathlon and tied for 6th in the high jump for the Black Hills State women
Through 5 women’s events, Western State led Adams State 64.5 to 46. Chadron State was 5th with 10 points and Black Hills 7th with 4.5.