Bison Illustrated December 2022

Nell Graham

Jacob Rodin

The Track

FROM BRADY DRAKE

For a very small portion of my life, I ran track & field. Before running track & field, I spent the spring and summer practicing and playing baseball—something I loved. However, injuries

at the end of three straight hockey seasons caused me to miss three straight summers of baseball. When all of that was over, I took up track & field as a way to stay busy and stay in shape. However, I surely did not love the sport. It is brutal. I mean, running to train for

more running with not catching, scoring or hitting involved?

It takes a special person to commit to a discipline like that and an even more special person to find love for it. That’s why we decided to scout out a number of those special individuals in this month’s magazine, to learn from and to try to understand

their drive. Let’s meet the Bison Track & Field team.

Meet the team

MIKE

BRADY KIM

LEVI

TY

GENEVA

GRANT JOSIAH SAM

PAUL DEVAN TORI KACEY

HAILEY

MIRANDA

JESSICA

NICK KELLEN BEN

TOMMY KELLAN JONATHAN JOHN

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North Dakota State is home to many incredible athletes. However, some of the fastest and most athletic performers on campus don't receive the attention they deserve. We want to change that. In this magazine, you will meet some of Fargo's truly fantastic performers. They set records. They bring home conference championships. These are our Track & Field superstars!

Superstars

Track & Field Superstars

Meet the athletes gunning for Summit League supremacy!

DennisNewell

ewell is in his second season at NDSU. In his first season, he coached the women’s cross country team to a runner-up finish in the Summit League and the men to a third-place finish. This season, the women improved upon that by taking the conference crown while the men improved as well by finishing second.

During Newell’s first season with the track & field squad, he helped lead the Bison men to the outdoor Summit League title, coaching Josh Samyn to a conference crown in the 1500m and Kelby Anderson to a sweep of the indoor and outdoor Championships Track MVP honors. He looks to continue building this year.

Prior to North Dakota State University, Newell spent the past 15 years at the University of Mary,

serving as the head cross country coach and associate head track & field coach from 2006-17, head cross country and track & field coach from 2017-20, and director of cross country and track & field 2020-21.

Newell developed Mary into a regional and national power in cross country and track & field, specializing in the middle distance and long distance events. The Marauders won 24 NSIC team championships in cross country and track & field during his tenure, including 19 titles in women’s track & field since 2007. The Mary women earned NCAA Division II runner-up team finishes in cross country in both 2017 and 2018 and earned an NCAA Division II podium finish (4th place), in indoor track & field in 2018.

Newell has mentored 172 NCAA D-II All-Americans and 12

individual national champions, including Ida Narbuvoll in 2021, who won the NCAA Division II National titles in both the 10,000m and 5,000m, setting the Division II outdoor 5,000m record. Narbuvoll then went on to compete in the 2021 Norwegian Track & Field Championships and won the 10,000m and was runner-up in the 5,000m.

Newell boasts 20 Coach of the Year honors in his career, highlighted by being named the 2013 NCAA Division II Indoor Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. He has garnered five NCAA Division II Central Region Head Coach of the Year accolades — three in women’s cross country and eight in women’s indoor and outdoor track & field — and 11 NSIC Coach of the Year awards.

-From GoBison.com

Q&A

DENNIS NEWELL

HEAD CROSS COUNTRY COACH, DISTANCE COACH AND MID-DISTANCE COACH

Q: Who, from your group of athletes, are you looking to make a big impact this year and who are you looking to take a big step forward?

A: Kaleesa Houston is definitely tried and true. She is coming back as a junior and really had a strong showing last year in indoor and outdoor and really took a big step. Then, this fall, she took another one. She just continues to improve. She’s consistent. I expect her to make some big jumps. Grace Link will be another one on the women’s side that had a great freshman year. I think Grace is getting more confident in learning the system and how I coach, learning how we do things. That confidence is kind of building. Winning the Cross Country conference title in the fall was a huge step for that whole group of women. We lost indoor and outdoor last year and I think they want to prove that that was a fluke and get those titles back.

On the guy side of it, no question, Josh Samyn is going to be someone we lean on. He’s a defending champion in the 1500m outdoor and number three all-time in the mile for NDSU. He’s going to be someone that’s very versatile and he’s a senior. So, he just understands things from a maturation standpoint too. We’ve also got a collection of distance guys

coming from the fall that we’re kind of excited to see who can step up. I can’t really pinpoint one guy at this point because we have this group of like five that are really close together. That’s a thing that is going to be exciting to see them continue to push each other…. Hopefully, all of them just kind of progress together as a group. I expect big things out of everyone.

Q: Is there anything different or unique that you’re trying to implement from a training perspective over this offseason to try to get the team to where you want it to be?

A: I tell my group, it’s kind of three things. Number one, I want them to stay healthy or get healthy. Safety and wellbeing is the number one priority here. If you can stay healthy, and the longer you can stay healthy, the better you’re going to be. Number two, we want consistency. It’s not necessarily about one small body of work, but what can you put together over three months or six months or a year, two years or three years or four years. That’s how you’re going to be great. Number three is sustainability. Can you do this with your life? Can you do this with academics, with family, with your social obligations and all of these other things you’re juggling? And so there’s not really

any secret ingredients to what we do. There’s not anything magic. We just try to find like four or five things we do really well and we try to do them longer than anybody else and better than anybody else. After that, it’s about caring. Let’s be passionate. Let’s understand our heritage and tradition and what we do at NDSU.

Q: From an outside perspective, it seems like distance training could get kind of monotonous. Is there anything you do to try and keep things fun?

A: You always try your best to keep people engaged. We always talk about how we need people engaged. It’s tough. My coach used to tell me, “You’re going to live in a constant state of residual fatigue. And you better get real comfortable being uncomfortable, because that’s the life of a distance runner, you’re just always in this kind of fog.” It can be tough, it’s a grind, but I think that’s what’s unique about those athletes.

The average person can’t come in on a Sunday and hop on a treadmill for an hour and 50 minutes and crank out 18 miles. When we find those people that are committed to that, it’s neat because they are intrinsically driven. Now, we can use things, obviously, to motivate them—a lot of them

Q&A

DENNIS NEWELL

CROSS COUNTRY COACH, DISTANCE COACH AND MID-DISTANCE COACH

being external. But a lot of them are intrinsically motivated, just like they are academically and just like they are in anything else in real life. You love what you do, thus you do it. You don’t need someone to pat you on the back. A lot of our kids may get the awards, but, ultimately, that’s not what’s bringing them in here on a Sunday by themselves. It’s something greater than that.

