Career Bests
2019-20
Indoor Track & Field
USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year … broke the NCAA Indoor record in the pole vault with a clearance of 19 feet, 5 ½ inches at the Nebraska Tune-Up … USTFCCCA Midwest Field Athlete of the Year … Summit League Field Athlete of the Year … South Dakota’s Dr. John Van Why Male Athlete of the Year … became the first Coyote to garner national athlete of the year recognition from USTFCCCA at the Division I level … one of the 10 men on the final Bowerman Watch List of the season for 21 career appearances … All-American in the pole vault … qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the pole vault with the top position in the field; the meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic … Summit League Champion in the pole vault … captured his third indoor league title with a jump of 18-1 … also placed sixth in the high jump with a mark of 6-6 ¾ at the Summit League Championships … garnered USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week and Summit League Athlete of the Week honors (2/25) following his NCAA record performance of 19-5 ½ at the Nebraska Tune-Up … also received the Summit’s weekly accolade (2/11) after vaulting 19-1 at the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet … vaulted 19-0 ¾ at the Adidas Classic in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he picked up Summit League Field Athlete of the Week honors (2/4) … received the Summit League’s weekly award (1/21) after a third-place finish in the elite competition of the National Pole Vault Summit with a vault of 18-8 ¼ … improved his own South Dakota school record three times during the season to the current mark of 19-5 ½ … vaulted past 19-feet three times during the season (career total of 14) … member of the nationally top-ranked pole vault squad by the USTFCCCA … helped the Coyotes rank No. 24 in the final USTFCCCA poll prior to the season’s cancellation … won the pole vault at the Jim Emmerich Invitational with a height of 18-2 ½ … also captured the pole vault at the SDSU Holiday Invitational … Summit League February Athlete of the Month … totaled 11 Summit monthly awards in his career, not only a league record, but five more than any other league athlete in history … totaled 25 Summit League Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors in his career, also a league record … tallied four alone during the shortened 2020 season … tallied six event wins and eight top-10 finishes.
Outdoor Track & Field
Season cancelled by NCAA and The Summit League due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2018-19
Indoor Track & Field
NCAA runner-up in the pole vault … vaulted 18-9 ½ for second place and All-America accolades … Summit League champion in the pole vault … broke his own Summit League Championships meet record with vault of 18-10 ¼ … won the pole vault at seven meets during the indoor season … took the NCAA lead at the Jim Emmerich Invitational with an early-season vault of 18-6 ¾ … the jump landed him Summit League Athlete of the Week (1/22) honors … also captured the pole vault at the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet with a jump of 18-8 ¼ inside the DakotaDome … vaulted 18-8 ¾ at the Tyson Invitational, finishing runner-up in the elite field to professional vaulter Andrew Erwin … garnered Summit League Athlete of the Week (2/12) after the Tyson Invitational … tallied five jumps past 18-8 ¼ (5.70m) indoors.
Outdoor Track & Field
NCAA Champion in the pole vault … Pan American champion in the pole vault for Team USA … semifinalist for The Bowerman for second-straight year … Summit League Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year … South Dakota’s Dr. John Van Why Male Athlete of the Year … Summit League champion in the pole vault … broke his own NCAA Championship meet record – twice – with clearances of 19-4 ¼ and then 19-6 ¼ … it marked his third NCAA title and sixth All-America honor in his career … the height ranks him No. 3 in NCAA history … also ranks No. 25 all-time in the world … vaulted past 19 feet five times during the outdoor season (career total of 11) … his height of 19-6 ¼ also improved his own school record by nearly four inches … the mark also ties the Mark A. Myers Stadium facility record held by 2012 Olympic gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie … garnered Summit League Athlete of the Month honors for April and May/June, increasing his league record total to 10 … captured the Drake Relays elite field flag with a vault of 19-2 ¼, topping Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks in the competition … garnered the Drake Relays Most Outstanding Performer award … also named Summit League Athlete of the Week (4/30) for his performance at Drake … broke his own Summit League Championships meet record by a half-inch with a vault of 19-0 ¾ … vaulted 19-1 at the Beach Invitational to momentarily take the world lead in the pole vault … garnered his 20th Summit League Athlete of the Week (4/23) following the Beach Invitational … won the pole vault at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with a vault of 19-0 ¼ … named Summit League Athlete of the Week (4/2) after the Texas Relays … went undefeated during the collegiate outdoor season with 10 event wins … member of the nation’s top-ranked pole vault squad by the USTFCCCA with an average height of 17-8 ½.
2017-18
Indoor Track & Field
NCAA runner-up in the pole vault … cleared 18-4 ½ for second place and to earn All-America status … USTFCCCA Midwest Indoor Field Athlete of the Year … Summit League Indoor Field Athlete of the Year … broke the 19-foot barrier for the first time at the Nebraska Tune-Up with a vault of 19-0 ¼ … the vault earned him the first USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honor for his career … ranks fifth in NCAA indoor history with the jump … improved the USD school record in the pole vault with a height of 19-0 ¼ … in 2018 IAAF World Indoor Rankings, ranks third in the United States and 14th in the world … earned all-Summit League honors in the pole vault with a runner-up finish in 17-0 ¾ … also placed sixth in the high jump at the Summit League Championships with a height of 6-6 ¾ … broke 18 feet in the pole vault at five meets during the season … vaulted a then-school record 18-9 ½ to win the Jack Johnson Classic … broke the Hawkeye Invitational meet and facility records with a winning height of 18-4 ½ … captured the Jim Emmerich Invitational with a jump of 18-6 ½ … earned four Summit League Athlete of the Week honors … won the pole vault at five meets during the season … captured the Summit League January Athlete of the Month award.
