With point contributions coming from a 14 different individuals, the University of Minnesota Duluth bid farewell to 2017 by tying for seventh place in the 11-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in St. Paul, Minn.

Minnesota State University-Mankato won the team title for the sixth year in a row with 247 points (125 point ahead of runnerup University of Sioux Falls) while the Bulldogs and Wayne State College accumulated 49 points.

Freshman Bradford Owens, in his NSIC outdoor meet debut, posted the highest finish of any Bulldog at the two-day event as he took second in the javelin throw with a toss of 53.94 meters. Two other Bulldogs posted fourth-place finishes -- Junior Cody Sedbrook in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:39.58) and senior Jason Lilja in the high jump (1.98 meters) -- while sophomore Ryan Tolkinen's 54.35 clocking in the 400-meter hurdles was good for fifth place.  In addition, junior Austin Carlson (49.40 in the 400-meter dash), sophomore Luke Lahr (15:17.49 in the 5,000-meter run) and freshman Dan Clark (4.62 meters in the pole vault) all took sixth in their events. Other UMD point producers included junior Blake Anderson in the 10,000-meter run (7th place; 32:36.65) and 3,000-meter steeplechase (8th place; 9:56.74), freshman Nick Kalmes in the the discus throw (7th place; 44.58 meters), senior Brian Lee in the hammer throw (7th place; 50.81 meters), junior Connor Behm in the 400-meter dash (8th place; 49.70) and freshman Wyatt Midtvedt in the 1,500-meter run (8th place; 4:03.81). Behm, Tolkinen, Carlson and freshman AJ Belchak joined force to place fourth in the 4 x 400-meter relay (3:18.27) while Behm, Tolkinen, Beattie and freshman Kelvin Kwarteng wound up fifth in the 4 x 100-meter relay in a time of 42.49.

Owens was the lone Bulldog to attain All-NSIC status (a top-three finish in any individual event or top-two placing in a relay race).

2017 NSIC Outdoor Track and Field Championship Results