Track & Field Host Final Tune Up

Friday, February 15

Brookings, S.D.

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

SDSU Last Chance

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia Sports Media

2/14/2019 7:04:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

SDSU hosts the SDSU Last Chance on Friday as the last regular-season meet before The Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 22-23

MEET 12: South Dakota State (Men & Women) Host SDSU Last Chance

When	Friday, Feb. 15 - Field Events: 3 p.m. \| Track Events: 4 p.m.
Where	Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex \| Brookings, S.D. \| Google Maps \| Parking Map
Live Results	DakotaTiming.com \| No Live Stream
Meet Notes	Number of Teams Expected: 7 Meet Info \| Tentative Schedule \| Heat Sheets \| Home Meet Page SDSU Stats & Records Page SDSU Performance List: Men \| Women /// SDSU School's Top 10: Men \| Women /// SDSU Records: Men \| Women /// SDSU Meet Records: Men \| Women /// Combined SDSU Indoor Records: Men \| Women
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| #GoJacks

The South Dakota State track and field teams will host the SDSU Last Chance as their final tune-up before inviting The Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships into the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex on Feb. 22-23, presented by the U.S. Air Force Special Ops.

SCHEDULE
Field events will kick off the meet on Friday at 3 p.m. with the first batch of events. The second group of field events will begin at 5 p.m. while the track events get started at 4 p.m. and run through 6:40 p.m.

ADMISSION & PARKING
Spectator parking should be available on the west side of the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium and on the northwest side of the SJAC. The Northwest First Bank & Trust entrance will be the lone entrance available for spectators (Parking Map).

Admission will be $5 for adults and $3 for K-12 students. Admission for South Dakota State students is free with a valid ID.

RESULTS
Live results will be made available by DakotaTiming.com while you can follow Jackrabbit action on our Twitter page (@GoJacksTFXC). A meet recap will be made available following the conclusion of each meet.

JACKRABBIT TRACK AND FIELD ALUMNI REUNION
Join fellow South Dakota State University track & field alumni at the 2019 Track & Field Reunion. Cheer on the Jacks at the Summit League Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday in the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Then enjoy a social with teammates Friday evening and watch the Men's Basketball game vs. South Dakota in Frost Arena on Saturday.

Friday, Feb. 15 is the last day to RSVP (click here) but you can also pay on the weekend of the event.

TEAMS REPRESENTED
As many as seven schools will be represented this weekend. A full list of schools can be found below -

Augustana (S.D.) (M/W)
Grand View (M/W)
Minnesota-Morris (M/W)
Northern State (M/W)
Sioux Falls (M/W)
SW Minnesota St. (M/W)
Wayne St. (Neb.) (M/W)

USTFCCCA WEEKLY RANKINGS
The USTFCCCA.org now has four weekly rankings to follow, including the new conference TFRI rankings released for the first time this year, on Monday.

The South Dakota State men's team (771.94 points) sits atop The Summit League poll, 6.46 points ahead of 15th-nationally-ranked North Dakota State and 309.71 points ahead of South Dakota. See men's rankings here.

Senior Kyle Burdick tallied the most points for the team with the best mile (24.26 points) and the best 3,000m (23.32) in the league. Zenner is also leading in two events - the 60m (23.12) and the 200m (24.39) - while sophomore Micah Mather scored the most points in a single event - the 5,000m (24.42). See individual point-scorers here.

The Jackrabbit women's team is third (339.37) in the TFRI rankings, behind North Dakota State and South Dakota. See women's rankings here.

Senior Rachel King is responsible for the most points on the team, adding her second-best marks in both the 5,000m (21.87 points) and 3,000m (20.86) while having the fourth-best mile mark (15.43). Sophomore Oksana Covey is responsible for the second-most points - adding the best mark in the league in the 800m (22.80) and the third-best 400m (17.85) - while junior Miatta Flemister-Smith has the tallied the most points from a single event - the 60m (22.98) - with the league's best mark. She also has the fifth-best 200m (13.70). See individual point-scorers here.

