Jackrabbits aim high into coming meets
As it enters the home stretch of the outdoor regular season, the South Dakota State women's track and field team is primed to exceed expectations thanks in part to a considerable lift from its jumpers.
The Jackrabbits boast at least two of the top eight performers in the Summit League in the high, long and triple jumps. Mary Wirth has come back from a strategic redshirt year to break her own school record in the high jump. Transfer Jazzelena Black has topped the SDSU mark in the triple jump and is within range of the standard in the long jump. And there's only one senior in the group of potential conference placers.
Most of the crew will compete this weekend at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays with the league meet still two weeks away in Fargo.
"The women's team has been performing at a high level, and certainly out-performing what the pundits expected," said coach Rod DeHaven, whose squad was tabbed fourth in the conference outdoor poll. "That's a good thing, but we have to maintain the momentum."
The surge started in the fall with the senior-less distance unit leading SDSU to a second-place finish in the cross country conference meet. The indoor track season proved more of a slog in part because it was the last for the program prior to moving into a proper training facility – the $32 million Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Still, the Jacks finished with more points than expected at the Summit meet, and were much closer to third place than fifth.
This spring, Wirth returned to the lineup and her three-time conference championship form. The Lincoln High grad went 5 feet, 10.75 inches to win a meet at Arizona State and break by an inch the SDSU mark she established three years ago. That's also the top effort in the conference this season – just ahead of teammate senior Kali Olson, an NCAA Division I regional qualifier in 2013. Plus, senior Ashley Wagner is ranked sixth in the league.
Wirth has settled into a schedule of competing every other weekend as a way to stay fresh. But she's expected to go at Howard Wood, bypassing the more prestigious Drake Relays to allow for that.
"I'm sure she's looking forward to this," DeHaven said. "She's probably competition hungry."
Meanwhile, the sophomore Black is still in her first lap around the D-I schedule. The California native transferred at semester break from the University of Sioux Falls, where she set five school records and earned D-II All-American honors.
In her first outdoor meet with the Jacks, Black triple jumped 40 feet, 3.5 inches to break a program record that had stood since 1997. The mark is third in the Summit. Teammate junior Jenna Stephens ranks eighth in the event.
Black is threatening a 20-year-old school record in the long jump (20-3), too. Her best spot of the season is 19-0.75, but she recently scratched by a toe on a jump of 20-6. Sophomore teammate Carly Carper is on her heels at 18-10.75.
"My goal is to go to nationals," Black said. "But I'll be very happy if I just get to regionals."
Meanwhile, SDSU isn't relying on jumpers alone. Carper recently broke a school record in the 200. On Friday at the Drake Relays, the Jacks set new program standards in the 800- and 3,200-meter relays. And the throwers are strong, per usual, with two of the top four in the Summit in the shot put, half of the top eight in the discus and four of the top six in the hammer throw.
The hope in Brookings is that something is building in conjunction with the new practice venue.
"We're getting better," DeHaven said. "Whether or not we're going to be good enough to be second or third (in the Summit), we'll see. But the potential is there."
At a Glance
Weekend: Shelby Assmus placed 17th in the hammer throw at the Drake Relays. The women's distance medley team finished in 15th place.
Jump-start: Mary Wirth and Jazzelena Black lead a strong group that could threaten in the high, long and triple jumps at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays.