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I would like to give a shout-out to Jarvis Jelen and South Dakota Runner.  South Dakota Runner is a website dedicated only to SD Running.  Some of the features are; Runner's Journals, Bios, Teams, Native Lists, Race Calenders, and more.  The website is definitely a great resource and wealth of knowledge for SD Runners of all ages.  Recently, I contacted Jarvis about getting an SDSU Runner's Journal up on the site and he was ecstatic.  Look for my weekly updates on South Dakota Runner.  If anybody else is interested in getting their journal on the site, contact Jarvis.

Women's Summit League Predictions Revisited

Heat Sheets!

Meet Schedule

Here I am going to look at the Summit League Women's competition now that the season has progressed.  Competition has already begun with the Multi-Events this morning.

1. NDSU- The Bison are an all around powerhouse.  They won't be beaten.
2. USD- The yotes are led by Emma Ladwig (Erickson), Alexa Duling, Analisa Huschle, Kenna Wolter, and Emily Grove who all should have a shot at winning at least one event.
3. SDSU- The Jacks will be in a hard fought battle for third with many of the teams below.  Luck and circumstance will play a factor in deciding places.  See below for the Jacks Keys to Success.
4. Southern Utah-  The distance events will be their strong point and will expect big points out of Kayla Kovar, a thrower.
5. UMKC- A well-rounded team on the rise, the 'Roos will be led by their triple jumpers and long sprinters.  Don't expect any event titles for them but many placings.
6. Oral Roberts- Sprinters Cornisha Wilkerson and TK Whitfield need to pick up big points for the Eagles to place well.  Look for multi eventer Camilla Pirelli to score as well.
7. Oakland- Lia Jones reportedly has a stress fracture and will not compete.  She was expected to be a contender in the distance races.  The Grizzlies will need to pick up points elsewhere.
8. Western Illinois- Dana LaRue looks to score big in both throws for the Leathernecks.  Chelsea Lynes also has the top time in the Mile run and is ranked 4th in the 800.
9. IPFW-  The hosts won't be scoring many points.  Sarah Hutchings in the distance and mid-distance races is their greatest hope.

Jacks Keys
1. Lora Shearer's endurance- Shearer will be competing in the Multi (5 events) as well as 4 individual events.  She will be a factor in all events if she can fight the fatigue.
2. Throws- Rapid City natives Brooke Garner and McKenzie Johnson lead the charge here.  Brooke looks to win a few titles.
3. Relays- The Jacks hope to pick up big points in the 4x4 and DMR.  This is the first time this year that the 4x4 is at its best- Odegaard, Bren, Fritz, and McDonald.
4. High Jump- Wirth and Shearer are 2-3 and don't forget about Kali Olson!
5. Distance- Tera Potts and Erin Hargens are ranked 6th in their respective events.
6. Getting to finals- there are a lot of women on the line of making finals and not making finals.  They need to perform today to score tomorrow.  Every point counts!

Be Like Nascar

Here are a few ways that NASCAR does things better than Track and Field.  No, I am not saying that I like NASCAR or that I think it is better than running in any way, shape or form.  However, I think we can learn a few lessons from those guys.

1. Advertising.  Yes, I know Nick Symmonds just sold his arm on eBay and that this area might be in reform but we still are far behind.  I think that the shoe company that sponsors an athlete should be like the brand of car a driver uses.  They should be able to have a prominent logo but that's as far as their power goes.  The athlete or their agent or whomever should try and secure other brands to sponsor the athlete.  The athlete can put these logos on their jersey, warm-ups, appear in commercials, talk about them at a press conference, use their products in public, etc.  All of this would bring more money and attention to track and field and that my friends, is a good thing!

2. A more organized competitive schedule.  Something like the Diamond or Golden League comes to mind.  The NASCAR racers have their specific cups and they all attend all the races so they can accumulate points so in the end there is actually a winner.  Yes, I know that track athletes can't go out and race all-out every weekend but they could race a little more.  They could race at times when the conditions aren't perfect.  They don't need to break a record every single time out.
-This past weekend provided a fine example of how Track not having an organized schedule hurt the sport:  Galen Rupp just broke the American Record in the 2-Mile run.  That record was held by Bernard Lagat who just broke the American Record in the 5000m run.  Galen ran at the U of Arkansas in Fayetteville at the Tyson Invitational and Lagat ran at the Millrose Games in New York.  As a track fanatic I have to ask a few questions.  First, who is better, Lagat or Rupp?  Second, why didn't they race each other?  Third, why were these races on the same day?  Wouldn't a lot more interest have been generated if these two had raced each other in the 5000 at Millrose last Saturday and moved the Tyson to another weekend where they could race each other again.  Rivalries are great for this sport!  Look at USA vs the Soviets, Ovett vs Coe.  Those two rivalries drew a lot of attention to track from people who probably didn't even care about track but only cared about the rivalries.

3. NASCAR gets prime TV for every one of their races!  Track gets poor coverage, usually not live, and not at a good time.  I have watched a lot of Diamond League meets in the wee hours of the morning on Universal because that is the only time they were on.  I think this part of the sport would greatly improve with an increase in advertising.

I guess I only have three main points to discuss today but really, track is a like-able sport and as a true track fan I have to worry about the future of the sport.  If NASCAR can promote a bunch of dudes driving cars around in circles for hours on end then we should be able to achieve a similar amount of success with track and field.

Galen broke Lagat's record at Tyson

Lawi Laland, Edward Cheserek, and Bernard Lagat set records at Millrose