Men's USTFCCCA Conference Rankings
1. South Dakota State (771.94)
2. North Dakota State (765.48)
3. South Dakota (462.23)
4. Oral Roberts (278.91)
5. North Dakota (194.05)
6. Western Illinois (90.50)

Women's USTFCCCA Conference Rankings
1. North Dakota State (762.78)
2. South Dakota (642.40)
3. South Dakota State (339.37)
4. North Dakota (328.41)
5. Oral Roberts (244.12)
6. Western Illinois (140.74)
7. Omaha (106.02)
8. Purdue Fort Wayne (100.92)

#EventSquad Rankings
In the third installment of the #EventSquad rankings, the men's team climbed the ladder in both the 800m and the 60m hurdles thanks to sophomore Nick Wessels and freshman Reid Pierzinski adding PR's in the hurdles and five season-best marks in the 800m led by senior Cal Lawton and freshman Riley Bauer. The squad has three top-15 quartets nationally - the 60m (23rd), 200m (23rd), and triple jump (13th).

As for the women, the 60m squad and 800m squad jump six and five spots nationally, led by three of the top-four women in the 800m adding their best marks of the season and two more notching bests in the 60m at the SDSU Classic (So. Oksana Covey, Sr. Krista Steele, Fr. Ellie Friesen in the 800m ... R-Fr. Madisson Gay, Fr. Mikayla Wevik). The 800m quartet is the best ranking for the women at No. 35 with two other squads joining them in the top-50 in the nation - including both the shot put (No. 41) and weight throw (No. 47).

60m: Men - 23 | Women - 166
200m: Men - 23 | Women - 206
400m: Men - 111 | Women - 146
800m: Men - 42 | Women - 35
Mile: Men - 64 | Women - 93
3,000m: Men - 63 | Women - 81
5,000m: Men - N/A | Women - 62
60H: Men - 44 | Women - N/A
HJ: Men - 32 | Women - 55
PV: Men - 46 | Women - 65
LJ: Men - 46 | Women - 136
TJ: Men - 13 | Women - 46
SP: Men - 73 | Women - 41
WT: Men - N/A | Women - 47
To See: Men | Women

USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national desending-order list. As with the national decending-order list for qualifying and seeding purposes, marks are subject to be converted due to track size and/or altitude. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark recorded with TFRRS to achieve a ranking in a particular event.

Regional and National Rankings
The longest rankings by the USTFCCCA this season has been the regional and national TFRI rankings, with the South Dakota State men reaching their highest-ever ranking in opening weekend at No. 7 in the Midwest Region. Since then, the Jacks have been bouncing up and down at No. 12 and No. 13 - reaching No. 12 last week and being No. 13 this week and week two. Nationally, SDSU was No. 114 in week one and dropped as low as No. 130 last week, but the Jacks are sitting 129th in week four.

For the women, they have been at the No. 25 spot in the region three out of the four weeks, reaching No. 24 un week three. The women have not been ranked nationally this season.

ALL-COLLEGE WEEKLY MARKS
Last weekend at the SDSU Classic, the women had two USTFCCCA all-college top-10 marks during the week. Sophomore Oksana Covey held the No. 7 600m mark while the school's No. 6 all-time 4x800m relay crew posted the 10th-best all-college relay performance.

For the men, the 4x800m relay squad had the best NCAA DI mark and the eighth-best all-college mark last week.

The Jackrabbit track and field teams have had 16 all-college top-10 weekly performances so far this season, with junior Sam Zenner having the most (4) and senior Kyle Burdick with the second most (3) - according to USTFCCCA.org. SDSU has had two individual women make the list in the season-opening meet (Miatta Flemister-Smith and Lauren Van Dyke).

