Brandon Priebe Honored Again

 Here is what the Summit League had to say about Brandon:

Brandon Priebe, Track & FieldEligibility Year/Hometown: Sr./Chamberlain S.D.
Major: Biology/Pre-Physical Therapy
GPA: 3.46

Brandon Priebe has battled back from injuries to become one of the top hurdlers in The Summit League. At the 2011 Summit League Outdoor Championships, Priebe placed third in the 400-meter hurdles (54.45) and also qualified for the finals in the 110-meter hurdles. Last month at the 2012 Summit League Indoor Championships, Priebe finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.38) and ran the second leg for the Jackrabbits' runner-up 4x400-meter relay team. Priebe has been honored on The Summit League All-Academic Team and the Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence and has taken on a leadership position in South Dakota State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Here is what I have to say:

To say that Brandon Priebe battled back from injuries is an understatement.   It took him a full year, first of rest and recovery and then of a gradual building of his atrophied leg then re-learning how to run and finally hurdling.  Doctors were uncertain whether he would be able to run again and told him that he would not be able to hurdle again.  Exactly one year after his injury, Priebe was back on the track.  He ran the 400 meters.  For the average bystander, it was insignificant, even slow but for his teammates and friends it was as good a school record.  Shortly after returning to running, Brandon returned to hurdling with the 400 meter hurdles.  Again, it wasn't a spectacular time but the fact that he had defied the odds in such short time was a miracle.  Many would have given up the sport but Brandon stuck with it and it paid off.

Off the track, Brandon is very active in SAAC events and is probably the best leader on the SDSU track team.  He will be missed next season. 

Summit League Scholar Article

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.

South Dakota Runner

South Dakota Runner on Facebook

South Dakota Runner Homepage

South Dakota Runner's Journals

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.

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

Brief Recap of Day 1 at Summit League

Hello All,

I have to get to bed so I can run well tomorrow so the Recap will be brief tonight... hopefully.

The day started off with a dramatic conclusion to the Pentathlon.  Lora Shearer PR'd in 4 of 5 events to win by 2 points over Carmilla Pirelli of Oral Roberts.  Lora took the overall lead after a nice Long Jump of 18-05. It then came down to the 800m and Lora finished within the required .6 seconds to retain the lead.  Lora's mark is also a school record!

Mike Bredeson and Bennett Mercil capped off a successful first day of the heptathlon with 5th and 10th place finishes.  They will complete the event with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m run tomorrow.

Brooke Garner started the field events well with a throw of 61 feet 3.5 inches in the weight throw.  That throw was good enough for first place and a school record!  McKenzie Johnson and Amy Paulzine added points to the Jack total with 7th and 8th place finishes.  Jake Brinkmann placed 7th in the weight throw as well.

Ashley Odegaard continued the field event success with an 8th place finish.  Lora Shearer began to fatigue after the multi event.  Her multi jump would have placed her 5th in the open long jump.  The men's long jump was full of drama as Clive Chaufasipo of Oral Roberts defeated our Jared Vlastuin by 1 cm.  Vlastuin barely scratched his last three jumps as he attempted to beat Clive.

Calvin Cammack continued his successful season with a vault of 15-06.25 for 6th place.

Lora Shearer made the finals in the 60m hurdles and will be in the fast heat after a 4th place finish.  Brandon Priebe and Matt Dunbar qualified third and fourth for the men.

All three Jackrabbit men qualified for the 9 man final tomorrow.  Lars Mattison had a monster PR to capture the 9th spot.

Freshman Jessica McDonald qualified in the 400m with a clocking of 57.72.  With a conversion from the 200m flat track this is a PR.  Jared Foote qualified second in the 400 behind Jeffrey Gibson.  Oral Roberts snagged 6 of 8 finals spots.

Tera Potts had a strong kick in the 3000m to place 6th, passing two bison in the last stretch.  Mike Krsnak fought hard in the men's 3000 and earned an all-conference honorable mention with a third place finish.

The women's 200m runners ran well but failed to qualify for the finals.  Megan Bren, Ashley Odegaard, and Gina Fritz all finished between 25.78 and 25.82.  Chris Curry also missed qualifying, by only one hundreth of a second.

