May 6, 2005

MOORHEAD, Minn. - [results] - With the first day of the 2005 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship competition complete and 14 events in the books, the Bemidji State University men's track and field team is currently in second while the women's team is tied for fourth.

Propelled by an individual title from Tommy Crummy (So., Argyle, Minn.) in the pole vault and strong finishes in the throwing events, the men's team trails the leader Northern State University by just four points (83-79) heading into the second and final day of competition.

Crummy nabbed one of the Beaver men's two 2005 individual crowns on day one grabbing his first All-NSIC outdoor championship by out vaulting his opponents by the narrowest of margins to secure 10 team points for BSU.

The Beavers also gained 20 points in the javelin as Nick Hruska (Fr., Faribault, Minn.) claimed the 2005 crown by throwing for an NSIC season-best 178-6' (54.47 m). His toss bettered his season best by nearly 11 feet. Following Hruska, Todd Zeidler (So., Plentywood, Mont.) and Jeff Spotts (Jr., Overland Park, Kan.) finished third and fourth respectively as BSU claimed three of the top four spots.

In the hammer throw, BSU again took three of the top six, point-earning, places as Adam Wilson (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) garnered All-NSIC Honorable Mention with distance of 152-7' (46.57 m) to finish second. Phil McCollam (Idaho Falls, Idaho) finished third with a throw of 147-7' (45.02 m) while Justin Cox (So., Menahga, Minn.) threw for fifth with a personal best distance of over 139 feet (42.62 m).

Also gaining valuable points for BSU was Rodney Williams (Jr., Inglewood, Calif.) who leaped to a distance of (6.68 m) in the long jump taking second place, earning eight points for the team, and gaining All-Conference Honorable Mention status.

BSU's men's 4x800 relay team of Scott Anderson (Jr. Fergus Falls, Minn.), Richie Babler (So., Perham, Minn.), Pat Lais (Sr., Slayton, Minn.) and Zeidler took third with a time of 8:08.11.

On the women's side of things, a trio of event championships account for nearly 75 percent of the team's total points after the first day of competition. Ashley Spolarich (Fr., Maple Lake, Minn.) got things started for the women winning the high jump with her second provisional qualifying height of the season. She cleared nearly 5-7 (1.76 m) to take the event and 10 points for the women's team. Christa Pribula (Jr., East Grand Forks, Minn.) kept the ball rolling bettering her season-best time in the 3000-meter steeplechase by over four seconds (11:48.1) to claim first place, All-Conference honors and another 10 points for BSU.

The Beavers' 4x800-meter relay team finished the day of competition in style smoking the rest of the competition by nearly 15 seconds to capture top honors. The team of Nicole Friend (So., International Falls, Minn.), Pribula, Jessie LeDuc (Fr., INternational Falls, Minn.), and Spolarich finished in the a time of 9:41.18.

Competition continues tomorrow with the remaining field events to begin at 11:00 a.m. and the opening gun for the finals of the 4x100-meter relay finals at 2:00 p.m.

---bsu---