Summit League Track and Field Championship Preview
The Summit League Track and Field Championships will kick off this Friday in tropical Grand Forks, North Dakota. Here is an overview for everything the casual track fan needs to know about the men’s championship.
Schedule:
Facility: The Frederick “Fritz” D. Pollard Jr. Athletic Center
A Mondo Super X surface 8-lane 300-meter track. Completed in 2015, this will be North Dakota's first time hosting the indoor championships.
Scoring: For those not familiar, scoring is based upon finish in the finals. The scoring breakdown is as follows: 10 points for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, 5 for 4th, 4 for 5th, 3 for 6th, 2 for 7th, and 1 for 8th. The team with the most points after the completion of the last event wins the title.
Live results: https://live.herostiming.com/meets/12284
Live stream: https://www.hbconnects.com/undtrack
Roster size: Each team has a maximum roster size of 28, in which they are allowed to enter athletes in as many events as they want (or should I say can handle). No team is allowed to enter more than 9 athletes in any one event.
Men’s team race: The team favorite has to be NDSU, winners of the past two championships, followed closely by SDSU and USD. SDSU head coach Rod DeHaven believes it will likely be a tight team race. Conference track meets are the few times each year that track teams keep score (and actually care about the team score) so its sometimes tough to gauge the full strength of teams before the conference meet. This year is no different as every team has a few question marks. There is a newcomer this year, St. Thomas, who is making the jump up from the Division III ranks, which will add a wrinkle to the team race. USD head coach Lucky Huber said they are “unfamiliar” with the Tommies but expects them to compete well in the distance races. Strategy comes into play on where to enter athletes, which is why some events are considered team “strengths” and other events are devoid of even single entries by some schools. For example, Oral Roberts has 0 entries in the men’s 5k but nearly half of the total entries in the 60.
SDSU event strength: Distance races (800-5k), Distance medley relay, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Heptathlon
NDSU event strength: Throws (Shot Put and Weight Throw), Long Jump, 400, Heptathlon
USD event strength: Pole Vault, Throws, Triple Jump, 60 hurdles, 60 dash
The general feel for the meet is: if things go as predicted, NDSU will win. If things go really well for SDSU and NDSU, it will be super tight. If things get weird, its wide open between all three teams. One guarantee: conference track meets are damn near impossible to predict. Expect it to get weird.
60 - Top time - Kevin Jackson - Oral Roberts - 6.76
Who needs points here? Everyone, the 60 is fairly wide open and is one of those events where points are really up for grabs.
From an SDSU perspective: Need to get guys in the final. If you make the final, your guaranteed at least one point, barring a DQ. Going off the performance list, SDSU has 4 of the top 12 times, 2 of those being in the top 8. With 3 entries for the championship, getting all 3 into the final would be huge.
200 - Top time - Bradley Dormeus - Oral Roberts - 21.33
Who needs points here? Similar to the 60, everyone is looking to grab some points here.
From an SDSU perspective: Outside of the obvious, which is getting the #7 and #8 ranked guys (Jake Werner and Reid Pierzinski) to the finals, keeping NDSU out of the top 3 places would be huge. Rare situation where its ok to actively cheer for Oral Roberts.
400 - Top time - Bradley Dormeus - Oral Roberts - 47.19
Who needs points here? This is, on paper, one of NDSU’s more important events. The Bison hold 6 of the top 10 times and are hoping to get all 4 of their entries into the final.
From an SDSU perspective: Time to play spoiler. Pierzinski has the 2nd fastest time of the year (47.31) and will be in the hunt for the win as Dormeus is not entered. Taking all 10 point here would go a long way in bringing the championship back to Brookings.
800 - Top time - Ackeen Colley - Western Illinois - 1:47.98
Who needs points here? This is one of the deepest events in the Summit League and will be one of the best races of the weekend. A true toss up between Colley and NDSU’s Jacob Rodin. This event will be most dependent on who makes the final but NDSU will be looking to score double digit points here.
From an SDSU perspective: Do you sense a theme here? Get guys in the final. While the top 3 places may be a little out of reach, SDSU’s Riley Bauer would do well getting into that top 4 or 5. Not a marquee event for the Jacks but one in which they have to get something.
