Valley City State track and field athletes opened the 2022-23 indoor season with a handful of Top 8 finishes and personal bests on Friday at the NDSU Dakota Alumni Classic.
The Vikings had about a dozen athletes compete at the season opening meet, which also featured athletes from NDSU, UND, MSU-Moorhead and Concordia-Moorhead.
Meet Results
Freshman Jaiden Peraza made a strong debut in his first meet as a Viking, clearing 1.98 meters (6-6) in the high jump to take fourth place. Peraza was just .03 meters away from meeting the NAIA national qualifying standard of 2.01 meters in his first collegiate meet.
Elsewhere on Friday, senior Taylor Sargent ran a time of 9.30 seconds in the 60-meter hurdle prelims – the second-best time of her career. Sargent went on to place seventh in the finals of the event. Her time of 9.30 seconds was just .2 seconds away from the national qualifying standard.
Jade Azure smashed her personal best in weight throw by more four feet as she placed 11th with a career-best mark of 13.19 meters. Sadie Hansen placed 10th in a large shot put field, recording the second best throw of her career at 12.16 meters.
In men's high jump, freshman Jalen Strickland cleared 1.78 meters to place eighth in his first collegiate meet. Sophomore Noah Rolfe opened his season with a time of 4:54.53 in the men's mile, which was good for second place, and Sargent was 5th in the women's high jump with her mark of 1.46 meters.
Up next: Valley City State will attend one more meet before the holiday break. Most of VCSU's team is expected to compete at the U-Mary Indoor Opener on Dec. 9-10 in Bismarck.