USTFCCCA.org's Week's All-College Top 10 - Feb. 4-10:
- MEN -
4x800m - No. 8 - 7:55.88 (best in NCAA DI)
(1. Fr. Thomas Breuckman, 2. So. Derek Boekelheide, Fr. Blake Iverson, Fr. Riley Bauer)
- WOMEN -
600m - No. 7 - So. Oksana Covey - 1:32.84
4x800m - No. 10 - 9:36.15
(1. So. Cailee Peterson, 2. Sr. Rachel Propst, Jr. Kendra Dykstra, 4. Sr. Anna Fasen)

USTFCCCA.org's Week's All-College Top 10 - Jan. 14-20:
- MEN -
200m - No. 4 - Jr. Sam Zenner - 21.00
1,000m - No. 3 - Sr. Kyle Burdick - 2:25.08
3,000m - No. 4 - Sr. Kyle Burdick - 8:08.45

USTFCCCA.org's Week's All-College Top 10 - Jan. 8-13:
- MEN -
Mile - No. 7 - Sr. Kyle Burdick - 4:06.00

USTFCCCA.org's Week's All-College Top 10 - Nov. 30-Dec. 2:
- MEN -
60m - No. 6 - Jr. Sam Zenner - Prelims: 6.78
200m - No. 5 - Jr. Sam Zenner - 21.50
600m - T-No. 4 - Jr. Wyatt Gatrost - 1:21.73
600m - No. 8 - So. Mitchel Acker - 1:21.91
Shot Put - No. 10 - So. Noah Huber - 55-07.25
Hept. - No. 4 - Jr. Evan Hieber - 4,959 (best in NCAA DI)
4x400m Relay - No. 8 - 3:16.43
(Sr. Sam Johnson, So. Mitchel Acker, Fr. Reid Pierzinski, Jr. Landon Larson)
- WOMEN -
60m - T-No. 6 - Jr. Miatta Flemister-Smith - 7.53
600m - No. 7 - Fr. Lauren Van Dyke - 1:35.85

USTFCCCA ANOUNCED ALL-ACADEMIC CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The South Dakota State cross country teams were named All-Academic teams for the seventh consecutive time, 11th time overall, since becoming Division I according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Thursday.

Seniors Kyle Burdick and Rachel King were also named to the All-Academic individual team for the second times in their respective careers. Burdick keeps the men's cross country streak of now four individuals honored consecutively (since 2015) and King is the all-time women's leader in cross country or track and field for most times named to the USTFCCCA honor list (5 times).

The women's team held the sixth-highest GPA (3.71) among the 232 NCAA DI schools represented on the list, the best mark among Summit League schools and second in the Midwest Region behind Iowa State (fifth, 3.75 GPA). The team's cumulative GPA this year is the second-highest highest behind 2007-08 squad. Last year, the team was tied for the what is now the fourth-highest GPA (3.68) with the 2008 season (3.72 GPA in 2007, 3.71 GPA in 2018, 3.69 GPA in 2016, 3.68 in 2017 and 2008).

The men's team posted the 20th-best GPA (3.51) out of 195 DI schools honored, the second-best mark in the league behind Purdue Fort Wayne (19th, 3.52 GPA) and fourth in the Midwest Region. It is their highest-ever team average, beating last year's average (3.41) and the 2014's GPA (3.49).

Burdick, majoring in natural resource law enforcement, was named to last year's team while also being an honoree for the track and field season along with 2018 graduate Colton Bender. Combining his track (2) and cross country all-academic teams (2), he's now been a part of four lists.

King, studying health education, was named to her first cross country list last year while adding her third consecutive individual honor in track last season. Sara Ackman (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10) and Michelle Schuch (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10) were each nominated three times for the second-most by an individual State student-athlete.

SUMMIT LEAGUE ITF PRESEASON - Full Story
For the first time since joining The Summit League, the South Dakota State men's track and field program enters the 2019 indoor season as the favorite to win the indoor championships in Brookings on Feb. 22-23.

The women's Jackrabbit team was preseason polled at third place for the fifth consecutive year, finishing third all but once in the league championships.

The men scored 19 points and three first-place votes in the Summit League release, one point and one first-place vote ahead of North Dakota State, who has won the last three indoor championships. The women's team added 34 points to their ledger, one point behind Summit League preseason runner-up South Dakota and eight points behind preseason favorite North Dakota State.