Mile - Top time -Tom Breuckman - SDSU - 4:05.99
Who needs points here? SDSU is looking to grab huge points here. No prelim here is a huge advantage for the Jacks as one less race for a bunch of guys who are doubling and tripling will be very beneficial. SDSU has 5 of the top 8 entries and at minimum, need to score 26 points for their team title chances.
From an SDSU perspective: See above. This event is huge, and Breuckman is the defending champ. Further, last year’s outdoor 1500 at the Summit League Championship did not go to plan for SDSU so there may be a little “revenge” factor at play here.
3000 - Top time- Ben Olson - SDSU - 8:04.17
Who needs points here? The Jacks and a lot of them. SDSU, who has the top 6 times, will be looking to go 1-6. While it won’t be an easy task, all the guys will be rested as this is the first distance event of the meet. Olson is also the new school record holder for the Jacks after taking down Brad
Lowery’s record in January.
From an SDSU perspective: Maybe this should be from an “everyone besides SDSU” perspective because this might not only be the Jacks strongest event, it is also one of their most important. Some points are up for grabs for everyone else and NDSU and USD, both with one entry, will be looking to grab a point or two. As an SDSU supporter, we are cheering for St. Thomas or Western Illinois to grab any non-SDSU points here.
5000 - Top time - Joseph Minor-Williams - SDSU - 14:17.08
Who needs point here? Let’s make this very simple. When a distance race starts, SDSU needs to grab every single point that they can if they want to win the team title this weekend. The 5,000 is a tricky event to preview because a lot of guys haven’t run a 5,000 yet this indoor season and so they don’t have a mark. Further, depending on how things are going team wise, some may or may not run. Regardless, this is a similar situation to the 3,000: Jacks have the top 5 entries (and more if some other guys had run a 5,000 this year). Another event that SDSU has to dominate.
From an SDSU perspective: Dominate. Plain and simple. Every single point. Anything under 30 points here is disappointing. If the 3,00 isn’t SDSU’s best event, this is. If the team race is close, look for this race to be extremely intense. All hands on deck situation in the second to last race of the meet.
4x400 - Top time - NDSU - 3:10.96
Who needs points here? I suspect that this race will go somewhat to form. NDSU and Oral Roberts will battle for the win while SDSU and USD will be vying for 3rd. Being the last race of the meet, this could decide the team title but a lot has to happen to get to that point.
From an SDSU perspective: Beat USD and secure 3rd place. NDSU and Oral Roberts may be a little out of reach unless something crazy happens but beating USD is a must. Also would much rather see Oral Roberts win than NDSU.
Distance Medley Relay - Top time - none
Who needs points here? Well, no teams have run a DMR this year so we can’t really go off times but SDSU is the dominant distance program in the conference so its safe to assume they are the favorite. For those who don’t know, a DMR is composed of a 1200 leg - 400 leg - 800 leg - 1600 leg. Who’s running on those legs? Who knows but usually the top mid-distance/distance runner for each team anchors the relay.
From an SDSU perspective: Win. Again, as a distance race, this is must win for the Jacks team title chances. Like I said, its tough to tell without relay cards, but I feel confident in the Jacks chances here. St. Thomas could also surprise.
60 hurdles - Top time - Brithton Senior - USD - 7.81
Who needs points here? This is a USD vs. NDSU matchup event. Both teams are looking to score fairly big here. Both come in with 4 entries a piece. The prelims will be very important here.
From an SDSU perspective: SDSU has two entries, Pierre Lear, who is ranked 5th in this event and Josh Donahoe, who will come in ranked 12th. Lear will look to play spoiler here. As most sprint events are, making the final itself is huge. This prelim is early on - SDSU getting two to the final would be a statement.
High Jump - Top mark - Josh Darwin - NDSU - 6’10.25”
Who needs points here? This is traditionally a very strong event for USD and they will be looking to score big here. Darwin has the top mark but did it in 2021. In the new year, he hasn’t come close to 6’10” so I wouldn’t consider him the favorite. That belongs to USD’s Jack Durst who jumped 6’9” (save the jokes) in February and has jumped over 7’ previously. This will be an event to keep an eye on, despite SDSU only having two entries.