So, I think we continue to kind of pass that message along that this isn’t just about you. This is about everybody. It’s not just about everybody here. It’s about everybody that went here 20 years ago. It’s about everybody that’s going to go here 20 years from now. They’re going to remember what you did. We’re going to build upon what you did. Those things are things that can get you on that treadmill. Those are the things that get you to push the last two minutes of a mile race or throw those extra two meters. That’s just part of our culture. And each coach and us as a coaching staff, collectively and as a university, we have to find and create this culture that is unique to our kids. When we can do that, we find his driving force. We can bring all these kids together, and we can get them to buy into something greater than themselves for one unique goal.

I’ve always joked that when you win it’s almost like, “We did all that for a little wooden trophy?” It’s not the trophy that matters but all the experiences. Everybody, no matter the event, goes through their own difficulties on this team. That’s why we need to do it for each other.

Q: What are you most specifically excited for this season?

A: I’m excited for a lot of things. Our women didn’t win indoor or outdoor last year, but we did win conference in cross country. That was very fun for me, but I don’t want it to be a oneoff. Now, I want to take that group of individuals and push them further because that should be something that helps us win indoor and outdoor conference titles. Last year, the men won outdoor but didn’t win indoor. We want everything back on both sides.

I’m excited about the challenges that we’re going to have to go through again. It’s not even necessarily about winning. I’m more curious and excited about can we get through the challenges and what it’s going to take to do that. There are certain checkmarks in my head: Can we stay healthy? Can we run some of these times? Can we collectively come together? Can we have no drama? Can

we have good culture? Because, as we get through the season with those things happening, the energy starts to build. You can feel when you are going to win. And then even if we don’t like two years ago, we lost cross country by one point, but we gained momentum for this year. That’s what we want. I think we were really pissed last year. We’ve already hit a checkpoint with our cross country title. We’re a better distance group now. We got a couple of recruits. We’ve got a couple of people returning. We can already see some of these checkmarks being hit. I’m already getting excited. As much as it sounds like I’m excited about winning, I’m excited about the process to get there. When you get through some of those challenges, see the people change, you see somebody go from your fifth to your third or someone that wasn’t at the conference meet to scoring.

HEAD

ABOUT ReeceVega

Reece Vega has been with the NDSU program since 2020.

Vega comes to NDSU from the University of Mary, where he was named the 2019 and 2020 NSIC Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, as well as claiming Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors from the USTFCCCA in 2018.

“I am extremely excited to come back to NDSU,” said Vega. “The opportunity to coach for my alma mater and to be part of the championship tradition is beyond words. Coach Larson and Coach Keller have been amazing role models and mentors during my life, and I am very grateful for this opportunity.”

At the University of Mary, Vega coached 21 NCAA

Division II All-Americans and 14 NSIC conference champions, directing the sprints, hurdles, middle distance and relay events for the Marauders.

“We are really excited to welcome Reece back to the Bison family,” Keller said. “Reece has done a tremendous job developing himself as a collegiate coach. His years of coaching experience and success will bring great value to our program, and we’re thrilled to have him and Cassie in the Bison family.”

Prior to spending the previous three seasons at Mary, Vega was the head track & field and cross country coach at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., (2016-17) and the head coach at NAIA Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa (2013-16). In his time at Graceland, he had 14 NAIA

All-Americans and 40 national qualifiers.

In all, Vega comes to NDSU with 13 years of collegiate track & field coaching experience.

Vega was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American as a track athlete for the Bison from 2002-07, and a member of the Bison team that placed third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2004. Vega ran on NDSU’s school-record 4x400m relay teams – both indoor and outdoor – and held the indoor 600m record until 2018. He still ranks sixth in NDSU indoor history in the 400m dash and seventh outdoors.

-From GoBison.com

Q&A

REECE VEGA

SPRINTS AND HURDLES COACH

Q:

A: Being an alumni from here, I obviously always wanted to come back. But in the coaching world, you never know if that’s a possibility. There are very few job openings. Is this a dream job? Yes. Did I ever think it’d be a possibility, not really. Because in my mind, Don Larson would have to retire or leave and I thought he would be here forever. I never thought that would happen so I never thought it would be possible.

Q: Did you know that you wanted to coach while you were competing?

A: I always knew I wanted to coach, but I never knew the possibility of college coaching. I talked to both Larson and Stevie Keller and kind of asked them how it worked and they helped me get my first coaching job at Minot State, but I never thought this was possible.

Q: There’s a lot of technique that goes into sprinting, but there’s also an element of sheer athleticism that comes into play. Were you always a student of running technique or is that something you picked up post-competition?

A: For me, I picked up more postrunning. I think I started learning a little bit when I was here. When I left, one thing that Stevie always told me

was, ‘if you want to be a good coach, go to go to small schools where you have to coach a lot of events.’ And so that’s why I kind of went to Minot State. And then, when I did my coaching carousel, I tried to look for the same sort of environment. When you have to develop athletes across a whole genre of different events, it can be a little more difficult.

Q: Do you have any sort of exercise science or kinesiology degree?

A: I got a master’s in business and I helped open up a running store in Minot. And then I realized how much I love coaching and I just felt like I was affecting more lives as a coach than I was with profits and losses and that type of stuff. That’s why I decided to go into the coaching route.

Q: Who from your areas do you see taking a big step forward this year?

A: Definitely, Kendra Kelley. She has just developed so much and grown so much as a person and it’s amazing. When she was pregnant, I remember reaching out and sending her a letter and her mom a letter and just saying, ‘Hey, whatever happens, I’m always with you.’ I’ve had athletes have children before and it’s been tough. But to see how much she’s changed as not just an athlete, but as a person is crazy. I always talk about having a why beyond just wanting to PR, a driving force for a bigger reason.

Her why is so hard to understand because she wants to do it f for women that have gone through this. She wants to do it for a lot of other external reasons that you don’t see.

Q: Are her times going to get even better? They are already pretty impressive.

A: I was talking to her after she did a workout that I have never seen anyone do before and I told her, ‘I don’t know what to expect you to run because I can’t comprehend what you are doing right now.’ What she is doing in training is crazy.

