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South Dakota State University Athletics
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Jacks Runner-up, Fourth in Summit OTF Preseason
3/8/2019 1:52:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
SIOUX FALL, S.D. - The Summit League has announced the preseason outdoor track and field rankings with the South Dakota State men three points behind the league favorite and the women sitting fourth.
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The men's team gathered 20 points and two first-place votes, three points and one first-place vote behind North Dakota State (23 points, three first-place). The women tallied 33 points and are behind North Dakota State (47 - 5 first-place votes), South Dakota (44 - 2), and Oral Roberts (38).
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Individually, seniors Kyle Burdick, Rachel King, and Kasie Vollmer, along with sophomore Trent Francom, were nominated as SDSU's preseason athletes to watch.
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It is just the second time since the outdoor preseason poll began that the Jackrabbit men are runner-up favorites entering the outdoor season (last time in 2017, tied for second) - their best outdoor preseason ranking. They picked up their most first-place votes ever and one more point than they did in 2017.
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The Jacks have never finished the outdoor season worse than they were projected, including four times where they finished better than projected. The squad is aiming for its third consecutive, fourth overall, runner-up or better finish in the championships on May 10-12 in Macomb, Ill.
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The women are projected fourth for the first time since 2014, fourth time ever in the league. Prior to this preseason, the women had a four-year streak where they were projected third - finishing in that spot three of the four years (2018 was fourth place).
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The last time the women were projected fourth (2014), they finished runner-up with 193 points behind NDSU (246) and ahead of South Dakota (169). They have also finished fourth (2013) and fifth another time (2012). SDSU has finished where they were preseason polled, or better, in all but three rankings (2010, 2012, 2018) with two times finishing better (2011, 2014).
Kyle Burdick | Senior | Distance | Rapid City, S.D.
Trent Francom | Sophomore | Pole Vault | Huron, S.D.
Rachel King | Senior | Distance | St. Michael, Minn.
Kasie Vollmer | Senior | Throws | Savage, Minn.
INDOOR MOMENTUM
The Jackrabbit men are coming off their first-ever Summit League track and field championship victory from Feb. 22-23 in the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex while the women finished fourth out of eight teams.Â
The men scored 220 points thanks to large scoring numbers from the 800m and 5,000m (29 points each) and from the 60m and 200m (24 and 26 points). The women scored 76 points, just three points behind third-place Oral Roberts.Â
Senior Kyle Burdick scored 30 points individually to earn his first career Summit League Championship Track MVP accolade. He is the second-ever SDSU student-athlete named to the honor (Joel Reichow, 2017) while posting three event-wins that included two meet records (mile and 5,000m) and a personal-best (5,000m - No. 4 all-time for SDSU).
Junior Sam Zenner earned the league's second-ever Most Outstanding Performer honor (Burdick won the inaugural honor in 2018) thanks to his first two career wins in the indoor championships - the 60m (6.80) and 200m (21.07). He was within 0.10 seconds of the meet record in the 60m (6.70), but was able to reset recently published 200m meet record with ease (was 21.33).
Senior Rachel King came away with two wins (3,000m and 5,000m) while fellow senior Krista Steele is entering her outdoor campaign as the league's defending outdoor 800m champ (2018) and two-time defending indoor 800m champion (2018, 2019).Â
The Jackrabbits took eight wins on the men's side and four more on the women's out of 17 scored events while finishing with 25 total Jackrabbits qualifying for All-League recognition (16 from the men, nine from the women).
Seniors Kyle Burdick and Rachel King each have six career wins in The Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships. Burdick is now tied for fourth all-time for most career indoor championship wins, two short of the most, and King is tied for fifth all-time, four short of the all-time mark.Â
With Burdick winning three events this year, he is one of only three athletes in the league to ever win three or more. The last one to do it was Cameron Levins (2012, four - 800m, mile, 3,000m, 5,000m) of Southern Utah while Nevin Govan (1992 - LJ, TJ, HJ) did it for Eastern Illinois.
