Day in the Life of a Summit League Champ + a few quick thoughts on attendance numbers
In case you missed it during your Hobo Day festivities, the South Dakota State University men’s cross country team won its seventh straight Summit League team title, with Ben Olson taking home the individual crown. The only real drama in the race was whether or not the Jacks would complete a 1-5, perfect score sweep. Luke Labatte, a junior from the University of North Dakota, broke up the party with a third place finish.
On the women’s side, NDSU took home the team title but SDSU’s own Leah Hansen grabbed the individual crown, leading the Jacks to a second place finish.
The story of the day is the seven straight titles however. I know cross country isn’t the most glamorous nor is it the most exciting, but seven straight is impressive no matter what the sports is.
The concept for the story I wrote below is based on something I read a few years ago. I’ve always found the “mundane” of people’s lives to be interesting—and I’m not even really talking sports. Give me a day in the life of an investmest banker in New York City, or a bartender in Tokyo, or a crew member on a submarine—I’ll read the hell out of those. I can’t put a finger on what it is, but those types of stories have always been really interesting to me. Anyways, here is a day in the life of Daniel Burkhalter, a recent Summit League Champion and a member of the SDSU cross country/track and field teams.
It’s no secret that student-athletes are busy. But what’s the day-to-day really look? How busy are they really?
Daniel Burkhalter, a fifth-year graduate student and member of the cross-country/track and field teams, talked through his standard Monday routine and shared what a typical day for a Jackrabbit student-athlete looks like.
7:00 – 7:30 a.m. Burkhalter usually wakes up sometime between 7 and 7:30, depending on his level of tiredness. Sundays for the cross-country team almost always means a long-run (for Burkhalter that is usually around 12 miles) which can make for a little achier morning.
7:30 a.m. “After I wake up, I immediately eat breakfast,” Burkhalter said. “Some combination of peanut butter and honey sandwich with milk.”
This is a fairly standard morning meal but sometimes Burkhalter says he’ll spice things up with oatmeal. As for the milk, it’s always been—and always will be—whole milk, despite the increase in price.
“At Walmart, it used to be $1.48 a year ago,” he said. “Now it’s like $2.36.”
7:55 a.m. After breakfast, Burkhalter gets started on his weekly ritual that he credits to both his academic and athletic success in recent years: 30 minutes of planning for the week ahead. Like many college students, Burkhalter has a planner, but unlike many college students, he actually uses it.
“I like paper and I write everything out,” Burkhalter said. “I take 30 minutes to plan my week and think through everything that I need to do or get done.”
Currently, Burkhalter, a native of Bison, South Dakota, is a graduate student in the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering where he is focused on data science. He also works for a company based out of Minneapolis. Planning each week is key to staying ahead of everything that needs to get done, Burkhalter said.
“On my planner, I write a list of things I need to do and then check them off as I finish them,” he said. “Monday morning, I look at my previous week and I look at what I didn’t get accomplished, and I write that down. Then, I rank my priorities, figuring out what needs to get done today and what can get pushed back, to like Thursday (for example).”
8:45 a.m. Because Monday is Burkhalter’s “double day,” he will trek over to the Wellness Center to get hour of work in on the bike.
“I’m a lower mileage guy (Burkhalter runs around 50 miles a week) but I cross train in the mornings,” he said. “Biking helps me gain more aerobic fitness without the pounding of running on my legs.”
During the ride, he will often throw on some upbeat music to stay motivated and make the time go by.
“I used to not listen to music in high school—I used to think it was a crutch,” Burkhalter said. “About sophomore year, I finally gave in and started listening to music.”
10:22 am. After finishing up with the workout and then showering, Burkhalter will make his way back to his house. He gets around on a mountain bike and has adapted to biking in nearly all weather conditions.
“There were only two days last year I couldn’t bike,” he said.
Those two days?
“Blizzards.”
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. This is the time when Burkhalter says he catches up on “typical college student stuff” like Snapchat and other social medias.
“I relax a little bit and then I usually start thinking about lunch around 11,” Burkhalter said. “I found out that I need to eat an early lunch so that when it comes down to the afternoon—running time—everything’s out of my system.”
Lunch almost always consists of a turkey sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread with mayo, mustard and a pickle—along with an apple.
“That’s pretty much every day,” he said. “I mix it up once in a while and I’ll have leftovers from the week.”
While lunch may seem bland and rather boring—no Chick-fil-a in sight—Burkhalter says he is very contentious of staying on top of his diet with highly nutritious foods.
“My biggest thing is I make sure I get lots of proteins,” Burkhalter said. “My macro goal is to get as much protein as I can and then whatever else. I don’t worry about carbs, I get plenty of carbs throughout the day. Protein is my biggest thing.”
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. This is where Burkhalter’s schedule will vary the most. He has a solid three hours plus to get as much done as he can. Recently—because the semester is still young—he has been continuing to work on projects from his internship this summer.
“My official role is as a data scientist and I’m in the risk management department,” he said. “They are a finance company and I do credit risk.”
His “hours” for work will vary—the company understands that Burkhalter schedule is not only busy but can vary and change quite a bit each day.
“They’re very flexible with me,” he said. “I just work when I can.”
Currently, a lot of his work revolves around presenting data in a way so that a “non-math person” can not only understand the data but also interpret and use it. This is similar to the work that Burkhalter is doing for his graduate degree.
“Your typical marketing people, your typical journalists, your lawyers—you know—your people that are very vital to a company, but they just want well explained information,” he said. “I’m working on ways to make that data digestible.”
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Burkhalter has one in-person class on Monday. He is also taking two classes online which get done in the previous time slot throughout the week.
3:05 p.m. After class, Burkhalter will throw some stuff in a backpack and head to practice, which begins at 3:20.