Other people, I see making improvements include Brock Johnsen and Logan Mathieu. They are sophomores now but they both scored last year as freshman. Both of them kind of came out of nowhere and it’s very tough to score as a freshman in this league.

Has it always been a dream of yours to come back to NDSU?

Pritchard Clayton ABOUT

In 2016 – the season before Pritchard’s arrival at NDSU – the Bison women and men combined to score 42 team points in the long jump and triple jump at the Summit League Championships. In 2019, the Bison racked up a remarkable 145 points in the long jump and triple jump at the conference meets – multiplying their output by nearly 3 1/2 times.

In the men’s short sprints, Pritchard coached J.T. Butler into NDSU’s all-time Top 5 in the 60m dash (6.84), indoor 200m (21.63), and outdoor 200m (20.94) in the 2019 season, earning a qualifying spot at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.

Pritchard took over pole vault coaching duties prior to the 2019 season and has guided four Bison women to personalbests that rank among the Top 10 in school history, including two freshmen in 2020.

Pritchard came to NDSU after two seasons (2014-16) as a volunteer assistant coach at Nebraska, where he worked with the Huskers’ jumpers and pole vaulters. He served as the head girls’ track & field coach at Leavenworth (Kan.) High School from 2010-14 and also has experience running instructional camps for the jumps and pole vault.

“Clayton has the experience of being at a Big Ten program and recruiting and coaching at a high level,” said NDSU women’s head coach Stevie Keller upon his hire. “You can’t place a value on experiencing success and expecting success. We’re excited to add him to our staff, and for him to bring his energy and knowledge to our program.”

Alongside head coach Gary Pepin, Pritchard coached his athletes to impressive success in his stint at Nebraska, highlighted by women’s jumper Tierra Williams placing fifth at both the 2016

NCAA Indoor Championships and NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump. Williams also swept the Big Ten long jump and triple jump titles indoor and outdoor in 2016, as well as finishing 15th in the triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The Huskers had six women’s placewinners in the horizontal jumps at the 2016 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships – the most in the conference.

Pritchard earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan., in 2007 and his master’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation from Emporia State University in 2015. While at MNU, Pritchard was a four-year letterwinner in football as a wide receiver and a three-year letterwinner in track & field as a jumper.

-From GoBison.com

CLAYTON PRITCHARD JUMPS COACH Q&A

Q: Who from your group do you expect to make some noise this year and who do you see taking a big step forward?

A: Honestly, I think everybody is ready to make some really, really big strides. On the horizontal side, I expect Jodi Lipp, Alissa Melvin and Grace Emineth to be really good again, but Daejah is going to be right there also and she’s primarily a high jumper.

On the men’s side, I’m expecting big things out of Brandon Lewis and Hunter Merkley again. In high jump, we’ve got a pretty young group and an old group which is pretty diverse. But Elijah Hylen, I think, is ready to be a big boy. He has had a really good fall and I’m excited to see what he can do.

Q: Is there anything different you’ve tried to implement in training over this offseason?

A: I kind of rewrote our training a little bit. Now, it’s much more speed-oriented than we would have been in the past and I see our group a lot more fit, a lot stronger. They’re able to hit some better positions and do a lot more in practice.

Q: Is there anything that inspired you to take that route?

A: Just trying to get outside of my box a little bit. I think it’s important to grow and to continue to evolve. I think a lot of coaches get stuck in a box and they’re comfortable doing the same thing over and over again. If you do that, you’re just going to get the same results. We don’t want that. As a group, athletically, we are ready to take

that next step and compete with the big boys and big girls at the national level. We just have to put the puzzle pieces together. So I thought, “you know what, it’s on my shoulders to get outside of my box and do some new things to see if we can get to that next level.”

Q: Did you always want to coach?

A: I did. I had a high school coach that was really big in me wanting to be a coach. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a stockbroker. I thought that was my route. And then, I remember being at the high school track meet and one of my buddies was on the runway and when he finished, I went over to him before my coach got to him and said, “Hey, this is what I saw and this is what you probably need to think about doing.” And my coach came up to me afterwards and said, “Hey, you know, you should probably think about being a coach and a teacher.” And that stuck with me. So, I ended up going to school and got my degree in physical education and taught for nine years. And here I am coaching at the collegiate level.

Q: What do you think specifically has allowed you to be successful in this?

A: I’ve had a lot of really good mentors. But definitely at this level, my wife has been so supportive and allowed me to do a lot of these different things. So I give her a lot of credit. But I think just having great mentors, great teachers—people that you can call and ask questions to and bounce ideas off of, is a big deal.

Schepp jackson ABOUT

ackson Schepp joined the North Dakota State men’s and women’s track & field programs in August 2022 as the assistant coach for multievents and pole vault.

Schepp came to NDSU after coaching at the University of St. Thomas in the 2021-22 season, guiding UST sophomore Nate Raddatz to the Summit League title in the decathlon.

Schepp coached the Tommies to a 1-3-8 finish in the decathlon at their first Summit League Outdoor Championships in 2022, with all three athletes being underclassmen. Prior to his tenure at St. Thomas, Schepp served as a volunteer assistant coach at Nebraska for the multi-events and pole vault.

“We are excited to have Jackson as part of the Bison Family and are looking forward to his leadership of our combined events and pole vault,” Keller said. “In his young coaching career, he has done an excellent job of developing his athletes to reach their potential.”

Schepp was an assistant coach at the University of Mary from 2017-19 working with the Marauders’ multis, high jump and pole vault, coaching multiple all-conference athletes, two conference champions and four AllAmericans.

Schepp competed in track & field at Concordia-Moorhead from 2013-17, where he was a two-time national qualifier (2017 indoor heptathlon, 2017 outdoor decathlon)

and a two-time Academic AllAmerican. He earned three MIAC individual conference titles, 13 MIAC all-conference honors, and holds the Cobbers’ school record in the heptathlon. Schepp was also crowned Concordia College Athlete of the Year for his achievements in competition and leadership within the community.

A native of Buffalo, Minn., Schepp earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Concordia-Moorhead in 2017 and a master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Mary in 2019.

-From GoBison.com

Q&A

JACKSON SCHEPP

Q: You just got hired back in August, did you always want to coach?

A: Kind of, yeah. I knew I wanted to coach and potentially teach as well. Coaching at the college level kind of just fell in my lap. I was at a track meet and a Concordia alumni who was coaching asked me what I was doing. And I didn’t know what I was going to do after graduation and they said they had a GA spot open at the University of Mary and told me I should apply and I did.

