The Minot State women’s throwers flexed their muscles Saturday at the University of Mary.

Jenna Hardy led the way in her collegiate debut, hitting an NCAA qualifying mark as she won the shot put, while teammates Kori Nagel and Tori Nygard teamed up with Hardy to give the Beavers a one-two-three sweep of the weight throw at the Marauder Indoor Opener indoor track and field meet.

Caitlin Cornell added a record-setting win in the women’s 3,000 meters for the Beavers, who also got a record-setting win from Jacob Jensen in the 1,000 meters as he led a powerful performance in the event by Minot State which claimed the top four spots.

The Minot State men’s throwers did nearly the same in the shot put and weight throw, finishing second, third, fourth, and fifth in both events with Samuel Kreins leading the charge in the shot and Hunter Clark the top Beaver in the weight throw.

“Great day for the program today at UMary,” Minot State head coach Mark Del Monaco said. “I thought we came out and competed very well across all our event groups.

“We have a lot of momentum after these first two meets as we head into winter break,” Del Monaco added. “We’ll take our foot off the gas now to recharge mentally and physically and prepare to come back in January ready to get back to it.”

The Beavers now get a month off for the Christmas and New Year’s break before returning to action on Jan. 15 when they will compete at the Mike Thorson Open again hosted by the University of Mary.

And when they return, all the Minot State student-athletes will be chasing the standard set up Hardy who on her first collegiate throw tossed the shot 45 feet, 3.75 inches, breaking the 10-month-old NCAA Division II-era school record of Breanna Johns-Oster of 42-4 and hitting an NCAA provisional qualifying mark that currently ranks her No. 11 in the nation.

Hardy added a third-place finish in the weight throw with a mark of

46-4.25, finishing behind Nagel, who claimed her first win in her first collegiate meet with a throw of 51-1.5, and Nygard, who was second with a throw of 46-10.

Cornell added her second NCAA D-II school record in as many weekends and won her first event of the season, racing to victory in the 3,000 meters in 10 minutes, 22.92 seconds, breaking the record of 10:26.99 run by Ashley Franco in 2020. Last weekend in Michigan, Cornell broke the NCAA D-II record in the 5,000 with a time of 17:39.0.

Also adding his second NCAA D-II record of the season was Jacob Jensen who won the men’s 1,000 meters in 2:33.85, besting the previous Beaver NCAA D-II fastest time of 2:34.40 run by Landon Dunlap in 2020. Jensen, who set the all-time record in the 5K last weekend in Michigan in 14:38.79, led a top-4 sweep by the Beavers as Trent Holiday was second in the 1,000 on Saturday at UMary in 2:35.21, Juan Gutierrez was third in 2:35.56, and Lewis Cotterill was fourth 2:39.98.

Adding a victory and matching his own NCAA D-II-era school record from last season in the high jump was Leif Nelson who cleared 6-4 for the Beaver men, who also got a powerhouse showing from the throwers led by Kreins and Clark who each were second in the shot and weight throw, respectively.

Kreins was second in the shot with a throw of 48-1.25 and closely followed by teammates Chase Snyder in third (47-9.25), Corbin Harris in fourth (46-4.75), and Ray Hribral in fifth (44-6.25). Clark was second in the weight throw with a mark of 51-8.25, Hribral was third (47-10.5), Kreins was fourth (45-10.5), and Harris was fifth (45-9).