The men's team is coming off of a runner-up finishes in both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2018 - adding the second-most team points scored indoors and the most points outdoors in team history with the league. In the 11 years the league has done a preseason poll, the men's team has finished below the indoor preseason ranking only three times, and the last time was in 2013 when they were tabbed as third and finished fourth.

Prior to this season, for both the indoor and outdoor preseason polls, their highest ranking has been second, happening four times since joining the Summit League. Overall, only three times have the Jacks finished below their preseason ranking in both indoor and outdoor through 19 polls.

The last time the Summit League Championships were in Brooking, S.D., the men were preseason polled as runner-up favorites and women in third. The men nearly captured their first indoor championships, falling just 2.5 points short - coming down to the final race. The women placed third behind NDSU and USD.

MEN'S INDOOR PRESEASON POLL

	School	Score
1.	South Dakota State	19 (3)
2.	North Dakota State	18 (2)
3.	South Dakota	14
4.	Oral Roberts	13
5.	North Dakota	7
6.	Western Illinois	4

WOMEN'S INDOOR PRESEASON POLL

	School	Score
1.	North Dakota State	42 (6)
2.	South Dakota	35 (1)
3.	South Dakota State	34
4.	Oral Roberts	26
5.	North Dakota	25
T-6.	Western Illinois	13
T-6.	Omaha	13
8.	Purdue Fort Wayne	7

PRESEASON ATHLETES TO WATCH
Kyle Burdick | South Dakota State | Senior | Distance

Summit League Most Outstanding Performer (2018)
All-League Indoors (2016, 2017, 2018)
Won the mile and 3,000-meters and finished second in the 5,000-meters at the 2018 Indoor Championships

Bryant Courter | South Dakota State | Junior | Jumps

All-League Indoors (2017, 2018)
Summit League Indoor Championship Field MVP (2017, 2018)
Reset the triple jump school record four times and etched his name on three meet records
Won the triple jump with a championship record and finished second in the long jump and high jump at the 2018 indoor championships

Rachel King | South Dakota State | Senior | Distance

2018 Summit League Championship Track MVP
Won the mile and the 3,000-meter race while finishing second in the 5,000-meters at the 2018 Summit League Indoor Championships
2017 Summit League Indoor Athlete of the Year
All-League Indoors (2017, 2018)
Was the first-ever South Dakota State female to compete on the track at the NCAA DI Championships in Eugene last June - earning All-America Honorable Mention.
King is responsible for five individual school-record marks (IN: Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, OUT: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m), second all-time mark in the 1,500m, and was a part of the DMR that beat the school record (11:23.20) at the Drake Relays. She was fifth in the NCAA and 21st in the world in the Steeple on March 31.

JACKRABBITS 2019-20 SIGNEES - Full Story
The South Dakota State University track & field teams have signed seven high school student-athletes to National Letters of Intent, head coach Rod DeHaven announced on Dec. 3.

MEN:
Pierre Lear | Watertown High School | Watertown, S.D.
Named the 2018 State Champion in the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles while being runner-up in the high jump at the South Dakota Class AA State Track and Field Championships ... placed fifth in the 110m hurdles and third in the 300m hurdles in the 2017 State Championships ... has personal-best marks in the 110m hurdles (14.87), 300m hurdles (39.21), and high jump (6-06.00).

WOMEN:
Leah Hansen | Willmar High School | Willmar, Minn.
Finished 31st at the Minnesota Class AA State Cross Country meet ... has personal-best marks in the 1,600m (5:23), 3,200m (11:31), and 5k XC (18:25).

Bridget Henne | Ronald N. Davies High School | Fargo, N.D.
Finished 11th overall at the North Dakota Class A State Cross Country meet ... placed sixth overall in the 3,200m at the Class A track and field meet last spring ... has personal-best marks in the 1,600m (5:18), 3,200m (11:16), and 5k XC (18:44).

Micheala Kelley | Burwell High School | Burwell, Neb.
Has personal-best marks in the 1,600m (5:39), 3,200m (11:42), and 5k XC (19:43).

