It’s a perfect example that North Dakota State University athletics has made a home in Division I.

 

The 2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships found their way into Drake Stadium this past week on the campus of Drake University. And with this being the ultimate stage for this unique sport, the Bison were well represented in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Track and field is as unique of a sport as you will find. There aren’t playoffs to advance into nationals and there are no records kept in terms of team wins and losses. The sport has no ball and really has no way of defending against an opponent.

 

You measure success against your opponent based on one simple method – time, height and distance.

If you aren’t fast enough, if you can’t throw or jump high enough or far enough you will get lost in the mix. And for track and field there is one meet every year that brings the very best of the very best throughout the entire country. That is the outdoor national championships or Olympic trials.

 

While it was no secret to begin with, this week the country has a clear understanding of NDSU track and field thanks to Laura Januszewski (Hermanson), Amanda Smock (Thieschafer), Heather Zander, Whitney Carlson, Toni Tollefson and Leslie Brost. The Bison ran wild throughout Drake Stadium.

 

First there was Smock. A former Bison standout in the horizontal jumps and no stranger to the national meet, Smock placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.60 meters (44 feet 7.5 inches).

 

Then there was another former Bison standout in Januszewski. If you didn’t know any better you would think she would have left the track a little disappointed. After all, she had finished seventh in the 800m final. A multi-time NDSU school record holder and 2009 NCAA runner-up, Januszewski isn’t all that used to losing races. But her seventh place finish Saturday in a season-best time of 2:01.76 means one thing – of the millions of women in the United States, Januszewski is currently seventh amongst them all. Her outlook continues to be the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

 

And there was NDSU senior Zander. Coming off nothing short of a phenomenal outdoor season where she reached NCAA Division I All-American honors in the heptathlon and was also named The Summit League Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, Zander finished 13^th at the national championships in the heptathlon with a score of 5,357 points. Zander is the current NDSU school record holder in the heptathlon.

 

Then there was current Bison junior Whitney Carlson. Already owner of eight different school records, Carlson bested her own long jump school record at the outdoor championships for a ninth place finish with a mark of 6.46m (21-2.5). And did we mention she is a junior?

 

And then there was redshirt freshman Tollefson and sophomore Brost. Although Tollefson (high jump) and Brost (pole vault) failed to make a height, their youth is a strong indication the future remains bright for more appearances at the national meet.

 

On a national sports scene, the meet may have been pushed aside and overshadowed by the fourth no-hitter in major league baseball or the United States elimination from the soccer World Cup by Ghana.

While it’s a sport that sometimes gets lost in the mix, it’s also a sport that NDSU does extremely well.

 

Both the women’s and men’s track and field teams have made a habit of winning Division I conference championships in this only the third season of competition in The Summit League.

 

It’s safe to say that some of NDSU’s best are best in the entire country with what they do.