Q: How much knowledge of the sport did you have by the time you were done competing, or have picked up since then?

A: I definitely had great mentorship at Concordia that gave me a good head start. That’s really in any profession, you don’t really know what you don’t know until you get into it. Over the years, I’ve picked up things along the way from a lot of different people and through trial and error. You just got to learn as you go.

Q: What has it been like working here? I have to imagine the resources available are pretty incredible.

A: Yeah, they’re pretty different. It’s outstanding. It makes coming to work super fun. It’s a high level atmosphere and you have a lot of resources at your disposal. There aren’t a lot of hurdles to jump over besides the actual hurdles. It’s like a dream come true. It’s

so fun to be able to come in here and work every day.

Q: Who from your group do you see making a big impact this year?

A: We have a really young crew. For the men, Zach McGlynn is our returning scorer. He has made a lot of progress this fall. We have two incoming freshmen in the vault crew that came in pretty highly ranked in the region, Jared White and Julia Gherardi. I think their contributions will be pretty impactful early in their careers which is exciting.

On the women’s side of the multis, we have Nell Graham and Angel Pratt coming back and we are expecting big things out of both of them.

Q: How do you go about balancing training in strong areas versus improving maybe weaker events for multis? Do you have to vary it by the athlete?

A: That’s the name of the game when it comes to multis. We’re pretty fortunate right now that our people are kind of all skilled in the same areas. It makes it easy on my part to kind of adjust training as a collective. But there are times where, you know, some guys need a little more work in certain events than others and we will separate and individualize as needed. The multis are basically just a big juggling act. Honestly, it ebbs and flows. Some months, we’ll focus more

on strengths, and in other months, we will focus more on the weaknesses. Sometimes it’s more of a balanced approach to just kind of what we need at the moment.

Q: What do you look for when recruiting a multi athlete?

A: Speed and jumping ability are king in the multis. It’s also nice to see wellrounded athletes—someone who plays multiple sports and excels in multiple sports. I think every one of our multis was a two if not three-sport athletes. And then just someone who really likes and enjoys and loves the sport of track and field. You kind of have to be a track junkie to compete in this area and there are so many different things you have to learn. You also have to be willing to suck for a long time before you actually get good at anything. You have to have the tenacity and the mindset to be okay with failure over and over and over and over and over again while you chase one glimpse of success. It takes a special person to kind of be able to do that. But when you find those kids, they’re just the most fun to work with.

I would even say the same thing for the pole vault as well. It’s so technical by itself and comes with a lot of continual failure over and over again and you have to do that without losing enthusiasm for the sport.

MULTI AND POLE VAULT COACH

ABOUT Stevie Keller

Keller spent six seasons as the head women’s track & field and cross country coach at NDSU from 2014-20, winning all 11 Summit League team championships in that timeframe and directing the Bison women to national recognition. He also directed the Bison men’s long sprinters during that time.

In 2017, NDSU sent its largest group of qualifiers to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, as seven athletes represented NDSU in six events at the national meet. The Bison also had 21 entries at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, setting another all-time high in the school’s Division I era.

NDSU’s 21 entries at the NCAA West Prelims in 2017 were the second-most in the nation outside of the Power 5 conferences, and there were 46 schools from the Power 5 conferences that had fewer national entries than NDSU.

In addition to extending NDSU’s record-setting run of 20 consecutive Summit League team titles, Keller has

continued to raise the bar. In 2016 and 2017, the Bison women set new league records for points scored at the outdoor conference meet.

Academically, North Dakota State has maintained its position as one of the highest-achieving women’s track & field programs in the nation. The Bison have regularly earned team grade point averages of 3.50 or better during Keller’s tenure.

Keller was named the head coach of the Bison women’s track & field and cross country programs on Nov. 3, 2014, while remaining as the coach for the long sprinters on the NDSU men’s squad. He is now in his 20th year with NDSU track & field, including seven seasons as associate head coach, directing the Bison multievents, hurdles and pole vault to unprecedented success.

In his first season as the head women’s coach in 2015, Keller led the Bison to their eighth straight indoor and outdoor Summit League team titles, giving NDSU all 16 team conference titles since they joined the league. The Bison also sent 13 athletes to the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds with a total of 16 entries, which at the time, was the largest contingent of national qualifiers in the school’s Division I history.

Since the Bison gained full NCAA Division I status in 2008, the number of achievements racked up by Keller’s student-athletes is remarkable. In all, Keller-coached athletes have earned nearly 250 All-Summit League honors and 95 Summit League titles over the past 10 seasons.

Keller has directed five athletes to a total of six first-team Division I All-America honors since 2009, including a fifth-place heptathlon finish by Whitney Carlson in 2011

and a fourth-place finish in the pole vault by Leslie Brost at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. In addition, Carlson was a three-time second-team All-American in the long jump and multi-events.

Most recently, Keller coached Willmar, MN, product Rose Jackson to first-team All-America honors in the pentathlon and nine Summit League titles in 2017 alone. Jackson set a new school record on her way to an 8th-place finish in the pentathlon at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships, as well as competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the long jump and 4x400m relay. She captured four Summit League titles indoor in 2017 to go along with five outdoor, winning the league’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.

Keller has qualified 20 athletes for the NCAA Outdoor Preliminary Rounds (2010-present) and NCAA Regionals (prior to 2010). Indoors, Keller has coached six NCAA Championships qualifiers.

As a team, the Bison women have won 10 consecutive Summit League championships both indoors and outdoors. The NDSU men have claimed six indoor and nine outdoor titles in the last 10 seasons.

Keller owns coaching experience on the national and international levels. In 2010 and 2011, he coached Heather Zander, Leslie Brost and Whitney Carlson at the USATF Championships. In 2008, Keller served as an assistant coach for Team USA in the Thorpe Cup decathlon and guided Weston Leutz to a 10thplace finish at the Junior World Championships in the decathlon.

Under Keller’s guidance, Brost developed into the most decorated

vaulter in NDSU history, with honors including a fourth-place finish and a school record vault of 14-03.25 at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. Brost placed ninth at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and was the top collegiate finisher in the event.