Emilee Nickel | Central High School | Rapid City, S.D.
Was named the 2017 State Champion in 100m hurdles at the South Dakota Class AA Track and Field Championships ... finished fifth overall in both 2016 and 2018 ... has a personal-best in the 100m hurdles of 14.74 seconds.

Kaley Waldemar | Irondale High School | New Brighton, Minn.
Was the Minnesota Class AA runner-up in the discus in 2018 ... has personal-best marks in the shot put (40-09.50) and discus (133-06.00).

Annie Wendt | Mayo High School | Rochester, Minn.
Placed sixth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump at the 2018 Minnesota Class AA State Track and Field Championships ... has personal-best marks in the long jump (18-00.00) and triple Jump (37-01.50).

LAST TIME OUT: SDSU Classic - O'Connor & Wessels are the First Since 2015 - Full Recap
Junior Jaymie O'Connor and sophomore Nick Wessels are the only South Dakota State Jackrabbits to crack the top five in the 60m hurdles since 2015 and 2012 ... and both of them entered performances in the top five today, yet again.

O'Connor, from Chateauguay, Quebec, has owned the school-record 60m hurdles mark since the 2017 Summit League Indoor Championships during her freshman campaign. She entered the 2017 championship weekend with the No. 5 all-time mark (8.79, set at Jim Emmerich) before marching up the list to No. 4 in the prelims (8.72) and claiming the school record in a runner-up finals performance (8.61) in Brookings on Feb. 24-25, 2017.

Nearly two seasons later - having all 23 performances before Saturday top-10 worthy but just missing her PR - she was able to breach the record again ... twice.

First in the semi-finals, trimming 0.06 seconds from her previous-best and winning her heat (8.55), second overall in the section. Then again in the finals, cutting another 0.02 seconds off and establishing a 0.14-second gap between the school record and No. 2 all-time mark - placing runner-up out of 57 total runners at the SDSU Classic.

The junior's mark will hold as the No. 1 mark in the league by 0.03 seconds.

For Wessels, he entered the school's top 10 in his first attached race for SDSU at the beginning of the 2018 indoor season - clocking 8.41 seconds in both the prelims and finals of the 2018 SDSU Holiday Invite for the tied No. 8 all-time mark. He reset his best twice more last season - scoring 8.30 seconds in the Jim Emmerich and 8.24 seconds in the SDSU Classic - to move up to No. 6 and then to T-No. 5 all-time to close out the 2018 indoor season, the first Jackrabbit in the top-five since 2012.

The sophomore from Urbandale, Iowa started 2019 with seven of his nine marks eligible for the school's top 10 before Saturday - including a PR reset at the Jim Emmerich that knocked off 0.02 seconds and moved him into a tie for No. 4 all-time.

Enter Saturday's semi-final where Wessels (first, 8.07) cut 0.15 seconds off his T-No. 4 mark and climbed into State's top-three with the No. 2 all-time mark - the fastest Jackrabbit since 2006. 8.07 seconds ended up being tied for the fastest time of the meet and just 0.02 seconds from the school record held by David Hegland (8.05, 2004).

The sophomore finished second in the finals (8.21) with his second-best mark all-time - a mark that would be No. 4 all-time. His PR from the semi-finals stands as the No. 2 mark in the league.

Teammate Reid Pierzinski, a freshman who was also in the school's top 10 prior to Saturday (No. 9, 8.38), had a similar performance to Wessels - adding a personal-best in the semi-finals (seventh, 8.35) to move into a tie for the No. 8 all-time mark with Matt Dunbar ('12).

Pierzinski first tied his 8.38-second personal-best in the prelims before burning 0.03 seconds off in the semi-finals. The Nisswa, Minn. native finished seventh in the finals (8.44).

Keeping the Jackrabbit's longest active winning streak alive, junior Bryant Courter tallied win No. 7 in the indoor triple jump (48-11.50) by out-jumping the runner-up by 8.75 inches.

