Mathern earns All-American finish to lead Bismarck State at NAIA outdoor championships

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Nathan Mathern delivered a historic finish for Bismarck State College, placing sixth in the men's 400-meter dash in 47.78 seconds to earn the program's first NAIA Outdoor Track and Field All-American honor at the national championships.

Mathern advanced to the final after running 47.08 in the preliminary heats, then returned Friday to secure sixth place and all three of the Mystics' team points. Bismarck State's men tied for 55th in the final team standings, while the women's team did not score. Cayden Kraft also turned in a strong effort in the men's 400 meters, finishing 11th overall in 47.25 and narrowly missing the final.

The Mystics added another national-meet mark in the men's 4x400-meter relay, where Mathern, Xavier Bell, Timol Walters and Kraft placed 24th in 3:17.32. On the women's side, the 4x100-meter relay team of Aisha Zaffino, Priviledge Bower, Aliya Schock and Alexia Anderson finished 21st in 47.11, and the women's 4x400-meter relay of Zaffino, Schock, Brooklyn Fuller and Tsitsi Karanda took 19th in 3:55.43.

Bower posted two of Bismarck State's top women's sprint results. She placed 11th in the women's 200-meter dash in 24.21 and finished 14th in the women's 100-meter dash in 11.95. In the jumps, Kennedy Harter led the Mystics with a 12th-place finish in the women's triple jump at 11.67 meters. Harter also placed 20th in the women's long jump with a leap of 5.41 meters, while Anderson was 17th in the same event at 5.53 meters.

Jasmine Nash rounded out the Mystics' competitors with a 20th-place finish in the women's discus at 36.07 meters. Across a large national field, Bismarck State produced qualifying performances in the sprints, relays, jumps and throws, with Mathern's All-American run standing as the highlight of the meet and the signature result of the season.