FARGO, ND – University of Mary men's and women's track and field hits the road to take part in the Bison Open from Feb. 7 and 8. The event will be hosted by North Dakota State University in the Shelly Eliig Indoor Track and Field Facility. Action will begin at noon on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday.

A women's pentathlon will take place on Friday and a men's heptathlon will last both days. Northern Sun opponents Bemidji State University, Minot State University, MSU-Moorhead, and St. Cloud State University will be in attendance.
Live results for the Bison Open can be found here.

LAST TIME OUT
It was a busy weekend for the Marauders as UMary was represented at three different meets to begin February. On Friday and Saturday, the teams competed at the UND Open in Grand Forks, ND. Both the men and women placed second on the team leaderboards behind several standout performances.

There were three athletes on the men's team that took home victories. Diego Andres-Dougan returned to the track for the first time since Dec. 7 and won the 60m hurdles with his season-best time of 7.99 seconds. Raheem Taitt-Best won the 400m dash with a time of 48.37. Caleb Hansen made his season debut in the 5000m run and won the event, clocking in at 15:07.14.

On the women's side, Sakena Massiah won the 400m dash with a school record of 55.04. Tayen Werner earned her third collegiate victory in the 600m dash with a time of 1:34.21. Hannah Westin won the 5000m run at 19:07.05. Tia Horning took home a win in the 60m hurdles at 8.80. Taylor Weidner set a personal best of 11.67m in the triple jump and won the event.

On Friday, a group of distance runners traveled to the Mines Winter Classic in Golden, CO. Andrijana Fundak was 3^rd in the 5000m run and the Distance Medley Relay team of Terez Wycklendt, Morgan Hertz, Elizabeth Acheson, Kristine Kalthoff put forth the 5^th best time in the nation in the event.

On Saturday at the CU Invitational in Boulder, CO, Alyssa Becker won the 3000m run with a time of 9:43.80. Elizabeth Acheson placed second in the 800m run at 2:11.47.

NATIONALLY RANKED
The women's track and field team entered the national top 25 in the second release of the USTFCCCA rankings, slotting in at 14^th. It is the Marauder's highest indoor regular season mark since the Marauders were 6^th in the nation on Mar. 9, 2020

SCHOOL RECORDS
This season, four Marauders have set new school records. In the season-opening Mike Thorson Open, Hayden Von Wald's long jump of 7.55m broke Luxon Glor's record that had stood since 2017.

At the Marauders 2025 Indoor Opener, both Xavier Ifill and Morgan Hertz set new school records in the 300m dash. Ifill's time of 34.78 broke Brendon Hoyte's record that had stood since 2023. Hertz finished with a time of 40.62 to break Rikki Schmidt's record that had lasted since 2012.

Sakena Massiah knocked down two program records at the UND Open. Her time of 24.36 in the 200m dash broke a record that teammate Tionce Walrond set last year. Massiah then notched a 55.04 time in the 400m dash, breaking Abbey Zastrow's record that had stood since 2019.

NATIONAL STANDINGS
Here is where the Marauders' NCAA qualifying athletes currently stand in Division II:

Hayden Von Wald (long jump) – 5th (7.55m)
Women's DM Relay (Terez Wycklendt, Morgan Hertz, Elizabeth Acheson, Kristine Kalthoff) – 5th (11:52.58)
Sakena Massiah (400m) – 7th (55.04)
Alyssa Becker (3000m) – 7th (9:27.61)
Jorgen Paulson (long jump) – 8th (7.49m)
Tionce Walrond (200m) – 9th (24.20)
Raheem Taitt-Best (400m) – 11th (47.46)
Laila Cleare (60m) – 13th (7.47)
Elizabeth Acheson (800m) – 15th (2:10.62)
Diego Andres-Dougan (60m hurdles) – 16th (7.99)
Kristine Kalthoff (3000m) – 16th (9:39.06)
Sakena Massiah (200m) – 19th (24.36)
Tionce Walrond (60m) – 22nd (7.55)
Tayen Werner (400m) – 27th (55.94)
Elizabeth Acheson (mile) – 28th (4:52.85)
4x400m Women's Relay (Tayen Werner, Mara Bruno, Gabriella Apelian, Morgan Hertz) – 28th (3:50.94)
Kenny Moxey Jr. (heptathlon) – 29th (4,798)
Jorgen Paulson (200m) – 30th (21.54)
Alyssa Becker (mile) – 33rd (4:53.68)
Taylor Weidner (long jump) – 33rd (5.73m)
 Jerrica Pachl (high jump) – 34th (1.67m)
Tia Horning (60m hurdles) – 35th (8.76)
Anna Bruno (long jump) – 37th (5.71m)
Laila Cleare (200m) – 43rd (24.69)
Jorgen Paulson (60m) – 70th (6.84)

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