On Friday, sophomore Trent Francom earned his sixth career indoor pole vault victory (16-08.75) with his second-best indoor vault of his career - two inches short of his recently written school-record mark set at the Dakota Realty Meet.

Senior Kyle Burdick, who is leading The Summit League in both the mile and 3,000m, won (4:04.97) his fifth career mile on Saturday - falling just short (0.08 seconds) of the meet and facility record he owns from the 2018 SDSU Classic. He beat the field of 86 by 2.79 seconds and was short of his PR - which is No. 2 all-time behind head coach Rod DeHaven (4:00.95, 1987) - by 2.70 seconds.

Following Burdick in the mile, junior Lukas Nelson (eighth, 4:11.82) led SDSU in mile section prior that resulted in four personal-best marks - with Nelson being 1.69 seconds from the school's No. 10 all-time mark.

Sophomore Oksana Covey came away with the women's only two event wins - adding her third career win in the 600m (1:32.84) and her first career indoor win in the 800m (2:10.43), both season-best marks. Freshmen duo Ellie Friesen (11th, 2:15.13) and Bailey Dergan (51st, 2:31.37) added personal-best marks in the 800m behind Covey, senior Krista Steele (fifth, 2:12.27), and junior Kendra Dykstra (ninth, 2:13.76).

Senior Cal Lawton led the charge in both the 600m (eighth, 1:21.95) and 800m (third, 1:53.18) for the men - a season-best in both events - while freshman Riley Bauer came in right behind Lawton in the 800m (fourth, 1:53.54) to sneak into the school's top 10 all-time at No. 10.

The quartet of Jackrabbit 60m sprinters all made it into the finals with sophomore Coby Hilton (third, 6.89) posting his fourth career top-three finish followed by junior Landon Larson (fourth, 6.90) - who had the best mark out of the field in the prelims (6.88) - sophomore Daniel Clarke (sixth, 6.92) - who was the only other Jack besides Hilton to finish the finals with his best mark of the meet - and freshman Emmanual Phoulom-Smith (eighth, 7.02).

Hilton, along with Larson, reset their personal-best marks in the 200m on Friday night - Hilton's third PR reset in the event (won, 21.30) and No. 2 all-time, Larson's second PR reset (third, 21.63) and No. 3 all-time. Hilton tallied his third career indoor 200m win as he and Larson are No. 2 and No. 3 in the league performance list behind teammate Sam Zenner.

For the women, redshirt freshman Madisson Gay and freshman Mikayla Wevik reset three personal-best marks over the weekend (60m, 200, 400m). Gay trimmed her 60m (T-27th, 8.04) by 0.14 seconds, her 200m (42nd, 26.59) by 0.39 seconds, and her 400m (35th, 1:00.88) by 0.28 seconds. Wevik knocked off 0.05 seconds in the 60m (T-30th, 8.05), 0.37 seconds in the 200m (31st, 26.37), and 1.26 seconds off her 400m (45th, 1:01.58).

In the men's 3,000m, sophomore Gabe Peters - who had a PR in the mile (18th, 4:16.26) - led a Jackrabbit squad that tallied four PR's on Friday, with Peters within 7.65 seconds of the all-time top-10 list.

Senior Rachel King battled it out in the 5,000m on Saturday, leading early through the contest but finishing runner-up (16:33.70) with her first mark in the event on the season - just 3.82 seconds from her PR and school-record mark set in last year's SDSU Classic.

The women's 4x800m relay (1. So. Cailee Peterson, 2. Sr. Rachel Propst, Jr. Kendra Dykstra, 4. Sr. Anna Fasen) highlighted the relay events at the end of the night by finishing runner-up (9:36.15) with the school's No. 6 all-time mark.

The men's 4x800m earned a win (7:55.88) out of four teams (1. Fr. Thomas Breuckman, 2. So. Derek Boekelheide, Fr. Blake Iverson, Fr. Riley Bauer).

Unattached freshman Dominick Etherington posted a monster weekend - exploding his personal-best marks in both the shot put (ninth, 54-10.75) and weight throw (34th, 48-08.00). He led the Jacks in the shot put for the first time in his career with a 3-10.75-foot PR increase and threw a 5-00.25-foot PR increase in the weight throw on Friday.