2018 OUTDOOR FINISH
Outdoor in Tulsa, Okla. (May 10-12, 2018) -Â Back in the May of last year, the Jackrabbits traveled to Oral Roberts to compete in the league championships, finishing runner-up (215.50) on the men's side and fourth (111.0) on the women's side.Â
Junior Bryant Courter led the Jacks in capturing all of the men's awards by winning his second Field Championship MVP accolade. Scoring 23.50 points, he won both the long jump and triple jump for the second year in a row, adding PR's in both. His triple jump was a school record while his farthest long jump would have been the school championship record if it was not wind-aided. However, his second farthest jump 25-00.00 feet to push his name up to second all-time on the school's top 10.
Senior Kyle Burdick added his second straight Championship Track MVP by winning the 1,500m, finishing runner-up in the 10,000m, and grabbing the bronze in the 800m - totaling 24 points. It was his first attempt in the 800m at the championships, while he defended his title in the 1,500m.
Sophomore Daniel Clarke gathered 13 points individually, then helped the team add another 10 in the 4x100m relay to win the Jacks' second straight Newcomer of the Championship Award (Courter won it last year).
Clarke scored his points by adding PR's in three of the four events he competed in, including the school record in the 100m (set it in the prelims, and would have set it in the finals) and the 4x100m relay (team reset the school record, trimming off 0.44 seconds). His third personal-best mark came in the long jump where he scored the school's fourth-best jump.
Juniors Chase Cayo and Wyatt Gatrost joined Burdick and Courter as the SDSU event winners. Cayo competed on the first day, taking the victory in the 10,000m with teammates Burdick and 2018 graduate Trevor Capra rounding out the podium.
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Gatrost finished the men's 800m with a photo-finish, tying South Dakota's Eldon Warner, and leading five other Jackrabbits in the finals.
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2018 graduate Mason Leiseth had one of the five school records set at the outdoor championships, setting the all-time mark in the shot put and increasing his PR by 7.50 inches.
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Junior Evan Hieber broke the 1989 school record in the decathlon by 60 points, gathering nine personal-best marks out of the 10.
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Sophomore Coby Hilton was one of five student-athletes to have multiple personal-best marks. He advanced to the finals of the 100m and 200m, finishing fifth and fourth. He jumped to the fourth-best mark in school history in the prelims of the 100m and (tied fourth-best) finals of the 200m.
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Hilton would have had the third-best mark in the 200m if his preliminary time was not illegally wind-aided. The Marshall, Minn. native complimented his individual accolades with a team effort to reset the school record in the 4x100m relay once more along with Clarke. The team trimmed off another 0.44 seconds and won the league race, a championship record as well.
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On the women's side, senior Rachel King finished with two top-three finishes, including her first league victory in the 3,000m steeplechase, 14th overall career win.
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Seniors Krista Steele and Kasie Vollmer, along with 2018 graduate Vanessa Lane totaled up the last of the four Jackrabbit victories in Tulsa. Vollmer added another 2-11.00 feet to her season-best to win the discus throw while Steele posted her first outdoor 800m championship (she won both 2018 indoor/outdoor league 800m), her fifth career win in the event.
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Lane ended her Jackrabbit career finally winning the heptathlon by posting two PR's and two event wins on the second and final days.
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Junior Miatta Flemister-Smith represented two of the eight personal-best marks set at ONEOK Sports Complex, en route to a seventh-place finish in the 100m and a fifth-place finish in the 200m. Both her 100m (11.92) and 200m (24.39) are in the school's top 10 (100m -T-4th, 200m - T-7th).
2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S OUTDOOR PRESEASON POLL
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2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE WOMEN'S OUTDOOR PRESEASON POLL
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the South Dakota State cross country and track and field teams, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksTFXC) and Instagram (@GoJacksTFXC), and like us on Facebook (/GoJacksTFXC).