Keller coached Carlson to the NDSU heptathlon school record on her way to a fifth-place finish at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Buchanan, N.D., native also placed ninth in the long jump at the national meet in 2011 and was a secondteam All-American in the indoor pentathlon. Carlson was awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and was later named the NCAA Elite 88 Award winner as the nation’s top student-athlete in women’s track & field.

In 2010, Heather Zander became NDSU’s first multi-event Division I All-American after placing eighth in the heptathlon under Keller’s guidance.

Matt Bishoff was NDSU’s first male Division I All-American in 2009, taking home the honor in the indoor heptathlon.

Prior to NDSU’s move to Division I, Keller coached 10 athletes to 28 NCAA Division II All-American awards, including Nate Schmidt who won two NCAA Division II national championships in the decathlon.

As an athlete at NDSU, Keller was a two-time North Central Conference champion and a Division II AllAmerican in the decathlon. Keller also competed at Montana State University where he was a Big Sky Conference champion and Division I All-American in the decathlon. He competed in the 2004 Olympic Trials in the decathlon.

-From GoBison.com

Q&A

STEVIE KELLER

DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY

Q:

A: It’s always exciting to get going with the competition and the meets. We do a lot of training throughout the fall. So, when you get to the meets and you have the team come together, I think you start to see that culture develop. When you go on road trips, you have those teammates supporting each other. For me, that’s the most exciting thing. And then just seeing the development of kids, seeing where they were last year and where they get to this year.

Q: Is there anyone in particular you are looking at to excel and do big things?

A: I think there are a number of kids that, as they get to their third and fourth year, you really start to see them understand what it means to be a Bison and go out and compete. So, I wouldn’t say there’s a certain kid or two that I think is ready to have a great year. I think there are a number of kids that really put in a good fall and are ready to go out and compete.

Q: It’s kind of interesting that you touched on that culture piece right at the beginning. How do you go about cultivating that with everyone being so specialized and having practices at different times of the day?

A: That’s the hardest part about this job when you have a ton of kids and

six different event coaches and a bunch of different event areas. It’s difficult bringing the whole team together. We practice throughout the day. We never have our whole team here practicing at the same time like other sports do. So, we do some teambuilding things. We talk a lot about Bison pride and doing the right thing. And I think a lot of the culture that these kids build is within their event groups, but then also in the weight room and hanging out at the athletic facilities outside of practice. I think that’s where you get a lot of your team building. But then, when you come together at a track meet, that’s where you really see kids get to know each other. We are traveling together. Even when we are out at a meet, they’re watching them in the event.

Q: So is a team player something you look for in recruiting?

A: I definitely think you want a team player, somebody that’s competitive. Because I think when it comes down to it, you’re asking a lot from kids. When you go to a conference meet, you’re asking them to do multiple events. Some kids specialize in one event and you have to know your job on the team. And I think that’s why we’ve been successful. There is a lot of individual focus, but I think the kids know the history and the tradition of excellence we’ve had here. They know because of that, you show up every day, you work hard and you contribute to the team. So, I think kids

are trying to find ways to contribute to the team. We can only take 28 people to our conference meet. When you have a roster of 50 and 60 plus on the women’s side, there are a lot of athletes that don’t make the conference meet. So, it’s about finding your place on the team and where you fit in.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about the sport?

A: One of my favorite things about track and field is that it’s such a unique sport. It caters to all shapes and sizes. Sometimes you see a really undersized kid go out and beat someone that looks like they should be better than them. I also like how every event is different. And I don’t think any event has more work put in than another.

I pride myself on the development and the success of the kids and them getting better. That doesn’t mean that a kid needs to win a conference title. If a kid comes into our program and gets better, that makes me feel good about what we’re doing here.

Q: What are your goals for the season?

A: My number one goal is to make progress every week. Obviously, we also want to win the conference indoor and outdoor and get athletes qualified for nationals.

What are you most excited about for this season?

ABOUT

Pflaumbaum Jeff

Jeff Pflaumbaum is in his second year as the throws coach for North Dakota State University. He has spent 15 years coaching the throwing events and working with multi-events athletes in the throws at the Division I, Division III and high school levels. In his 10 years of collegiate coaching, Pflaumbaum has coached 38 conference champions, 63 all-conference performers, and 90 podium finishers. Additionally, he has coached nine All-Americans and two U20 national champions.

In his first year at NDSU, Coach Pflaumbaum guided the Bison throwers to 11 individual Summit League titles, 4 Summit League runners-up, 13 NCAA West Region qualifying marks, and two All-American accolades. The Bison throwers also added 13 new marks to the NDSU Top-10 list.

Additionally, Amanda Anderson (discus) established a new school record and qualified for the USATF Championships along with Kari Wolfe (javelin). Kaden Pastian (shot put, discus) and Sam Roller (javelin) qualified for the US U20 Championships. During the indoor season, Trevor Otterdahl (weight throw) earned All-American honors, finishing fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

In 2021, Pflaumbaum coached Marc Anthony Minichello in the men’s javelin to an Olympic Trials final, where he finished fourth.

Prior to the COVID-19 cancelation of 2020, Coach Pflaumbaum concluded four years as the throws coach at the University of Pennsylvania, leading one of the most accomplished periods in Ivy League throws history. At Penn, Pflaumbaum coached

six All-Americans, 19 NCAA East Region qualifiers, 12 individual Ivy League titles, 10 Ivy League runners-up, two U20 individual national titles, nine Top-10 All-Time Ivy League performances, and 33 Top-10 All-Time Penn performances. Pflaumbaum also had studentathletes establish new school records in seven of the twelve throwing events. Penn Throws scored in 39 of 40 events at the Ivy League Championship during Pflaumbaum’s tenure. In 2018, he was named USTFCCCA Women’s Mid-Atlantic Assistant Coach of the Year.

Preceding Penn, Pflaumbaum spent three years as the throws coach at Lehigh University. During his time with the Mountain Hawks, he led three student-athletes to individual Patriot League titles as well as two Patriot League runners-up in 2016 (women’s weight throw, women’s

discus) and one in 2014 (men’s discus). Pflaumbaum also worked with the multi-events athletes in the throws. In those three years at Lehigh, the multis accounted for eight individual Patriot League titles.

In 2013, Coach Pflaumbaum served as throws coach and team strength coach at Swarthmore College. In that year, his athletes claimed three podium performances at the Centennial Conference Championship, won an individual Centennial Conference title (women’s discus), and broke four school records.

