Submitted Photo Shown are the MSU track and field teams.

While the Minot State distance runners already enjoyed a two-month jump on their teammates, the rest of the Beaver track and field student-athletes get the opportunity to open their competition season this weekend as indoor track and field gets underway.

Minot State will send a small group of sprinters, jumpers, and throwers south to Bismarck, North Dakota, to compete in the Mike Thorson Open hosted by the University of Mary this weekend, the first of two meets this December that usher in a new season for the Beavers.

“It’s a huge opportunity just to see where they’re at and see some of their hard work pay off,” Minot State’s outgoing head coach Jordan Aus said, adding that the cross-country runners will not compete this weekend after a busy fall that wrapped up last month.

“I’m really excited to watch them compete this weekend,” Aus added.

Competition for the Beavers gets started at 11 a.m. on Saturday with field events, followed by running events beginning at noon. Minot State then gets a second chance to compete before the Christmas break, next week, on Thursday at the Dakota Alumni Classic hosted by North Dakota State in Fargo.

“Overall, it’s really a positive opportunity for the kids to have that extra chance,” Aus said of two meets prior to Christmas.

A perfect way to usher in a new season, which swings into full gear in January with Minot State back in action at the Marauders Indoor Opener on January 17, the first of 5 weekends of competition in preparation for the NSIC Indoor Championship held February 28 and March 1, and hosted by Minnesota State, Mankato.

Preparing for the NSIC Championships will be the goal for all the Beavers throughout the next 3 months as they aim to peak at the end of February to propel Minot State to achieve big team goals.

“If we get our individuals to peak at that time, I believe we can make a little bit of noise as a team,” Aus said. “Our team goal is to be in the top half of the conference, …our goal is to be in that six and seven position as a team.”

By the time the team gets to the NSIC Championship, the plan is for a new head coach to be guiding the Beavers, as well, as Aus recently began his new duties as the Associate Director of Athletics for Revenue and Ticketing, but until Minot State hires a new head coach, he will continue to fill two roles and lead the way for the Beaver track and field program.

A program filled with talent ready to make a splash in the NSIC this winter.

Leading the way on the women’s side is 2-time NSIC Champion Bailey Wride, a junior from Kalispell, Montana, who won the indoor 600-meter title in 2024, claimed the championship in the indoor 1,000 meters last winter, and will look to bring home gold from the NSIC Championships for a third straight year this winter.

Also poised to excel is Bailey’s younger sister, Afton Wride, who along with running cross country for the Beavers is one of the team’s top jumpers in track and field. Last season, the sophomore was 9th in the triple jump at the NSIC Outdoor Championships, and her collegiate-best mark of 37 feet, 1.25 inches, ranks No. 4 in Minot State history.

And speaking of Minot State history, the Beavers’ premier women’s sprinter is set for her senior season.

Max, North Dakota product Summer Kresbach holds the school record indoors in the 200-meter dash of 25.03 seconds, as well as the outdoor records in the 100 (11.73) and 200 (24.32), and is ready for a run at a top finish this season at the NSIC Indoor Championship.

While they lead the way for the women, on the men’s side, the Beavers have high expectations for some young sprinters, throwers, and jumpers, several of whom are multi-sport student-athletes.

One of the veteran leaders for the Minot State men is senior distance runner from Hettinger, North Dakota, Peyton Tuhy, who was 5th in the 800 meters in 1 minute, 53.46 seconds at last spring’s NSIC Outdoor Championship. Also a cross-country runner, Tuhy will wait until January to make his track and field season debut, but is one of the Beavers’ top prospects to do well come Championship time.

Joining him are a pair of young jumpers in redshirt freshman Samuel Butikofer from Bainville, Montana, and true freshman Grayson Schaeffer, from right here in Minot.

Butikofer has a personal best of 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump and was 7th in Montana in high school in 2024.

Schaeffer currently is playing basketball for the Beavers, appearing in one game so far this winter for Minot State. Away from the hardwood, Schaeffer is a 2-time state champion (2024 & 2025) in the triple jump and has a personal-best mark of 47 feet, 1 inch.

Other two-sport student-athletes who are poised for big seasons in track and field include football players Deuce Carr, a sophomore sprinter from Oakley, California,

Alex Roberts, a freshman sprinter from Kennewick, Washington, and thrower Ethan Graham, a sophomore from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Carr turned in the third-fastest 100-meter dash in school history during last year’s outdoor season of 10.69 seconds, while Graham was 21st in the shot put at the NSIC Outdoor Championships last spring with a personal-best throw of 48-7.5.

As Roberts, a true freshman, he ran personal bests of 10.82 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.66 in the 200 in high school, and he is joined by fellow true freshman Justin Williams, from Houston, Texas. Both provide valuable depth in the sprints as Williams ran personal bests of 10.98 in the 100 and 21.23 in the 200 in high school.

“The sprints are very strong on the men’s side, I think we’re going to make a little bit of noise, potentially in the 4×400 indoors, and especially I think we’re going to surprise some people with our men’s 4×100 relay when we get to the outdoor season,” Aus said.