FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. —The South Dakota State men's track and field team opened the outdoor season at the Arkansas Spring Invitational Saturday at John McDonnell Field.

Indoor Summit League title holder Jeremiah Ary picked up right where he left off in the triple jump, placing second with a distance of 48-8.25. Ary exceeded his personal record, set in 2013, by 2.25 inches but remains slotted in fifth in school history.  

Ayub Kassim placed second in the unseeded 800-meter run, clocking in at 1:54.51. In the seeded 800-meter run, fellow freshman Cal Lawton timed in at 1:54.17 to place third. With at time of 4:03.85, Daniel Pettit ran to a third-place finish in the 1,500-meter run.

The 4x400 relay team of Marc Husman, Sam Johnson, Kassim and Adam Belhaj also posted a third-place finish, crossing the finish line in 3:18.82. In the high jump, J.J. Hejna recorded a mark of 6-4.75 to finish fourth.

South Dakota State's pole vaulters and thowers attended the Wildcat Classic in Wayne, Neb. Nathaniel Schaefer won the pole vault with a height of 15-9 while Ryan Schaefer tied for second with a mark of 14-7.25.

Cullen Mack scored second- and fifth-place finishes in the discus (157-3) and hammer throw (171-8) respectively. Austin Benson took second in the hammer throw (181-7) while Kyle Anderson tied for third in the shot put (51-6.50). Benson's hammer throw mark vaulted him to fourth in school history.

Greg Ganter placed fifth in the discus (155-10) and posted the ninth-best hammer throw mark (158-8) in school history. Colton Bender claimed seventh in school history in the hammer throw with a heave of 169-4. Blair Seymour came in second in the javelin with a distance of 166-7.

The Jackrabbits will compete at two different meets next weekend: the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. and the Dakota Duals in Sioux Falls, S.D.