Summit League at NCAA Indoors

Cam Levins of Southern Utah placed 3rd in the 3000m and 4th in the 5000m.  Both finishes garner him All-American status to go with his 4th place finish at NCAA Cross Country.  Cam also set a personal best, indoors or out, in the 5000 with a time of 13:38



Jack Whitt of Oral Roberts finished in third place with a vault of just over 18 feet.  This is Jack's fourth All-American Honor in the Pole Vault.

Leslie Brost, a Watertown native and NDSU athlete, placed 4th in the women's Pole Vault.  She improved her personal best by 5 cm to 4.35m.

Clive Chafausipo, also of Oral Roberts, placed 6th in the Long Jump with a leap of 25-7.  Clive defeated Jared Vlastuin of SDSU by 1 cm at the Summit League.  This performance was essentially his best ever because his outdoor best is wind aided.

It is interesting that all of the Summit League athletes that qualified exceeded their seed places and many set personal bests.  It is also interesting that all but one of the athletes are on teams that are leaving the conference and the other is graduating.  This is a very good year in The Summit League Track and it will be interesting to see who steps up to make it next year.  Here are a few athletes that I think have the best chance:

Mary Wirth, SDSU- Mary nearly qualified for the final round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring after a strong performance at Regionals.

Travis Fitzke, NDSU- Fitzke will have to make a big jump going into his 5th year but it is within reach.

Ashlynn Simon, NDSU- Simon was only 4 seconds off the Auto-Q time and is only a redshirt freshmen.

Deborah John, NDSU- John dominated the hurdles in the Summit League all year and has the best time by .2 seconds.

SDSU and NDSU DMR- Both teams will have the fire power to run a fast DMR next year.  The right race could see one of these teams make it.

Jamario Taylor, Western Illinois- Jamario is over 7 feet in the high jump and is only 10 cm from the auto qualifer as a sophomore.

Kyle Ballew, South Dakota- Ballew is overshadowed by Jack Whitt but he is still fairly close to qualifying and has two year to get there.

Emily Grove, South Dakota- Derek Miles has been good at recruiting and coaching Vaulters.  Grove was only 7 inches behind Brost as a true freshman.

Shot Putters, South Dakota- McKelvey and Snyder were ranked 1 and 2 in the Summit as Freshman.  If they get stronger they could qualify.

Recap of Last Chance Weekend

Mary Wirth jumped 5'8" in another consistent performance. Mary finished 4th in this meet. It is not a qualifying jump but will lead well into the outdoor season.

Jared Vlastuin jumped 24'2" in the Long Jump.  Another consistent performace

Go Jacks Article- There is less there than here as usual.

Mike Krsnak ran 8:16 to take 8th in a deep 3000m field at Notre Dame.  Mike may have had tired legs after last weekend's Summit League Championships where he raced 4 times.

Jake Schneller won his heat at Notre Dame and set a new PR and School record of 1:49.82!  Congrats Jake.  That time would be a regional qualifier for outdoors.  Schneller sat in the pack through 400 in 53.8 then moved soon after.  He took the lead with around 200 to go and ran strong through the finish.  Jake is ranked just outside the top-50 nationally.

Jake after his previous indoor school record, courtesy of his father

Live Results for Jacks This Weekend

Arkansas Live Results

Mary competed well and jumped a consistent 5-8 in the High Jump.  Jared jumps soon.

Notre Dame Live Results

Mike runs at 11:45 Eastern Time tomorrow in the 3000 and Jake runs at 1:05 Eastern Time.

Live Video for ND

Jacks Seeking National Qualifiers

Mike Krsnak and Jake Schneller will be racing this Saturday at Notre Dame seeking fast times in order to break school records and possibly qualify for the NCAA Track meet which is just a few weeks away.  Jake Schneller currently sits in the 101st spot in the NCAA Division 1 800.  His time of 1:51.14 is less than 4 seconds away from the automatic qualifier for NCAAs.  Only 4 athletes have qualified so far and I expect the line to be drawn at about 1:48.0.  Other than qualifying for NCAAs, Jake is looking to better his own school record set earlier in the year.  Coach Rod DeHaven's record had stood for 26 years but I don't expect Schneller's record to last long unless he sets the bar even higher.  The level of competition at SDSU has risen since entering the DI era.

Mike Krsnak sits in nearly the same spot as Schneller in the national rankings at 95th.  Krsnak is second all time and will also be seeking the school record held by Brad Lowery of 8:05.04.  The NCAA automatic qualifies is 7:52.30 and it will certainly take that time to get in as 15 men already have it.  Cam Levins of Southern Utah has qualified for the Mile, 3000 and 5000.

Jumpers Jared Vlastuin and Mary Wirth will also be traveling, this time to Arkansas.  They too seek the NCAA qualifying marks.

Jared is the school record holder in the Long Jump, High Jump, and is ranked 4th all time after last weekend's triple jump performance.  Vlastuin seeks qualifiers in the High Jump and Long Jump.  He is tied for 32nd in the national rankings in the High Jump with his 7'1" performance at conference.  The automatic qualifier is 7'4.25".  Vlastuin is ranked 34th in the Long Jump with his school record of 24'9".  The auto qualifier is 8.00m or about 26'3".  Jared would have to jump about 25'5" to make it to nationals.  The Arkansas runway is said to be among the fastest in the nation and many of the top jumps this year are from that facility including the #2 jump by Texan Marquis Goodwin.  Clive Chafausipo of Oral Roberts is ranked 7th nationally in this event.

Vlastuin Over 7'1" at Summit Leagues- Photo By: Rod Schneller

Mary Wirth is ranked 34th nationally in the High Jump with her school record performance of 5'9.75".  The Auto qualifier is over 6' and Mary would need to clear that height to secure a place at nationals.  Mary finished 13th at last spring's NCAA West Region when a top-12 placing was needed to secure a bid.

Best of luck to all Jackrabbits in their bids to set school records and possibly qualify for NCAA Nationals.