LOCKWOOD, Mont. – The Beavers enjoyed a very successful start to the outdoor track and field season, setting the tone for the spring with nine event wins and a new NCAA Division II-era school record at the Yellowjackets/Battlin’ Bears Icebreaker Open hosted by Montana State Billings and Rocky Mountain College.

Jasiah Hambira and Samuel Kreins led the way for the Minot State men as Hambira won the men’s high jump with that school-record effort, while Kreins doubled up with a pair of wins in the throws.

On the ladies side, Bailey Wride led the way with an individual event win and she helped the Minot State women’s 4×400-meter relay team claim victory.

The meet was the first of the outdoor season and snapped a three-week hiatus since the NSIC Indoor Championships. Minot State next competes in two weeks as the Beavers head to Bismarck, North Dakota for the Al Bortke Open hosted by the University of Mary on Saturday, March 30.

Leading the way Saturday in the outdoor opener was Hambira who took over as the NCAA D-II record holder in both the indoor and outdoor high jump as he cleared 6 feet, 6.75 inches to win the event. Hambira set the indoor NCAA D-II record earlier this year clearing 6-8.75, the freshman’s career best, to date.

While his leap Saturday is the top NCAA outdoor mark, Hambira’s effort is second-only all-time outdoors to Zach Ryan’s 6-11 back in 2011.

Adding to the Beavers strong opening effort was Kreins who turned in a career-best performance to claim victory in the men’s shot put and the men’s hammer throw on Saturday. Kreins bested the field in the shot put with a throw of 49-8.50, nearly a 5-inch improvement on his previous best.

He added a victorious throw of 162-6 in the hammer throw which also was a career best by nearly a foot and a half.

Devontae Daley added another of the Beaver victories as he won the men’s 400 meters in 49.28 seconds, a career-best by nearly a half second, and Peyton Tuhy rounded out the wins on the men’s side as he shaved 9 seconds off his fastest time in the 1,500 meters, winning Saturday’s race in 4 minutes, 6.91 seconds.

On the ladies side, recently-crowned NSIC Champion, Wride, continued her winning ways as she bested the field in the women’s 1,500 meters on Saturday, winning her first college race at the distance in 4 minutes, 47.99 seconds.

She also teamed with Sidra Sadowsky, Macey Moore, and Sydney Wilson as the quartet won the women’s 4×400-meter relay in 4:13.11.

Rounding out the winning performances were Summer Krebsbach in the women’s 100-meter dash and Nicole Reeves in the 800 meters. Krebsbach turned in a career-best of 12.62 to win the 100, shaving .07 seconds off her previous best, and Reeves won the 800 in 2:23.15, half a second faster than her previous best.