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will open up their outdoor campaign in the last weekend of March (29-30). The teams plan to split across the country at four meets - the San Francisco State Distance Carnival, Stanford Invitational, Drake Invitational, and ORU Invitational.
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The Summit League Academic All-League honorees will be announced next Wednesday (March 13) while the league's yearly awards (coach, field, and track) will be released on the following Wednesday (March 20).
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The men's team gathered 20 points and two first-place votes, three points and one first-place vote behind North Dakota State (23 points, three first-place). The women tallied 33 points and are behind North Dakota State (47 - 5 first-place votes), South Dakota (44 - 2), and Oral Roberts (38).
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Individually, seniors Kyle Burdick, Rachel King, and Kasie Vollmer, along with sophomore Trent Francom, were nominated as SDSU's preseason athletes to watch.
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It is just the second time since the outdoor preseason poll began that the Jackrabbit men are runner-up favorites entering the outdoor season (last time in 2017, tied for second) - their best outdoor preseason ranking. They picked up their most first-place votes ever and one more point than they did in 2017.
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The Jacks have never finished the outdoor season worse than they were projected, including four times where they finished better than projected. The squad is aiming for its third consecutive, fourth overall, runner-up or better finish in the championships on May 10-12 in Macomb, Ill.
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The women are projected fourth for the first time since 2014, fourth time ever in the league. Prior to this preseason, the women had a four-year streak where they were projected third - finishing in that spot three of the four years (2018 was fourth place).
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The last time the women were projected fourth (2014), they finished runner-up with 193 points behind NDSU (246) and ahead of South Dakota (169). They have also finished fourth (2013) and fifth another time (2012). SDSU has finished where they were preseason polled, or better, in all but three rankings (2010, 2012, 2018) with two times finishing better (2011, 2014).
Kyle Burdick | Senior | Distance | Rapid City, S.D.
- Summit League's Indoor Track MVP (2019)
- Scored 30 points in the 2019 indoor championships - winning three events (mile, 3,000m, 5,000m)
- Won the 1,500m, finished second in the 10,000m and third in the 800m at the 2018 league outdoor championships
- Two-time Outdoor Championship MVP (2017, 2018)
- 2017 league's Track Athlete of the Year
- 10-time All-League (XC 2016 1st-Team, 2017 1st-Team, 2018 1st-Team, ITF 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, OTF 2016, 2017, 2018)
- Has seven personal-best marks in the school's top 10 (IN: 1,000m (1st, 2019), Mile (2nd, 2019), 3,000m (2nd, 2018), 5,000m (4th, 2019), OUT: 800m (T-8th, 2017), 1,500m (3rd, 2017), 5,000m (3rd, 2017))
- NCAA All-American in the 1,500m in 2017 (second-team)
- Five-time Preseason Athlete to Watch (XC 2018, ITF 2018, 2019, OTF 2018, 2019)
Trent Francom | Sophomore | Pole Vault | Huron, S.D.
- Finished runner-up in the 2019 indoor championships
- Third in his first outdoor championships (2018)
- Only Jackrabbit to breach the 17-foot mark, reaching it twice in 2018 outdoors and once in 2019 indoors
- The first male Jack to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims (only Amy Leiferman in 2015 made pole vault in the West Prelims, Tyler Schiferl made Midwest Regionals in 2009)
- All-League (ITF 2018, OTF 2018)
- Holds both the indoor and outdoor school records in the pole vault
Rachel King | Senior | Distance | St. Michael, Minn.