Outdoor Track & Field
NCAA Champion … vaulted 19-1 ½ to break a 22-year-old NCAA Championships meet record … claimed his second NCAA Championship title in the pole vault and fourth career All-America honor … repeated as USTFCCCA Midwest Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year ... Summit League Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year … semifinalist for The Bowerman ... Summit League Champion in the pole vault with after clearing 19-0 ¼ … the jump also broke his own Summit League Championships meet record by nearly a foot … vaulted a personal best and USD school record of 19-2 ¾ at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays … ranks fourth in NCAA history with the jump … the vault of 19-2 ¾ in the ninth-best jump by an NCAA athlete in all-conditions history … in 2018 IAAF World Outdoor Rankings, first in the United States and fourth in the world … broke the 19-foot barrier at five meets during the season … holds two marks in the top-10 list of performances in NCAA outdoor history with jumps of 19-2 ¾ and 19-1 ½ … became the third Coyote to garner a Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays title by winning the pole vault in 19-0 ¼ … two-time USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week after performances at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and Howard Wood Dakota Relays … earned three Summit League Athlete of the Week honors during the season … brought total to 16 career Summit League Athlete of the Week awards … finished runner-up to Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks twice during the season, at the U.S. National Championships with a height of 19-0 ¼ and in the elite section of the pole vault at the Drake Relays with a clearance of 18-11 ½ … took 10th in the high jump at the Summit League Championships with a clearance of 6-5 … won the pole vault at the NCAA West Preliminary with a first-attempt make of 17-2 ¾ to qualify for the finals … cleared 18-6 ½, just shy of his own meet record, to win the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate … vaulted 18-8 ¼ at the USD Twilight … captured the pole vault at nine meets during the season with each win above 18 feet … earned the Summit League March and May/June Athlete of the Month awards.
2016-17
Indoor Track & Field
NCAA Indoor Champion in the pole vault with a clearance of 18-8 ¼ … became South Dakota’s first NCAA Division I men’s champion and seventh men’s national champion overall … earned South Dakota’s Performance of the Year Award … the height tied his personal best of 18-8 ¼, which he previously made at the Tyson Invitational … set the South Dakota program and American Under-20 Indoor record of 18-8 ¼ … Summit League Indoor Field Athlete of the Year … Summit League champion in the pole vault … set a Summit League Championship meet record of 18-5 ½ … one of six Coyotes to capture a Summit crown … won all seven meets he competed in during the indoor season … improved his height for five-straight meets during the season … won the season-opening Hawkeye Invitational in 17-10 ½ … followed that with a win at the Jim Emmerich Alumni Invitational with a height of 18-1 … captured the Jack Johnson Classic in 18-2 ½ … cleared 18-4 ¾ to win the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet … captured the Tyson Invitational pole vault title in 18-8 ¼ … named the Summit League Athlete of the Month for January, February and March … garnered five Summit League Athlete of the Week awards after all five regular season meets … earned a spot on the Bowerman Watch List following the Summit League Championships.
Outdoor Track & Field
Qualified for the 2017 IAAF World Championships after placing third in the pole vault at the U.S. National Championships … cleared a South Dakota program and American Under-20 record of 18-10 ¼ at the meet … earned All-America honors with third-place finish in the vault at NCAA Outdoor Championships … highest finish by a Coyote male at the NCAA outdoor meet … Summit League Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year … USTFCCCA Midwest Field Athlete of the Year … South Dakota’s Dr. John Van Why Male Athlete of the Year … Summit League champion in the pole vault as one of USD’s 11 Summit titles … broke the Summit League Championship record with a height of 18-1 … held the top mark in the NCAA during the collegiate season of 18-9 ½ which he jumped at the Sioux City Relays … also won the pole vault at the USD vs. SDSU Dual, Baldy Castillo Invitational, Pacific Beach Intercollegiate, Beach Invitational, Howard Wood Dakota Relays and USD Twilight … finished runner-up in the elite section of the pole vault at the Drake Relays to 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist Sam Kendricks … set the Lillibridge Track Complex record with a vault of 18-0 ½ at the USD Twilight … named the Summit League Athlete of the Month in April and May/June … broke the Summit League season and career record for monthly honors with five … garnered four Summit League Athlete of the Week awards for the outdoor season to total nine for his freshman campaign … held a spot on the Bowerman Watch List throughout the outdoor season … placed in the top-five of the pole vault at all 13 meets during the season with eight event titles.
Prep
Broke the American high school record in the pole vault at the Missouri Class 5 sectional meet with a clearance of 18-4 3/4 ... soared over 17 feet in the pole vault to capture his first Missouri state title in 2015, before repeating in 2016 ... finished seventh at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Poland ... won the vault at the 2016 Kansas Relays ... earned a spot on the Kansas City Star’s all-metro track and field team ... a three-time all-state honoree and a Mile Split New Balance All-American ... won the 2015 Wichita River Vault with a jump of 16-6 ... also placed fourth in the high jump at the 2015 Missouri Class 5 State Championships ... played soccer for the Trojans as well.
Personal
Son of Mark and Karen Nilsen ... kinesiology and sport management major with an emphasis in sport management.
