Four Augustana relay teams cited as the best in Division II (via Augustana College)
The Jacks compete for the first time in 2015 Saturday at the NDSU Invite in Fargo, N.D. (via GoJacks.com)
VERMILLION, S.D.--Entering its fourth year in the Summit League, the Coyote track and field teams are preparing for another successful season at the helm of head coaches Lucky Huber and Dave Gottsleben. Last season, the track teams captured a pair of Summit League titles, earned three All-America honors and finished 10th at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. (via www.goyotes.com)
A ton of scorching indoor meets have the leader boards looking completely different
The Sioux Falls Lincoln Boys Cross Country team won their third consecutive SDHSAA State Championship this season and finished 3rd at the Nike Heartland Regional, which consists of the very best teams and individuals from a seven state region.
Out of the Nike Heartland Regional, the Patriots qualified for the Nike National Meet, placing 21st in the event.
The Patriots were led by Stanford recruit, Will Lauer and a star-studded cast of 2-7's.
If we look at performance at the national level, no other team in South Dakota- in any sport-excelled at the US level like Lincoln.
Should they have been awarded South Dakota Sportswriter's Boys Team of the Year for 2014?
Congratulations to Madison's Emily Hawkes on winning South Dakota's Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Award.
Photo by Kernit Grimshaw
MANKATO, Minn. - The University of Sioux Falls Track and Field won three events and had five athletes reach provisional qualifying marks at the Minnesota State Alumni Open on Saturday. The Cougars earned a total of 29 top-eight finishes in their first competition of 2015. (via USFCougars.com)
SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University track and field teams won 14 events at the Myrle Hanson Memorial Open held Saturday in the Young Center Fieldhouse. (via bhsuathletics.com)
2015 South Dakota Cross Country Projections by classification. (via MileSplit)
Calculated as of January 08, 2015
These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We took the individual rankings and relay rankings and scored them as a normal meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Athletes whose graduation years are unknown were left out of the list.
Photo by Kernit Grimshaw
VERMILLION, S.D.--South Dakota junior pole vaulter Emily Grove has been named College Women's Athlete of the Year by South Dakota Sportswriters Association, as announced in December. Grove is the second Coyote to earn the honor in as many years after Bethany Firsick earned the award in 2013. (via www.goyotes.com)
With the end to the holiday season comes the present of full-fledged Indoor track & field
The final 2015 South Dakota Cross Country projection looks to be one of the closest races: the Class B Boys Cross Country race.
In the team race, it looks like it could be any team from a huge list of 9 teams, all withing a reasonable point range of becoming the 2015 champions.
| 1 | James Valley Christian School | 27 | 2 | 3 | 22 | - | - |
| 2 | McCrossan Boys Ranch | 37 | 6 | 11 | 20 | - | - |
| 3 | Lyman High School | 43 | 4 | 18 | 21 | - | - |
| 4 | Ipswich High School | 51 | 10 | 13 | 28 | - | - |
| 5 | Stanley County High School | 56 | 7 | 24 | 25 | - | - |
| 6 | Bison High School | 56 | 1 | 8 | 47 | - | - |
| 7 | Canistota High School | 64 | 5 | 23 | 36 | - | - |
| 8 | Wessington Springs High School | 66 | 12 | 16 | 38 | - | - |
| 9 | Warner High School | 73 |
Here they are: the 2015 Class A Boys Cross Country Projections, which are based off of times in the MileSplit database from the 2014 season.
Early team scores have West Central and Sioux Falls Christian way ahead of the pack with Madison, Lennox, Custer, Beresford, Miller and St. Thomas More rounding out the Top 8.
Individually, Lucas Julian (STM), Cole Sargent (Miller), Chance Dooley (Custer), Caleb DeWeerd (SFC) and Derek Peters (West Central) are the Top 5 returnees from 2014 according to times from throughout the season.
Photo: Chance Dooley (Custer) by Kernit Grimshaw
Based off of 2014 season bests, here are your 2015 Class AA Boys Individual and Team Cross Country projections.
Photo by Kernit Grimshaw
The #1 article on South Dakota MileSplit had more views that the #2, #3 and #4 articles combined. It was the incredible life story of Peter Auch- a Beresford distance runner- who lost his life in a car accident.
If you do nothing else this Holiday Season, carve out 10 minutes and read this story.
Coming in at #2 this year on South Dakota MileSplit was an article penned by former Mission, South Dakota reporter: Rich Winter. (Yes, that's another one out of Mission- lots of good stuff comes out of that little town.)
Rich promotes South Dakota sports, particularly track and cross country, remotely from his hideaway in Utah via his very popular sports blog, Panic Button. If you get a chance to read his blog, you'll like his style.
Thanks, Rich and great job!
The #3 article of 2014 was the Boys Top 10 lists. Like the girls lists, these are a work in progress and are probably missing a mark or two from this past season.
Eventually all of these historical times and distances will be entered into the MileSplit database so that finding Top 10's, 15's, 25's is as simple as sorting out a ranking.
South Dakotans love Track & Field- and the participation numbers prove it. Track also has a very objective method for state meet qualification: the SDHSAA State Track & Field Meet Qualifying Marks. Each year, athletes, coaches, fans and parents all await the new qualifying lists (which are continually updated according to averages from state meets)- and 2014 was no exception.
It's no surprise, that cracking the Top 5 most popular articles in 2014 was South Dakota's best sports photographer- Kernit Grimshaw- and his photo gallery from the 2014 Douglas Early Bird Meet.
Kernit is based out of Mission, South Dakota and has been shooting South Dakota sports for quite some time.
Kernit generously shares his talent and time with his photography on his Facebook page and with South Dakota MileSplit. I can speak for many sports fans across that state when I say, "THANK YOU!!!!"
That being said, you should take a few minutes and visit Kernit's zenfolio site @ kernit.zenfolio.com to purchase a print or two.
Time for MileSplit to select 21 sophomore boys as part of the Future Stars of XC Team presented by Hoka One!
Time for MileSplit to select 21 sophomore girls as part of the Future Stars of XC Team presented by Hoka One!
Using personal bests that are in the MileSplit database from the 2014 SDHSAA Cross Country season, these are your 2015 Class B Projections.
Keep in mind, course lengths can vary, so PR's might not be in line with State Meet times.
Photo of the Ipswich Tigers, by Kernit Grimshaw
The #6 Most Popular Article of 2014 on South Dakota MileSplit was the first Coaches Poll of the 2014 Cross Country season. Evidently people were eager to see who what teams were ranked.
Photo by Kernit Grimshaw
Most popular article of 2014...coming in at #7 is the South Dakota Girls All-Time Top 10 List. This list is a work in progress and all historical times will eventually be entered into the MileSplit database.
The #8 most popular article on SD.MileSplit.Com this past year was a video made by Augustana College, covering their Augie Twilight Meet. This is an incredible event and the video was out-of-this-world (literally- they used a drone to take video).
The #9 viewed page in 2014 was a link to a Yankton Press & Dakotan article by James Cimburek. Quick little shoutout to the Yankton Press & Dakotan and their sports writers as they are excellent in their work covering track and cross country.
This particular article was on the Yankton Invite and Annie Kruse breaking 5 minutes in the mile.
Photo by James Cimburek
The #10 article was a rankings article- the Fab 50 returning girls cross country runners.
Back (via MileSplit)
Time for MileSplit to select 21 freshmen boys as part of the Future Stars of XC Team presented by Hoka One!
Time for MileSplit to select 21 freshmen girls as part of the Future Stars of XC Team presented by Hoka One!