“I have about a 15 minute timeframe to make sure I have a bag packed with extra clothes and protein for after my run,” he said
3:20 p.m. The men’s and women’s cross-country teams gather for practice in the bleachers in the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Head coach Rod DeHaven will gather the team for a brief meeting.
“It’s a loose, pretty relaxed environment,” Burkhalter said. “We tell jokes, fun facts and get an overview of the week. We also reemphasize goals for the season.”
The Jackrabbit men’s cross-country team are looking to win their seventh straight conference title this fall and 11th title since 2009. Put another way, the only teams not named SDSU to recently win a conference title in men’s cross-country are Southern Utah and IUPUI—two teams no longer in the league.
In terms of individual goals, Burkhalter wants to continue to improve on his previous cross-country seasons and build confidence heading into the track season.
“My confidence in cross-country isn’t where it is on the track,” Burkhalter said. “So, I want to be the best runner I can be this season and help the team accomplish our goals which is to win the conference title and scare every team at the regional meet and maybe sneak into nationals. It’s a lofty goal, but if you don’t have a goal, you’ll never reach it.”
3:45 p.m. As a fifth-year, Burkhalter knows what the basic outline for his daily schedule is. Mondays usually consist of an easy run—eight miles for Burkhalter—followed by form drills and other conditioning type work. Everyone’s mileage on the day will vary but the team will usually take off at the same time, in the same direction, and people will gradually branch off together, Burkhalter said.
“Over time, you get to know who you run with a bit and the team captains make a decision on a route that can be broken down, kind of a one size fits all for everyone,” Burkhalter said.
Burkhalter’s favorite route in Brookings is loops around SDSU’s arboretum, next to McCrory Gardens.
After the run, everyone gets started on running drills and light speed work to get the body moving for the week, Burkhalter said.
“After we do some strength work, plyometric type stuff and then people will hit the weight room,” he said. “We also do extensive form drills, making sure we improve upon our (running) form.”
5:25 p.m. Last spring, Burkhalter ran 3:41.63 in the 1500 meters (equivalent to a sub 4:00 minute mile) which advanced him to the NCAA West Regional meet. He’s learned over time that getting to the next level requires a little extra effort, which is why he spends another hour going “above and beyond” what’s expected after practice.
“I make sure to stretch and do any recovery things I need do,” Burkhalter said. “Because as a runner, you’re pounding your body. So that means I try to get in the ice bath, stretch—recovery stuff like that.”
Burkhalter’s stretching routine takes around 30 to 45 minutes to effectively do, which is why he usually eats a protein snack—Great Value trail mix—to promote recovery. He’ll also usually down a protein drink.
6:30 p.m. When Burkhalter leaves the SJAC really depends on how much he gets to talking with his teammates. Somedays, he’ll be there late, telling jokes and catching up on everyone’s day. Other days, he’ll get out of there a little quicker if he has things he needs to do. For his peace of mind, he’ll usually take a peek at his planner to check if anything needs to be done immediately.
6:47 p.m. After getting back to his house, it’s straight to the kitchen for Burkhalter who gets to work on cooking dinner. Unlike his breakfast and lunch, the menu will vary from day to day but usually he sticks to something a little more on the basic side.
“I don’t do anything fancy, I don’t chef, I can eat anything—my teammates can attest to that,” Burkhalter said. “I just make sure I eat beef—which I do pretty much every day—for my red meats.”
He’ll also cook up some white or brown rice along with some raw vegetables and fruit.
“I don’t eat anything that takes a lot of time,” Burkhalter said. “Sometimes I eat my vegetables as I’m cooking up my rice.”
8:00 p.m. By eight, Burkhalter is hopeful that he’s done with the day, but he’ll usually give his planner another check just to be sure. If he has to work to do, he’ll complete that but if not, he’ll spend some time hanging out with his teammates, who double as his roommates.
One of his roommates, Ben Olson, a senior on the cross-country/track and field teams, also takes classes in the College of Engineering while pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
“It’s nice having someone with kind of the same schedule,” Burkhalter said. “Sometimes you work on a project that takes a long time and it’s hard—we both get that.”
9:45 p.m. Burkhalter’s goal is to be in bed by 10 so that’s why he starts getting ready a little before. He’ll do another rundown of things that he needs to do for the next few days while checking a few things off his list. Each night, he tries to get a minimum of eight hours of sleep.
“It all depends on self-discipline,” Burkhalter said. “In reality, there’s some nighat that I don’t get as much sleep because I decide not to go to bed but I always try to be in bed by 10:30 at the latest.”
The last thing Burkhalter does before he goes to bed?
“I set my alarm for 7:15 a.m.—tomorrow’s usually a full day”
One last thing to mention: attendance at home football games this year has been great. Here’s what the numbers have been so far:
vs. UC-Davis - 15,182
vs. Butler - 16,414
vs. WIU - 15,237
vs. USD - 19,332
vs. ISU - 19,041
Average - 17,041
A couple obvious factors: the team has been playing very well and people can buy beer in the stadium. Another huge factor has been the weather, which has been near on perfect. Averaging over 15,000 is also exciting to see. For those not aware, one of the “requirements” for FBS programs is they must “average 15,000 in paid or actual attendance a game at least once every two seasons.” The amount the NCAA actually enforces this rule is questionable but it is still good to see that mark well over 15,000 (so far this year at least). I think the chances of SDSU moving up to the FBS level are under 10%, but still, it is nice to know that attendance and/or the stadium wouldn’t really be a factor—if it were to even come to that.
With two regular season games left on the year—which in and of itself seems impossible to believe, this fall has flown by—the Jacks have a real shot at home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It would be really nice to see this attendance momentum carry on through the Nov. 14 game vs. Illinois St. and then on into the playoffs.