- First Jackrabbit female at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships in the track events (3,000S) - finished with NCAA All-American Honorable Mention
- Won two events in the 2019 indoor championships (3,000m and 5,000m) - resetting her school record in the 3,000m
- Posted five individual school-record marks (IN: Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, OUT: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m), moved to second all-time in the 1,500m, and was a part of the DMR school record in her career
- Won the 3,000m steeplechase and took second in the 1,5000m at the 2018 league outdoor championships
Has been named indoor Track Championship MVP (2018) and Track Athlete of the Year (2017) each once ... no female outdoor post-season or yearly awards have been received by Jackrabbits yet - 10-time All-League (XC 2015 1st-Team, 2016 1st-Team, 2017 1st-Team, 2018 1st-Team, ITF 2017, 2018, 2019, OTF 2014, 2016, 2018)
- Six-time Preseason Athlete to Watch (XC 2016, 2018 ITF 2018, 2019, OTF 2018, 2019)
Kasie Vollmer | Senior | Throws | Savage, Minn.
- Did not compete in 2019 indoors
- Won the outdoor Summit League discus (2018), runner-up in 2017
- Two-time All-League (OTF 2017, 2018)
- Two-time qualifier for the NCAA West Prelims in the discus (2017, 2018)
- Holds school record in the outdoor discus (2017) while being No. 8 all-time in the indoor shot put (2018)
INDOOR MOMENTUM
The Jackrabbit men are coming off their first-ever Summit League track and field championship victory from Feb. 22-23 in the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex while the women finished fourth out of eight teams.Â
The men scored 220 points thanks to large scoring numbers from the 800m and 5,000m (29 points each) and from the 60m and 200m (24 and 26 points). The women scored 76 points, just three points behind third-place Oral Roberts.Â
Senior Kyle Burdick scored 30 points individually to earn his first career Summit League Championship Track MVP accolade. He is the second-ever SDSU student-athlete named to the honor (Joel Reichow, 2017) while posting three event-wins that included two meet records (mile and 5,000m) and a personal-best (5,000m - No. 4 all-time for SDSU).
Junior Sam Zenner earned the league's second-ever Most Outstanding Performer honor (Burdick won the inaugural honor in 2018) thanks to his first two career wins in the indoor championships - the 60m (6.80) and 200m (21.07). He was within 0.10 seconds of the meet record in the 60m (6.70), but was able to reset recently published 200m meet record with ease (was 21.33).
Senior Rachel King came away with two wins (3,000m and 5,000m) while fellow senior Krista Steele is entering her outdoor campaign as the league's defending outdoor 800m champ (2018) and two-time defending indoor 800m champion (2018, 2019).Â
The Jackrabbits took eight wins on the men's side and four more on the women's out of 17 scored events while finishing with 25 total Jackrabbits qualifying for All-League recognition (16 from the men, nine from the women).
Seniors Kyle Burdick and Rachel King each have six career wins in The Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships. Burdick is now tied for fourth all-time for most career indoor championship wins, two short of the most, and King is tied for fifth all-time, four short of the all-time mark.Â
With Burdick winning three events this year, he is one of only three athletes in the league to ever win three or more. The last one to do it was Cameron Levins (2012, four - 800m, mile, 3,000m, 5,000m) of Southern Utah while Nevin Govan (1992 - LJ, TJ, HJ) did it for Eastern Illinois.
2018 OUTDOOR FINISH
Outdoor in Tulsa, Okla. (May 10-12, 2018) -Â Back in the May of last year, the Jackrabbits traveled to Oral Roberts to compete in the league championships, finishing runner-up (215.50) on the men's side and fourth (111.0) on the women's side.Â
Junior Bryant Courter led the Jacks in capturing all of the men's awards by winning his second Field Championship MVP accolade. Scoring 23.50 points, he won both the long jump and triple jump for the second year in a row, adding PR's in both. His triple jump was a school record while his farthest long jump would have been the school championship record if it was not wind-aided. However, his second farthest jump 25-00.00 feet to push his name up to second all-time on the school's top 10.
Senior Kyle Burdick added his second straight Championship Track MVP by winning the 1,500m, finishing runner-up in the 10,000m, and grabbing the bronze in the 800m - totaling 24 points. It was his first attempt in the 800m at the championships, while he defended his title in the 1,500m.