From an SDSU perspective: High Jump is a tough, often random, event. Somedays its easy and somedays guys just come out flat and no height. A great day would see SDSU grabbing a point or two but this isn’t a “need” event for the Jacks. What would be even better, in reality, would be to see St. Thomas and/or North Dakota finish in one of those top 3 or 4 spot and keep some points away from the Yotes and Bison.
Pole Vault - Top mark - Eerik Haamer - USD - 18’1”
Who needs points here? Former USD great and Olympian Chris Nilsen is gone but USD is a pole vault factory, led by Olympian Tim Miles, and they replaced Nilsen with Haamer, an standout from Estonia. USD will be looking to score huge here as will SDSU with standout and Huron native Trent Francom. The pole vault is probably the Summit League’s deepest field event right now and a few of the guys here will be at the national meet in two weeks. For a casual fan, this event might have the most fireworks this weekend.
From an SDSU perspective: Francom needs to score big and everything else is a bonus. Freshman Matthew Katz has been vaulting well and will be in the mix for a few points. I would put this event in the “must see” category as there will be some very high level vaulting on Friday.
Long Jump - Top mark -Brandon Lewis - NDSU - 25’ 1.75”
Who needs point here? This is going to be intense. Rare event where SDSU, NDSU, and USD are all looking to score significant points. Long jump is notoriously tough to predict and while the performance list gives NDSU a slight edge, I would call this a toss up event. USD has 4 entries, NDSU has 4 entries and SDSU has 3. While no one event can swing a meet, this is where the meet could ultimately be decided.
From an SDSU perspective: Daniel Clarke and Tre Manning have both jumped well this year and come in with the 2nd and 3rd best marks. They finished 2nd and 3rd at least year’s championships behind Lewis. Since all the guys in this field jump against each other constantly, there is some level of rivalry here. Get the popcorn out.
Triple Jump - Top mark - Jacob Jenkins - USD - 48’ 8.25”
Who needs points here? Another field event that USD is looking to score big in. My knowledge of the Summit League’s TJ field is not great, to say the least, but if Oral Roberts could play spoiler here, that would be great for SDSU.
From an SDSU perspective: Two entries, Tristen Hanna and Tre Manning, will both look to scrape out a few points. Manning does not have a mark this year but Hanna is ranked 5th coming into the event.
Shot Put - Top mark - Kristoffer Thomsen - NDSU - 63’ 5”
Who needs points here? NDSU is banking on a huge score here and why wouldn’t they? They have the top 4 marks in the league. SDSU will also be looking for points, albeit to a lesser extent. Once again, this is a USD vs. NDSU vs. SDSU team battle and while NDSU has the more dominant program, the gap is closing. Throws in the Summit League have traditionally been very very good and this year is really no different, despite NDSU losing arguably the best throws coach in the country to Nebraska.
From an SDSU perspective: This will be a very tight event and SDSU would do well to score more than 5 points here. Will not be easy but again, this is an event that could be the difference when it’s all said and done.
Weight Throw - Top mark - Trevor Otterdahl - NDSU - 72’ 0.75”
Who needs points here? Payton’s brother, Trevor, is the heavy favorite here. USD will be looking to score the most points as they have 3 of the top 5 entries. SDSU has 4 entries, two of which are in scoring positions.
From an SDSU perspective: Get any and all points. Also, if you are cheering for SDSU, you will also be cheering for St. Thomas’s thrower Parker Feuerborn, who is ranked 3rd going into the meet. Keeping USD out of the 2nd spot would be big.
Heptathlon - Top mark - Josh Donahoe - SDSU - 4701 points
Who needs points here? Donahoe is the favorite with the top mark this year but the heptathlon is one of those events that some guys only will do once a year, thus the performance list doesn’t give the best indication on how the event will go. NDSU, who traditionally has dominated this event, only has two entries, one of them being a freshman. St. Thomas is looking to be the highest scoring team here with most of the top entries.
From an SDSU perspective: Donahoe bringing home the win here isn’t a given but considering he is the only entry in this event, SDSU is banking on him scoring big. Keeping NDSU off the podium is important as well, so go Tommies.
Conflict of interest note: My father, Rod DeHaven, is the director of track and field for SDSU. As most can probably guess, I desperately want SDSU to win. This preview probably reflects that. Go Jacks.