St. Paul, MN -- Saturday, the North Central University (NCU) Track and Field teams competed at the Rider/Bolstorff Invite hosted by Macalester College. Competing at the Macalester Stadium, the Rams saw multiple standout performances, highlighted by junior Deshawna Hodges posting a strong all-around meet and junior Zak Ruhland earning a first-place finish, personal best, and new program record in the javelin to lead the men's squad.

Sprints:

On the women's side, junior Deshawna Hodges led the Rams in the 100m with a time of 13.38 seconds (6th in UMAC), marking a season-best effort. Hodges also competed in the 200m (28.07), joined by sophomore Joyce Horton (28.84) and sophomore Lily Ciske (29.60) as the trio gained valuable sprint experience across both events.

For the men, junior Zak Ruhland highlighted the group with a top-10 finish and personal best in the 100m (11.25), placing 7th overall (9th in UMAC). Senior Jaquan Adams followed with a strong 11.55, while freshman David Diamond (12.26), freshman Jalen Dourisseau (12.62, PR), freshman Tony Abourjeily (12.98, PR), and sophomore Greg Salinas (14.02) rounded out the 100m group. In the 200m, Adams (23.39, 9th in UMAC), Ruhland (23.41, PR, 10th in UMAC), and sophomore Josh Hinson (23.64) led the way, with Abourjeily adding another personal best (26.80).

Distance:

The women were led by freshman Claire Nelsen, who competed in both the 1500m (6:39.34) and 5000m, posting a personal best time of 23:07.42 (9th in UMAC) in the latter to highlight her distance efforts on the day.

On the men's side, sophomore Leighton Helander delivered a strong performance in the 3000m steeplechase, placing 5th overall with a personal best time of 11:20.91 (10th in UMAC). Junior David Bjorge added a solid effort in the 5000m (18:22.54, 10th in UMAC), contributing to the Rams' distance group.

Throws:

For the women, senior Jackie Lindsay led the javelin group with a throw of 25.07m, followed by senior Aleysha Will (9.94m) as both contributed points in the field events.

Senior Andre Muteba led the men's throws group with a mark of 30.85m in the discus and followed with a strong showing in the hammer throw (40.72m). Sophomore Colton Hagen competed in both discus (29.15m) and shot put (9.45m), while freshman Austin Douglass recorded 9.31m in the shot put. In the javelin, junior Zak Ruhland delivered the top performance of the meet for NCU, winning the event with a personal best throw of 52.63m (Leads the UMAC) while breaking his own school record by just 0.05 meters. Hagen also recorded a personal best (40.22m, 7th in UMAC) to place 5th, while freshman Kaden Dunton (33.45m) and Muteba (30.22m) added depth.

Jumps:

The women's jumps group was led by sophomore Joyce Horton, who placed 9th in the triple jump (9.73m) to earn a top-10 finish. Sophomore Lily Ciske followed closely in 12th (9.50m, 7th in UMAC), with junior Deshawna Hodges just behind in 13th (9.46m). In the long jump, Hodges recorded a mark of 4.57m, while Ciske added 4.35m.

Looking Ahead:

Up next, men's track and field competes at the Joe Sweeney Invite hosted by the University of St. Thomas on Wednesday, April 29. The meet will be held at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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