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.

The Future of Summit League Track and Field

I did a lot of thinking both during and after last weekend's Summit League Indoor Conference Track meet.  A lot of the thinking dealt with the loss of Southern Utah to the Big Sky Conference and Oral Roberts to the Southland Conference.  Southern Utah has long been a deep distance running based team with other stellar athletes spread through the other events.  The same pattern has developed at Oral Roberts except their base is in the long sprints, especially the 400 meters.  The result of losing these teams is going to have a negative effect on the Summit League.  The addition of USD this year is a positive one and IUPUI is adding track and field starting this outdoor season but these schools simply are not as good as SUU or ORU.  Nebraska-Omaha is also joining the Summit League- without men's track.  It is hard to visit IPFW's new facility without wondering if they plan to add a men's team soon.  However, I would hold IPFW's school records in the 800, 1500, Mile, 3000, 5000, 10,000 and 3000 Steeplechase without approaching SDSU's Top-10 lists in any of those events.  It is safe to say that IPFW won't be a major factor in the near-future of Summit League Track.

Here are the team scores from the past weekend if you take out SUU and ORU.
Women
1. NDSU 226
2. USD 146
3. SDSU 94
4. UMKC 92
5. WIU 70
6. OU 16
7. IPFW 9

Men
1. NDSU 169
2. USD 148
3. SDSU 134
4. UMKC 120
5. WIU 58
6. OU 21

On both sides it is a Dakota battle with UMKC on the outside, looking it.  Nebraska-Omaha's women will probably be about as good as Western Illinois.  They have some great athletes that will score some points but lack depth.  IUPUI will add more distance runners to the mix but will have little to no effect on the team scoring.  I think the Summit League should look for another school to join and hopefully that school is good at track.  The Summit League track landscape is going to be much different in some events- the men's 400 or 5000 for example.  Those events lose 5 and 6 scorers respectively just to teams leaving the conference.

Summit League Day 2 Recap

Typing this from the bus!  Day 2 of the Summit League Indoor Track and Field Meet was full of surprises, both good and bad, for the Jackrabbits.  Here is a recap and some thoughts on the meet.

Jared Vlastuin continued his success from the previous day with wins in the High Jump and Triple Jump.  Yes, that is the triple jump and this is the first time this year that Jared has competed in that event.  I think he even surprised himself with his jump of 48 feet 2 and 3/4 inches.  The high jump was full of drama as Jamario Taylor of Western Illinois brushed the bar on his final attempt at 6-11 and it fell of as he was exiting the pit.  Jared made sure the win was legitimate while clearing 7 foot 1 inches, a new school and conference record!  These acheivements garnered him the Summit League Male Field Athlete of the Year.  Interview Here

Lora Shearer earned the same award on the women's side after her performances on the weekend.  After an exciting and tiring day winning the heptathlon, Lora came back the second day to place 4th in the 60m hurdles, 6th in the triple jump, and a tie for third in the high jump.  She had finished 2nd place in the hurdles before the race had to be redone because of a timing system failure.  Interview Here

The Men's Multi-Event athletes finished up action with the 60m hurdles, pole vault, and 1000m.  Freshman Bennett Mercil fell in the hurdles, effectively ending his multi-event.  Mike Bredeson made a strong push on day 2 and finished 7th overall.

The men's 60m hurdles saw heavy favorite Matt Tetzlaff of NDSU, a Pierre High School grad, fall and get disqualified.  Jacks Brandon Priebe and Matt Dunbar collected 4th and 6th places respectively.

Although no Jackrabbits were involved, I thought the women's 800 was of note.  It was a huge battle between Emma Ladwig of USD and Brittany Schandore of NDSU with the former coming out on top.  Both women were under the 14 year old conference record.

The Men's 800m saw the Jacks pick up 10 points with 4th, 6th, and 7th place finishes.  Lars Mattison again set a personal best by 1 second after setting one in the prelims by an even larger margin.  It looks like the Jacks may have found their 5th man for the Drake Relays 4x800.

Freshman Jessica McDonald placed 8th in the 400m to earn a point for the Jacks.  Jared Foote gained a 5th place finish in the same event, placing behind 4 Oral Roberts athletes.

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, Freshman McKenzie Johnson threw a personal best by over 3 feet to take second place in the shot put.  She had been seeded eighth coming into the event.

The women's high jump was the highlight of the day for the Jacks with Mary Wirth taking down her longtime rival, Toni Tollefson of NDSU, to win the event.  Lora Shearer and Kali Olson tied for third place to give the Jacks 20 points in the event.

Tera Potts had a similar race to the 3000m in the Mile on day 2.  She had a strong finishing kick to place 5th with a time just over 5 minutes.  In the Men's race, a tired Mike Krsnak kicked his way into 7th.  He competed in the 3000 and DMR the night before and had aspirations of placing in the 5000 later in the day.

The women's 4x4 relay ran well to capture the slow heat in a season best time of 3:56.49.  The men's 4x4 relay was eventful with heavy favorite Oral Roberts being tripped by the Bison.  NDSU would finish third but ended up being disqualified for the incident.  USD went on the win the event by one second over the Jackrabbits.  Jared Foote ran a strong anchor leg and cut the distance to the 'Yotes.

The team scores were a disappointment overall.  The women were hoping for third and were edged by Southern Utah by 4 points.  The men were hoping for second and finished 5th.  The men's team scores were a surprise with Southern Utah coming out on top.  The T-Birds were extremely strong in the distance races and their leader, Cam Levins, won all four of his races.  The favorites, NDSU, finished third.

Results Here

GoJacks Write Up

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!

Summit League Indoors- IPFW Facility

Below is a picture of the new facility at IPFW.  The track surface looks to be nice and fast.  My main concern would be overall space in the building for warm-ups, team camps, and field event areas.  Those concerns aside, this is still the premier facility in the Summit League.  And this is for a school that isn't very good at track and doesn't even have a men's team.  Below the picture is a link to the Summit League Schedule.



Summit League Schedule