The women's distance medley ran within 7 seconds of the Summit League record and still finished 5th.  The team of Krista Creager, Jessica McDonald, Laura Lawton, and Danielle McCann ran very well.  The men ran even better and destroyed the field and the Summit League record of 10:03 set by Southern Utah in 2001.  Dom Thielen (3:01.8), Jared Foote (49.0), Jake Schneller (1:52.1), and Mike Krsnak (4:12.9) lapped most of the field and beat USD by 3 seconds.

The women are in second place after day 1 and the men are tied with Oral Roberts for 3rd place.  North Dakota State leads both.

Day 1 Results

Go Jacks with interviews

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

Interview with Eric Houle of Southern Utah

Here is a recent interview between Running Times and Eric Houle of Southern Utah.  Houle, the program, and the Summit League have been getting a lot more recognition than usual this year due to the success of Cam Levins.  It is too bad the T-Birds are leaving the Summit League for the Big Sky Conference after this year.  Enjoy the article!

5 Minutes with coach Eric Houle

The Southern Utah coach gives insights into Cam Levins' training

By Zachary Ross
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

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Eric Houle is the head cross country and track coach at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah. In 20 years at the helm of the Thunderbirds program, Houle has coached 736 all-conference athletes, 252 individual conference champions, 25 conference athletes of the year, 27 conference newcomers of the year, 24 NCAA national qualifiers, 75 NCAA West Regional qualifiers and four NCAA All-Americans. Among his most notable athletes are Jess Baumgartner, who finished third at the NCAA cross country championships in 2006 and more recently Cam Levins, who was fourth at NCAAs this past cross country season and has been near the top of the NCAA lists for the mile (3:57.16), 3,000m (7:48.25) and 5,000m (13:42.90) this indoor season. We talked to Houle about how Cedar City is one of America’s “best-kept secrets” for distance runners, keeping Cam Levins healthy, and how he’s able to maintain a flexible schedule with Levins in order for him to compete in big races with professional athletes.

Running Times: First of all, tell us your training philosophy as a coach. 

Eric Houle: I believe the body is capable of a lot more than sometimes we give it credit for. Sometimes we put in a lot of work that sometimes doesn’t add up to much, it’s just sometimes going through the motions. So I think, in a well-thought-out program, in terms of all the different elements of training you can focus on quality and take that approach. We can get young athletes to arrive, but it’s a hard process to know exactly what to do. So my philosophy basically is to increase the loads with each athlete in a systematic way that is healthy and good and will allow these athletes to experience more success at the college level.

RT: Would you consider your program to be more of a high-mileage program or a low-mileage/high-intensity program, or does it just depend on the athlete?

EH: For me, with each athlete I do an evaluation — and I know all coaches do this — what they did in high school, where you would like them to be, their talents. And some athletes cannot handle high mileage. So not everybody is on high mileage here. Some kids you start to place some loads on them and you start to realize they’re strong, so you try to up that mileage for them and they respond poorly.

I think if you’re going to go low-mileage, you’ve got to think about quality; if you’re going to go high-mileage, you can focus on some other things comparable. But I don’t think you can get high-mileage and high-intensity to work together all the time. You’re asking for some huge problems in terms of injury and mental burnout.

RT: What are some key workouts you have your athletes do?

EH: We like to test where they are periodically throughout the year. We’ll do endurance type-workouts that test their max VO2, we have speed-type workouts that will test where they are with their overall speed, and try to use that information to set up workouts that are tailored to them. Specifically, for instance, if they’re lacking endurance and they’re not at the level they need to run at, then I’m going to spend more time doing power runs with them, try to build a better endurance strength so they can maintain for a longer time.

RT: Do you do a lot of things off of the track? Like in the weight room or strengthening exercises?

EH: Basically, core work. We focus a lot on core. I really do not want to beat up the athletes legs, especially if they’re on high mileage. It’s just high intensity. I personally just want them focused on core and upper body work. They’re not sprinters; they’re not throwers. We do a lot of that (core) and we do a lot of alternate workouts depending on where they are with health and if they need a break. We do pool workouts and bike workouts depending on where the athlete is.

