The two Northern State athletes both won the javelin throw on Friday during the first day of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference outdoor track and field meet.
"It is always nice to have a victory on the first day because it kind of sets the tone and gets people excited," Northern State track and field coach Kevin Bjerke said.
Both Olson and Webster won their respective events on their final throws as neither of them had the lead going into their last throw. Olson won the men's javelin with a toss of 185-feet and seven-inches.
"He was a couple of meters out of first," Bjerke said. "On his last throw, he just launched a massive one. It jumped up five meters from where he was. That sealed the deal."
Webster won women's javelin with a mark of 133-9 and remained undefeated on the season in the event.
"She typical gets nervous in that situation," Bjerke said. "She was just able to put it together on the last throw."
NSU senior hurdler Luke Hauert had another stellar day. He had the best time in both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. He will compete in the finals of both events today. Hauert's time of :14.10 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles is an automatic qualifying mark of the national meet. It also broke his own school record and broke the conference meet record.
"It was kind of a 1-2-3 punch I guess you could say," Bjerke said.
His time of :53.44 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles was just short of the national provisional qualifying mark. A pair of NSU women also qualified for the finals of the 400-meter hurdles today. Jill Schaefer won her heat and has the second best time going into the finals. Hannah Treinen improved her personal best by about a second and has the seventh best time going into the finals.
"We are looking to add some points in the 400 hurdles on the women's side as well," Bjerke said.
Mark Gilkerson qualified for the finals in the 800-meter run. He clocked in with a time of 1-minute and :55.74 seconds in the prelims. Maria Franker also qualified for the finals of the 100-meter dash. Bjerke said it was a pleasant surprise seeing the senior sprinter qualify for the finals.
"She had a great start and looked phenomenal," Bjerke said.
The final day of the NSIC meet will take place today.
Men's Results
Team Scores: Minnesota State, Mankato 56, Augustana College 37½, Sioux Falls 37, Minnesota State-Moorhead 36½, Minnesota-Duluth 27, St. Cloud State 26, University of Mary 19, Wayne State College 13, Northern State 12, Concordia-St. Paul 6, Minot State 3.
Northern State Results
Javelin Throw: 1, Devin Olson, 185-7.
110-Meter Hurdles: (prelims) 1, Luke Hauert, :14.10.
800-Meter Run: (prelims) 8, Mark Gilkerson, 1:55.74.
400-Meter Hurdles: (prelims) 1, Luke Hauert, :53.44.
Women's Results
Team Scores: Sioux Falls 50, Augustana College 48, Winona State 43, Minnesota-Duluth 38½, Wayne State College 32, University of Mary 15, Minnesota State, Mankato 11½, Northern State 11, Minnesota State-Moorhead 10, St. Cloud State 8, Bemidji State 6.
Northern State Results
Javelin Throw: 1, Alexandra Webster, 133-9.
100-Meter Dash: (prelims) 8, Maria Franker, :12.32.
400-Meter Hurdles: (prelims) 2, Jill Schaefer, 1:02.65; 7, Hannah Treinen, 1:03.45.