Prior to Swarthmore, Pflaumbaum was the throws coach at Temple University where he led student-athletes to three individual Atlantic-10 Conference titles (women’s indoor shot put, women’s outdoor shot put and women’s discus) as well as Atlantic-10 runner-up in the women’s outdoor shot put. Additionally, he guided qualifiers to the NCAA East Regionals and

U20 Nationals. Three of Temple’s school records were broken during that year. At the season’s conclusion, one of his athletes garnered A-10 Rookie of the Year honors.

Coach Pflaumbaum began his coaching career at St John’s Prep in Danvers, Mass., serving as their throws coach for four years. Simultaneously, he was the head cross country coach at Gann Academy for three years, claiming two conference team titles.

As a thrower at NC State, Pflaumbaum was an All-ACC honoree (discus) and an NCAA provisional qualifier (weight throw). Following his collegiate career, he earned four submasters All-American accolades (shot-put). He holds a B.A. in Religion with a Classical Greek minor from N.C. State and a B.M. in Contemporary Writing from The Berklee College of Music. -From GoBison.com

Q: Who from your group are you expecting big things from this season?

A: Most of them, to be honest. Probably at the top would be Trevor Otterdahl. I would say Trevor and Benji Phillips are definitely contenders for making it to the national meet. And then we’ve probably got another level of people that are probably right in that gray area of making the jump as well. But, I think we have a group of throwers that are

JEFF PFLAUMBAUM THROWS COACH

pretty motivated to take a step forward.

Q: What do you think has been the key to your group’s outstanding success over the last few years?

A: I think the culture of the team. You know, I think a big part of it should be attributed to Coach Don Larson and the environment that he created and then the decade that coach Justin Sinclair was here leading the throws.

WithJacob Rodin

Mid-Distance, Senior

What was your experience like competing at the NCAA Championships?

It was a lot of fun, honestly. It was surreal. They really have a worldclass facility there. To be able to run in an environment like that with some of the best athletes in the world was awesome.

Did you get a chance to explore or do things around the area?

Obviously, the main focus is to run the 4x400m relay. But, we stayed through the week in case we made the finals. We didn't make the finals so we had a few days to kind of enjoy the Oregon area. We went on the sand dunes one day and drove around on an ATV. That was a lot of fun. We got to take a peek at the ocean. We were really able to just soak it all in. It was a lot of fun.

What has getting a taste of that done for your group's mindset heading into the season?

It's definitely a goal to get back. You look back on the season and see all

the things that went right along the way to get to the biggest stage. I'm just hoping to repeat those things and improve. It would be awesome to get back.

What are some of your other goals heading into the season?

I'd really like to improve on my 800m. It's probably my best race and I'd like to dip into the 1:47 range. That has been a goal since last year and I didn't quite get there at the end of the year. But it's a goal to do it this year.

Is there anything you do differently this offseason to help you get there?

Yeah, I increased the mileage a little bit more this summer. I wasn't really used to it and had a couple of 10-mile runs. But you get used to them. And when you know it's for improvement, it becomes a little easier and a little more fun to do.

What are you most looking forward to about the season?

Probably just running with the team. And I'm not just talking about relays, but also the encouragement that happens in practice. Even though there are mostly individual events, it's such a team sport. Everybody is there cheering you on which is a lot of fun. I enjoy cheering on my teammates as well and seeing them succeed.

What are some of your passions outside of track and field?

I like to hunt and fish. I also really enjoy different sports like basketball. I watch a lot of basketball. March Madness is one of the best times of the year. I also think college football is always very fun.

Do you have any professional postgraduate plans yet?

As of right now, I plan to go back and help my dad and brother on the farm.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2018-2019

Indoor:

• 6th in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 6th in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m (Summit League Championships)

2019-2020

Indoor:

• 1st in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 4th fastest indoor 800m in school history (1:50.79)

• Ran the 2nd fastest 600m in school history (1:19.04)

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 1st in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships) (2nd fastest in school history 3:11.04)

• 2nd in the 800m (Summit League Championships)(2nd fastest in school history 1:50.00)

• Ran the fastest 600m in school history (1:18.03)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

(NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier)

• 2nd in the 800m (Summit League Championships)(NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier)

• Ran the 4th fastest 800m in school history (1:49.60)

• Ran the 2nd fastest 4x400m relay in school history (3:09.24)

2021-2022

Indoor:

• Ran the fastest 800m in school history (1:48.52)

• Ran the 2nd fastest 500m in school history

• Ran the 2nd fastest 600m in school history

• Ran the 4th fastest 1000m in school history

• 2nd in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier and honorable mention All-American in the 4x400m relay (18th at the national meet)

• Ran the fastest 4x400m relay in school history (3:05.24)

• Qualified to the NCAA West Prelims in the 800m

• 3rd in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner

With

I know you’re from Bismarck, did you always want to go to NDSU?

Well, right away, I didn’t really think I would be in collegiate track at all. Going into my junior year of high school, it wasn’t in the back of my mind at all. It wasn’t until my senior year that schools began contacting me, but none of the big schools talked to me so I thought, ‘let’s go compete for the hometown team.’

What was your goal in high school?

Like I said, it wasn’t really track until my senior year. I knew I wanted to go into architecture. That’s long gone, but at the time, I knew NDSU had a good architecture program. It wasn’t until my senior year when the number one sprinter, at the time, in the state of North Dakota, who is one of my friends, told me I could probably go Division I if I had a breakout year.

So, on your bio online, it says you’re an exercise science major, but you told me you’re phy ed major. What is the deal with that?

So, I was an exercise science major the first semester of my freshman year, and switched to PE and health sciences and just didn’t tell anyone in the athletic department. We actually did the senior awards banquet and Matt Larsen announced me as an exercise science graduate. It made me giggle a little bit.

So, what do you want to do with that? Are you trying to go the teaching route?

Going the teaching route is actually plan C as weird as that sounds. Plan A is to try and have a short pro career. My body is breaking down, but I’d like to at least have a short pro career and then get into coaching. I want Coach Pritchard’s job. I don’t want his because he deserves this but I want to do what he does at a different school. Plan B would be to try and get

a coaching job right away or teach and work my way up to a collegiate coaching job.

What interests you about coaching?