JACKS' XC - DEHAVEN'S DYNASTY
The Summit League announced Jackrabbit Head Coach Rod DeHaven won the 2018 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year on Nov. 29.

It is his seventh men's honor, which is the second-most ever on the men's side since the honor was introduced in 1982. DeHaven has won the men's honor seven out of the 12 years the Jackrabbits have been in the league, which is the most in that span.

Overall, Coach DeHaven has won eight cross country coach of the year honors, garnering the women's accolade in 2008. He has also earned a Summit League Indoor Coach of the Year honor on the men's side in 2017.

XC YEAR-END RECAP
Summit League Men (Oct. 28) - The men's cross country team returned to Brookings after the league championships as the three-time defending Summit League Champions, winning their latest championship by 37 points and notching the school's lowest point-score since 2007 (23 points).

The 23-point score was two points under SDSU's 2016 winning score (25) that started the championship run. The 2016 crew had six guys in the top-10, three in the top-five, while the 2018 squad had seven Jackrabbits in the top 10 and eight total winning All-League recognition. Summit League rivals South Dakota and North Dakota State were held to a combined three top-10 finishers.

Five First-Team All-Summit League honorees for SDSU is now the most-ever First-Team All-League honors for SDSU - beating the previous-best set in 2016 (four - won the championship). Three Second-Team All-League members is now tied for the most from South Dakota State (tying the 2014, 2013, 2009 teams). Eight total All-League honors is now the most-ever for South Dakota State in The Summit League era (beating the 2016 championship team's six All-League).

The 37-point margin of victory was the largest-ever by SDSU, beating the previous-best - a 27-point victory over South Dakota in 2012. As far as The Summit League's margin-of-victory records go, it was the second-largest win since South Dakota State joined in 2007 - just five points behind Southern Utah's 42-point win over Oakland in 2007. Southern Utah also holds the all-time record for margin-of-victory, beating Oakland by 60 points in 2006 when they had a perfect score (15).

As for average team times, the Jacks had a pace of 25:23.45 as a team - a time that beats the next-best average by 45.45 seconds from North Dakota State. All Jacks finished in the top-20 with SDSU's Michael Schwinghamer (eighth Jack) earning the last Second-Team All-League honor (14th overall). Schwinghamer, along with Evan Fick (ninth Jack, 17th overall), outpaced two other school's first-scored runner and four other school's second-scored runner. Schwinghamer nearly beat NDSU's and Purdue-Fort Wayne's No. 1 runners (they finished 12th and 13th with Schwinghamer in 14th).

Summit League Women (Oct. 28) - The women's team scored 61 points in a close team-finish behind South Dakota (won, 51 points) and North Dakota State (second, 52 points). It was the second-closest finish among the top-three schools in the league championships (10-point difference between the winners and third place).

The closest was in 2007 when Purdue-Fort Wayne and Southern Utah tied for first (67 points each) and South Dakota State recorded third (68 points). The next closest finish among the top-three schools was in 2016 when South Dakota won (43 points), North Dakota State finished second (48) and South Dakota State placed third (55) - a 12-point difference.

For the Jackrabbit team, it was the fifth-lowest overall team score in The Summit League Championships and the second-lowest team score when they've placed third in the league (2016's team finished third, scored 55 points).

South Dakota State added two First-Team All-Summit League honorees (Rachel King, Emily Donnay), and nearly a Second-Team All-Summit League award-winner (Anna Donnay - missed by 0.05 seconds), to help keep the point-total low. The Jacks have had multiple First-Team All-League performers only three times, with the most being three in 2016 (other times: 2015 - two, 2013 - two).

Jackrabbit Newcomers Take League by Storm (Oct. 28) - Both freshman Joseph Minor-Williams and Thomas Breuckman could have taken home The Summit League's Newcomer of the Championship for the men, as they finished 0.6 seconds from each other in the league's top-10 individual finish. However, Minor-Williams (eighth, 25:38.6) edged out Breuckman (ninth, 25:39.2) for the honor.