I make my athletes rest. We do cycles and within those cycles I incorporate rest. Athletes, mainly distance athletes, they don’t want to rest. They think if they miss one mile, they’re done. Within the system I have it just naturally repeats itself and they’re forced to take a rest.

RT: How does the altitude of SUU play into training?

EH: Oh, yeah, we’re at 5,700 feet. The beauty of this place is: the track sits at 5,700 feet, I can get them in vans and drive up the canyon 30 minutes and they can be as high as 10,000 feet, or I can go south of Cedar City and they’re at 2,000 feet. To me, it’s one of the best kept secrets in terms of the availability of different altitudes in reach. It’s pretty sweet.

And when it snows here — like we have a big snow storm hitting us right now — we can’t get that track cleared. We don’t have an indoor facility so workouts are incredibly important and if I can’t make adjustments in the power runs then we’ll gather everyone and head down to St. George (about an hour southwest near the Utah-Arizona border) and do a workout. If it’s 30 degrees here, it’s 55 degrees there.

RT: What exactly is a power run?

EH: We’ll either set them at their max VO2 and force them to maintain a percentage, say 70 percent of their max VO2. I’ll either have them do 90-second pickups, 2-minute pick-ups with equal amounts of rest, depending on the energy system we’re trying to focus on that day. It’s easy to substitute a workout you were going to do on the track on the road based on where the athlete is emotionally, where the athlete is physically, the situation environmentally. You know, it’d be nice to have an indoor facility or live in California with weather that is nearly always perfect but with that being said, you can still get the work done at the level you need to get done and have it still become a positive no matter what’s thrown at you.

RT: So, what do athletes like Jess Baumgartner (who finished third at the 2006 NCAA cross country championships) and Cam Levins bring to the atmosphere of the team?

EH: Anytime any program can get someone to blow up, in a positive way, and achieve great things, it inspires everyone around them. All of the sudden, the focus is “Is it possible?” and yes, it is possible. They see it happen in front of their eyes. They know, yes, the work they’re putting in and the things they believe they can achieve are happening. They can do them. And that’s what (Baumgartner and Levins) bring to our program. I think they bring inspiration, I think they bring belief — that the program does have — but now (their teammates) see and realize.

RT: How do you keep Cam Levins healthy when he’s running 130-160 miles a week?

EH: I think it’s important to monitor health. I think it’s important to monitor pulse. I think it’s important to monitor what the athlete is taking into their body prior to upping their mileage and while they’re maintaining their mileage and seeing all of the indicators — you know, health indicators, mental indicators — that start to talk to you, not outwardly, but you start to see the signs and start to make quick adjustments for that. You’re always going to have breakdowns. No matter how well you prepare or how well the athlete prepares, you’re going to have those breakdowns. But my philosophy for the athletes is, if we can keep interruptions to a minimum you’re going to be able to do the things you need to do to get yourself to a level unlike you’ve ever been before. So, it’s the interruptions we try to control, which is why in the program itself there are things we work on that force the athlete to take rest, to monitor certain aspects of their training, to look at certain aspects of their sleep patterns and pulse, and stuff like that. I know all the other programs do this stuff, it’s just what things that are working for us.

RT: How do you manage a program in which athletes are going all over to race on any given weekend? 

EH: I think I have to be flexible. If you look at my schedule, I have a three-tier program that I try to run. So, the first-tier people go to meets close by that I feel are at their level that the athletes there (at the meet) will help them rise, won’t be overwhelming and allow them to adapt. The second tier is made up of those who are most likely going to make up conference team, so we’ll get them to higher level meets and warmer climates, like California, to race in. And the third tier, the very top, we will do whatever we have to in order to get you to the races that they need to get to. Obviously, we don’t always get to Millrose or Boston, and that may never happen again, but the opportunity presented itself so I had to look in terms of: what can we do to raise his level of performance, raise his overall experience in competition so when he moves to the next stage of his competitive life — outside of Southern Utah — he has come out fully educated, so to speak, ready to take on that next stage? So I have to be flexible, and there’s a little bit of promotion there as well. Anytime you can get your university out there on big stages it speaks well of the university and what’s happening in the program. In my opinion, you have to be flexible. If we have to pull out of a meet, we have to be flexible to pull out of meets. If we need to attend a meet and that opportunity arises, we need to be able to attend. 



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