The Chadron State men lead the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Colorado School of Mines going into the final day, thanks in part to a pair of individual champions.

Senior Cody Hunt successfully defended his title in the shot put, sophomore Hunter Dittbenner won the decathlon, and the Eagles placed 3 men in both those events as well as the hammer and triple jump. They have a 63-51 lead over pre-meet favorite Adams State after 6 events. Black Hills is 5th with 20 points.

Hunt’s winning toss of 60-9-1/4 was over 2′ shorter than his

winning distance last year, but still beat junior teammate Charith Kapukotuwa by over 6′. Kapukotuwa’s throw of 54-7-1/4 was his season best by about 8″. Freshman Kyle McCarthy was 7th at 48-6…missing 6th by 3/4″.

The decathlon came down to the final event. Dittenbenner, from Mitchell, had fallen behind freshman Cameron Morley of Colorado Mines and needed to finish about 3-seconds ahead of him in the 1500 to win. Dittbenner’s time of 4:50.47 was 2:58 faster and he won by 4 points…5,911 to 5,907.

CSC sophomore Jazz Bozner was 3rd with 4,895 with senior Sean Munger 5th with 5,769. Senior Kelley Troester of Marsland just missed giving the Eagles 4 placers…ending 9th with 5,265.

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.

Chadron State jumpers went 4-5-6 in the triple jump. Senior Lamar Newman topped his season best by more than 2′ at national meet provisionally-qualifying 47-4-1/4, junior Karl McFarlane…already a provisional qualifier…hit 45-10-3/4, and sophomore Xavier Kvistad of Crawford was 6th at 45-9-1/4.

CSC also placed 3 in the men’s hammer led by Kapukotuwa, who was 3rd at 157-8. Freshman Tanner Rein from Mitchell was 6th at an even 155’…his best by nearly 5’…while McCarthy was 7th at 153-1…topping his previous best by over 11-feet.

In qualifying heats for finals tomorrow, the Eagles advanced 3 in the 110 high hurdles. while junior Karl McFarlane and seniors Lanar Newman and Matthew Mathiason all advanced in the 110 high hurdles.

     Junior Karl McFarland, who has the 2nd-fastest time in the nation this year behind Metro State’s Darius Reed, posted the 2nd-fastest time of the day behind Reed 14.22 to 14.5. Junior Lanar Newman had the 5th-fastest time at 15.32 while Matthew Mathiason’s time of 15.51 was 7th-best.

Junior Brandon Segelke finished 2nd in his preliminary in the men’s 100 in 10.67, the 4th-fastest time of the day, but missed qualifying in the 200 by 1 place. Phil Rivera, who missed most of the season with spring football, advanced to the 200 finals with a time of 21.99…the 6th fastest but just 27-100ths shy of the 2nd-fastest.

For new RMAC member Black Hills State, Mitch Kraft was 3rd in the 3,000 steeplechase, Jacob Johnson 4th in the discus, Riley Meissner 6th in the decathlon, and Jonathon Grace placed 7th in the triple jump. Marcel Gaines-Banister qualified for the finals in the men’s 100.

The CSC women had 4 throwers place in the shotput. Freshman Mel Herl was 2nd at 44-11-1/2…a season best by almost 18″…junior Alyssa Norton was 3rd at 42-11-1/2, junior Cyndi Thomas was 5th at 41-7, and senior Sadie Waugh…whose first meet was last week, was 7th at 40-4-1/4

Norton also placed 3rd in the women’s hammer with a toss of 156-3, 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 Herl finished 9th and Thomas 10th.

Senior Chelsea Murray finished 5th in the heptathlon with 4235 points, just 16 points out of 3rd and 430 behind winner Danisha Phillips of New Mexico Highlands. Phillips edged teammate Destiny Dillworth by 33 points.

Senior Trae Patch advanced to the women’s final in the 100 with the 7th-fastest time, 12.56, while Murray followed up her 5th in the heptathlon with the 6th fastest time in the 100 hurdles at 15.54…21-100ths faster than she ran them to open the heptathlon.

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.

The Black Hills State women had 2 placers in the triple jump…Shelby Tollefson 5th and  Paige Follet 8th…Trish Koch placed 7th in the heptathlon and tied for 6th in the high jump, and Avery Allen was the who edged CSC’s Cyndi Thomas for 4th in the shot put.

Through 7 women’s events, Chadron State is 5th with 30 points. Western State leads Adams State 78.5 to 56. Black Hills State is 6th with 14.5.