It’s a lot different than teaching, but it’s also kind of the same. One of my favorite things to do is to see the athletes grow. We have certain camps that we host during the summer and even in that one week span, when you’re coaching, the transformation with the kids is amazing. And the biggest thing for being a coach is not only coaching the athlete to be a better athlete, but also to be a better person. Seeing that character growth and character development, is really exciting.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

As a prospective future coach, do you consider yourself a student of the events? Do you try to dive into books or anything to learn more about the technique?

I probably don’t read as much about it as I should, but having a full-time teaching job at the moment and being an athlete and then having 12 credits in grad school on top of all of that, I get a little busy. But one thing I’ve tried to do with grad school is I’ve tried to make every project or assignment based on coaching. For example, one of my projects that I’m working on

now we have to try to find an issue with something that we want to do. I want to research more about how to stop overcoaching. Sometimes, when I’m teaching someone, I have an issue with going into every single detail of every single thing rather than just saying, ‘try this one thing.’

What are you passionate about outside of track & field?

I love video games. Over the past few years, my favorite has been Apex legends. I absolutely love it. It frustrates the living

crap out of me but that’s fine. Recently, Call of Duty dropped so I’ve been playing that as well. But sometimes, you got to stick with the OG and just go with Minecraft. You’ve got to do it. Like I said, I was into architecture. I majored in it my first three days on campus.

I’m also an avid golfer. I love golfing. I think I did over 30 rounds this last summer.

Where is your favorite course?

Rose Creek is beautiful.

2017-2018

Indoor:

• 3rd place in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• Jumped the 5th longest long jump in school history (24-04.50)

• 8th in the 60m (Summit League Championships)

2018-2019

Indoor:

• 2nd in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 3rd in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x100m relay (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the long jump

• Tied for the 5th longest long jump in school history (24-07.75)

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 1st in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 1st in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• Jumped the 4th longest long jump in school history (24-06.50)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the long jump (Summit League Championships)(2nd longest in school history 2506.00)

• 9th in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the long jump

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 1st in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• Broke the NDSU indoor long jump school record and set a new NDSU facility record while posting the 37th best mark in the NCAA on the year (2501.75)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the long jump

With

What are your goals for the season?

Definitely to win a team conference championship again. I also want to make the conference team and perform well at conference and hopefully score some points for the team. That’s the biggest goal every season is to go and perform to score the most for the team.

Is there anything you tried different this offseason to try to push things forward?

I have always been kind of scared to actually get strong in the weight room. So this summer, I tried to focus on getting my strength up and not being scared of growing in the weight room.

What has been your most memorable part of being in the program so far?

I would say my freshman year, making the conference team and winning the conference championship. As a freshman, I was able to score points

for the team to help us. So I would say that was probably the most memorable. In high school, track is a team sport but it wasn’t really with our high school team. We weren’t really ever that good. So to come here and be able to experience everyone supporting everyone was super cool.

Were you surprised by your early success?

Yeah, it was really cool. My freshman year, I won newcomer of the year. Just being able to go and perform at a high level my freshman year, it was just super exciting, and to have the support from my team and to be able to help the team was incredible. Sometimes as a freshman, you can get overlooked.

Did that help you feel more comfortable in your transition out of high school?

Definitely. It made me believe I can do this. You can be good in high school, but college is a different beast.

The training is 10 times harder. The environment is a lot more intense. The meets are a lot more intense. So having some early success helped me to calm down and made me feel like I belonged.

What is your favorite part about track & field?

The competitiveness. I feed off energy.

What are you most excited about this season?

It’s my last season so I’m excited to compete again with my teammates one last time. And I’m excited for conference because it’s home this year. So, we’re going to have lots of fans hopefully. A lot of people don’t get the chance or the opportunity to come and see us do it. And outdoor is so different than indoor. So, it’s going to be really cool that we have the opportunity to show people this year.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

What’s your major?

Human Development and Family Science.

Why did you choose that? What do you want to do with it?

We’ll see. I don’t know exactly what my plans are after this year. I love working with old people. Right now, I have an internship at Touchmark Senior Living in life enrichment. So basically, I just plan their day to day activities and I help them with anything that they need help with and just be buddies with them.

Why do you like that?

Just the joy on their face. It brings them so much joy. A lot of people look at end of life like, it’s such a harsh thing when it doesn’t

have to be. It doesn’t mean your life is over once you reach a certain age. You can be dancing on the dance floor when you’re 96. I think that’s how they should feel.

What are some other passions you have outside of track and field?

Business really interests me. I’d really like to open up a business someday. I love coffee. Me and my sister have talked about opening a coffee shop. I don’t know if that will happen but it is something we have talked about.

2018-2019

Indoor:

• 2nd in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)(8th longest in school history 39-09.25

• 3rd in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)(7th longest in school history 40-09.00)

• 5th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 6th in the 4x100m relay (Summit League Championships)

2019-2020

Indoor:

• 1st in the triple jump (Summit League Championships) (7th longest in school history 40-05.50

• 3rd in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 1st in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 1st in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)(3rd longest in school history 41-01.50)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)(5th longest in school history 41-09.75)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the triple jump

• 6th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 2nd in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• 8th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)(6th longest in school history 41-10.50)

• 4th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the triple jump

With

Kendra Kelley Sprints, Sophomore

You had your son, Brayden, in early 2022. How is he doing?

Awesome. He’s fabulous. He is my greatest blessing. He makes me so much better. That’s why I came back.

That had to be such a life-shifting event. How has it changed your perspective on things?

I knew that whatever decision I made, in terms of coming back, which I wasn’t sure about, he was most important. When I was pregnant, I was all over the place. I had no idea what to expect. But I knew wherever I was, I was going to be the best mother. And when I’m here, I’m the best version of myself and it helps me become a better mother. So, coming back almost seems so easy to me.

Really?

Yes! The people here are phenomenal. It’s a family, my coaches, my family, my friends have all been super supportive. I knew it was going be an uphill climb. But I’m very pleased with where I am athletically right now and just individually as a mother.

Do you feel like you are back to where you were athletically?

Honestly, better. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but everything I do is for my son. I’ve just had a different edge this year. I feel like I’m fighting not only for women who have children, but I want to show that women can still be their highest versions of themselves and still pursue what they would like to pursue, especially in athletics. I feel like when you hear of these top-tier athletes getting pregnant, it sounds like a death sentence. I wanted to be part of that movement to show that you can still pursue everything you wanted to be before you had a child.

There obviously has to be a love of track there as well to draw you back.

