MINOT, N.D. - When the Minot State track and field teams open competition this winter, the Beavers will boast a few new faces on the men's side in a variety of events.

Minot State's 2nd-year head track and field coach Erik Stevens is pleased to introduce the newest members of the Beavers' team, pole vaulter Jaden van der Linde from Cochrane, Alberta, sprinter and hurdler Rylan Hollingshead from Tioga, North Dakota, and state champion throwers Jack Mattson from Hillsboro, North Dakota, and Minot's own Blake Anderson.

Both Mattson and Anderson have gotten a jump on their new teammates in collegiate competition as both are freshmen on the Minot State football team with Mattson playing defensive line and Anderson running back.

Anderson joins his hometown Beavers after winning both the Class A state titles in the shot put, with a throw of 58 feet, 3 inches, and discus, with a mark of 185-7, this past spring competing at Minot High School. He also won the 2026 Western Dakota Association (WDA) shot put and discus titles, and the 2025 WDA discus title, finishing as runner-up state champion as a junior.

An Academic All-Conference selection, Anderson plans to major in Innovative Engineering at Minot State.

"When you can add a local state champion in both shot put and discus to the program, it is a great day!" Stevens said. "Blake is an explosive power through the ring, and I can't wait to see how he develops with our new throws coach, Hannah Redlin."

Mattson joins the Beavers from Hillsboro/Central Valley High School after winning the Class B state title in the shot put with a throw of 54 feet, 7 inches this spring and finishing 9^th in the discus with a mark of 139-5.

"Yet another North Dakota state champion, Jack will bring competitive experience and confidence to the throws program in year one and continue to help build this program during his time here," Stevens said.

Joining that pair of throwers is the Beavers' first men's pole vaulter in more than a decade, van de Linde, who is the indoor and outdoor Alberta provincial champion from St. Timothy's High School.

A native of South Africa, van de Linde was the South African National Champion in the pole vault in both 2022 and 2024, and holds a career-best height of 15 feet, 1 inch.

Van de Linde, who also played field hockey in high school, plans to major in Biomedical Science.

"I am so glad that we have been able to add Jaden to this program," Stevens said. "He brings a level of experience within this newly relaunched vault crew that will help us be relevant almost immediately on the men's side."

And adding depth for the sprinters and hurdlers is Hollingshead, who competed individually in the 200 meters, 400, and 300-meter hurdles at this spring's Class B state meet, finishing 18^th in the 200, and 20^th in both the 400 and 300 hurdles.

He clocked career-best times of 11.51 seconds in the 100 meters, 22.85 in the 200, and 51.5 in the 400, all his senior year, and a career-best of 41.74 in the 300 hurdles as a junior.

A three-sport student-athlete who also played football and basketball, and ran cross country at Tioga High School, Hollingshead was a member of the National Honor Society and won the President's Award in high school. He plans to major in Nursing.

"Rylan is a resilient, nose-to-the-grindstone type of athlete," Stevens said. "Rylan will be a key contributor to the sprint crew and raise the level of the teammates that he is training with. I'm very happy to have him on board with us."