Sophomore Daniel Clarke gathered 13 points individually, then helped the team add another 10 in the 4x100m relay to win the Jacks' second straight Newcomer of the Championship Award (Courter won it last year).
Clarke scored his points by adding PR's in three of the four events he competed in, including the school record in the 100m (set it in the prelims, and would have set it in the finals) and the 4x100m relay (team reset the school record, trimming off 0.44 seconds). His third personal-best mark came in the long jump where he scored the school's fourth-best jump.
Juniors Chase Cayo and Wyatt Gatrost joined Burdick and Courter as the SDSU event winners. Cayo competed on the first day, taking the victory in the 10,000m with teammates Burdick and 2018 graduate Trevor Capra rounding out the podium.
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Gatrost finished the men's 800m with a photo-finish, tying South Dakota's Eldon Warner, and leading five other Jackrabbits in the finals.
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2018 graduate Mason Leiseth had one of the five school records set at the outdoor championships, setting the all-time mark in the shot put and increasing his PR by 7.50 inches.
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Junior Evan Hieber broke the 1989 school record in the decathlon by 60 points, gathering nine personal-best marks out of the 10.
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Sophomore Coby Hilton was one of five student-athletes to have multiple personal-best marks. He advanced to the finals of the 100m and 200m, finishing fifth and fourth. He jumped to the fourth-best mark in school history in the prelims of the 100m and (tied fourth-best) finals of the 200m.
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Hilton would have had the third-best mark in the 200m if his preliminary time was not illegally wind-aided. The Marshall, Minn. native complimented his individual accolades with a team effort to reset the school record in the 4x100m relay once more along with Clarke. The team trimmed off another 0.44 seconds and won the league race, a championship record as well.
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On the women's side, senior Rachel King finished with two top-three finishes, including her first league victory in the 3,000m steeplechase, 14th overall career win.
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Seniors Krista Steele and Kasie Vollmer, along with 2018 graduate Vanessa Lane totaled up the last of the four Jackrabbit victories in Tulsa. Vollmer added another 2-11.00 feet to her season-best to win the discus throw while Steele posted her first outdoor 800m championship (she won both 2018 indoor/outdoor league 800m), her fifth career win in the event.
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Lane ended her Jackrabbit career finally winning the heptathlon by posting two PR's and two event wins on the second and final days.
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Junior Miatta Flemister-Smith represented two of the eight personal-best marks set at ONEOK Sports Complex, en route to a seventh-place finish in the 100m and a fifth-place finish in the 200m. Both her 100m (11.92) and 200m (24.39) are in the school's top 10 (100m -T-4th, 200m - T-7th).
2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S OUTDOOR PRESEASON POLL
| Team | Score (First-place votes) | |
| 1. | North Dakota State | 23 (3) |
| 2. | South Dakota State | 20 (2) |
| T3. | South Dakota | 19 |
| T3. | Oral Roberts | 19 |
| 5. | North Dakota | 11 |
| 6. | Western Illinois | 8 |
2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE WOMEN'S OUTDOOR PRESEASON POLL
| Team | Score (First-place votes) | |
| 1. | North Dakota State | 47 (5) |
| 2. | South Dakota | 44 (2) |
| 3. | Oral Roberts | 38 |
| 4. | South Dakota State | 33 |
| 5. | North Dakota | 32 |
| 6. | Omaha | 20 |
| 7. | Western Illinois | 18 |
| 8. | Purdue Fort Wayne | 13 |
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the South Dakota State cross country and track and field teams, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksTFXC) and Instagram (@GoJacksTFXC), and like us on Facebook (/GoJacksTFXC).
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will open up their outdoor campaign in the last weekend of March (29-30). The teams plan to split across the country at four meets - the San Francisco State Distance Carnival, Stanford Invitational, Drake Invitational, and ORU Invitational.
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The Summit League Academic All-League honorees will be announced next Wednesday (March 13) while the league's yearly awards (coach, field, and track) will be released on the following Wednesday (March 20).
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-GoJacks.com-
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