Minor-Williams helped SDSU complete the sweep of The Summit League's Newcomer of the Championship awards, as fellow freshman on the women's side - Ellie Friesen (18th, 22:12.3) - won the Newcomer of the Championship on the women's side. Friesen was the second-ever Jackrabbit on the women's side to win the honor - since senior Rachel King was honored as a freshman 2015.

Since the award was changed to Newcomer of the Championship in 2008, only two other schools have claimed both newcomer awards in the same season (2010 - NDSU, 2012 - USD). South Dakota State and North Dakota State are tied for the most Newcomer of the Championship award recipients with six each (Bison: two men, four women; Jackrabbits: four men, two women).

Jacks Pace Summit League at NCAA Regionals (Nov. 9) - The South Dakota State men's and women's cross country teams finished their 2018 campaigns in Peoria, Ill. at the NCAA Midwest Regionals with the men finishing 10th (288 points) and the women tying their best-ever place-finish and scoring their lowest point-total, 13th (369 points).

It was the fifth time the men's team has finished in the top 10 of the Midwest Regionals, while no other active Summit League school has finished in the top 10 of their respective region. The women were the second-best Summit League team in the Midwest Region, knocking off the league championship runner-up NDSU.

The Jackrabbits were led by a couple of seniors on both sides who earned NCAA All-Region honors - the only Summit League school to have a multiple All-Region honorees.

Rachel King led the women, finishing 19th overall (21:01.9) to garner the award. She is the second-ever Jack on the women's team to earn NCAA All-Region accolades (started in 2010) and is the first to win multiple in her career - back-to-back. The women's team has now had three consecutive seasons with a top-25 finisher (Emily Donnay - 2016; King - 2017, 2018) and King is one of three Summit League women to earn All-Region multiple times.

Kyle Burdick led the men's team for the first time this season, en route to his best place-finish at the regional meet and earn All-Region honors, placing 15th (31:18.3). He helps the SDSU team earn the honor for the fourth year in a row, while gathering his second consecutive personally. Only four State runners have received the award, three of them have been honored multiple times (Michael Krsnak - 2010; Trent Lusignan - 2013, 2015; Joel Reichow - 2015, 2016; Burdick - 2017, 2018). In Summit League comparison, he is one of four individuals to achieve the status multiple times (three other individuals being from SDSU).

As for All-Regional honorees in The Summit League, South Dakota State has had the most All-Region individuals since the award was introduced in 2010 with six Jackrabbits winning 10 mentions. Other schools in the league, all together, have 12 mentions from 10 athletes - with the most any one school having is three honorees winning four mentions.

Academic All-Leaguers (Nov. 13) - The Summit League announced the cross country Academic All-League team that included three South Dakota State Jackrabbits - Kyle Burdick, Chase Cayo, and Rachel King. There were five All-League nominations for both men and women, with SDSU tied with North Dakota State for the most All-League nominations at three each.

For senior Kyle Burdick and junior Chase Cayo, they earned their second consecutive Academic All-League honor of their career in cross country - third overall for Cayo (2018 indoor) and fifth overall for Burdick (2017 indoor and outdoor, 2018 outdoor). Only two other SDSU student-athletes have won multiple Academic All-Leagues - Drew Kraft (2012, 2014) and Joel Reichow (2015, 2016).

As for senior Rachel King, she is garnered with her third career accolade in cross country and her sixth overall (2017 indoor, 2018 indoor and outdoor). She is the only Jackrabbit to win multiple Academic All-League honors in cross country - being only the third-ever to garner the accolade (Cheyanne Bowers - 2013, Courtney Neubert - 2014).

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UP NEXT: JACKRABBITS HOST SUMMIT LEAGUE INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Feb. 22-23) - Schedule
The track and field teams will remain home in the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex for The Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships as they were named host back in August. It will be the second time that SDSU will hold the event in the SJAC on Feb. 22-23

-GoJacks.com-