There’s so much to love about this sport. It’s an individual sport, in a sense, but there’s such a team dynamic to it. I love being able to go out here and compete and go to war for my teammates. I think we have a lot of people to prove wrong this year after losing conference twice in a row. I think there’s just a different

competitive edge to practice and we’re just ready to go.

What drew you to NDSU?

On my recruiting trips, I had gone to all power five schools and then NDSU. And I was blown away by the culture here. When I stepped foot on campus, I was completely greeted with open arms and shown right away what bison culture is. I had come from a smaller area and I wanted to be part of a program that wins titles and not only cares about what you do on the track, but what you do outside of the track.

What are some of your passions off the track?

I love to spend time with friends. I am a big reader too. I enjoy reading. School takes up a lot of my time, but ultimately just spending time with my son and watching him grow up.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

What are you expecting you emotions to be like during that first return to competition?

I think about it all the time. But a year ago, around this time, I got put at high risk for my pregnancy. I developed pre-eclampsia and I was experiencing organ failure unknowingly. It was really scary. I had no idea what the outcome was going to be for my baby, let alone myself. Honestly, from that point on, I knew that no matter what I was going to come back and do everything I can in my life to be the absolute best version of myself. And I’m really excited because I’m going to have a little baby with me now in the stands watching me. It’s going to be a blessing just to look up in the stands and see my son. He’s been there for me with everything. My pregnancy was rough, but I think it all works out in the end when you’re a good person and you stick to your core values.

Indoor:

• 6th in the 400m (Summit League Championships)

• 1st in the 4x400m (Summit League Championships)

Indoor:

• 2nd in the 200m (Summit League Championships)

• 6th in the 60m (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 3rd fastest 200m in school history (24.23)

• Ran the 9th fastest 60m in school history (7.69)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the 200m (Summit League Championships) (6th fastest in school history 23.59)

• 6th in the 100m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 5th fastest 100m in school history (11.81)

With

Trevor Otterdahl Sprints,

Sophomore

Did I read correctly that you’re a graduate student at this point?

It’s kind of confusing. I finished my graduate degree and got my MBA last spring. Now, I am reinstated as an undergrad. This was not a planned year, but I have an extra year of eligibility because of COVID. So, I will be getting a minor in economics now.

Were you on the fence about coming back for this extra year or not?

I was planning on doing five years when I came here. I planned on redshirting at some point from the get go. I redshirted my second year that I was here for some hip surgeries. I just have the year of outdoor eligibility remaining at this point, but I didn’t think I was going to take it. I went through all of last year thinking it was the last time. And then, towards the end of the year, I started changing my mind a little bit and had some talks with coaches and with administration. And then, at the very end of the year, I decided that I needed to come back.

Do you have any postgraduate plans yet?

Once I’m done with school here, yes. I actually currently work part-time at Elevance Health, a health insurance company based out of the Minneapolis area, as an Actuarial Analyst. Once I’m done in the spring, my plan is to go full-time with them.

Is that something you have always wanted to do?

Yes, since later in high school because I really like mathematics, statistics and computer science. Actuarial science is kind of a blend of those. That’s how I wound up looking at that career field. I guess if things go really well, this year, there’s a chance that I would consider throwing post-collegiately which my older brother does. However, the US is very competitive in the throwing event. So, if things go exceptionally well, there is a chance I’d continue throwing but I’d say it’s a slim chance right now.

What are your goals for the season?

I don’t have an indoor season this year because I exhausted all my indoor eligibility, which is unfortunate because the weight has been my best event and I really love that event but won’t be able to compete in the bison jersey for that this year. I’ll still throw it unattached and I’m looking at the facility record here at NDSU because my older brother has it so it’d be nice to edge him out in at least one type of record. But that’s probably all I’d be looking for this indoor season. I just kind of want to have some fun with it.

Last year was a really good year for me in the outdoors and I had a lot of fun. This year, first and foremost, I just want to have fun with my teammates. That’s

why I came back. But throwing-wise, I think another goal would be to make it to regionals in all three throwing events. I was able to do that last year and I’d like to do that again this year. And I definitely want to advance to the national meet this year in as many events as I can.

Is it a blessing that you can kind of push the training a little bit this spring since you don’t have to worry about indoor competition? Yeah, absolutely. This whole year is so unique because it’s unlike any year I’ve had before. I don’t need to be ready until mid-March when outdoor season starts. There are a lot of ways training is more focused because of that aspect. So, probably this year, I am going to be throwing quite a bit less weight in exchange for throwing more hammer. And then, overall, I can push training harder. I can be in more of a heavy phase compared to everybody else who needs to be prepared to compete. I can kind of keep my eyes focused on the outdoor season. In that way, it’s really unique and cool.

In addition to that, is there anything else you tried or are going to try in the lead-up to the season to improve your performance?

Last year, we got a new coach, Coach [Jeff] Pflaumbaum. That first year is

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

kind of a big transition because

I had had the same coach for all of the other years here and I was used to that coaching style and that programming scheme.

To have that changed to a completely very different style put me in a really big adaptive phase where you’re completely learning a new coach and learning a whole new training system. That also played into my decision to come here this year because I knew we could hit the ground running instead of having such a big transition phase because I knew my coach.

I knew his training style and training program, and we could just have a full year of that this year. Now, I can really just trust

2017-2018

Indoor:

• 6th in the shot put (Summit League Championships, 10th longest in school history 5503.50)

• 6th in the weight throw (Summit League Championships, 10th longest in school history 6203.75)

Outdoor:

• 7th in the shot put (Summit League Championships)

• 10th in the discus (Summit League Championships)

• 11th in the hammer throw (Summit League Championships)

• Threw the 8th furthest shot put in school history (56-00.00)

2018-2019

Indoor:

• 4th in the weight throw (Summit League Championships)

• 6th in the shot put (Summit League Championships)(9th longest in school history 5609.25)

• Threw the 6th furthest weight throw in school history (65-08.25)

2019-2020

Indoor:

• 2nd in the weight throw (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the shot put (Summit League Championships)

the process because I saw it work so well last year. I improved in every throwing event and had what I thought was a pretty good season overall and I had a lot of fun.

Do you feel like that is a unique advantage that you now have the ability to pull from a knowledge-base of two really high-level coaches?

Yes, definitely. I think, even though their coaching styles are different, they complement each other very well. They’re both highly technical coaches. So, there wasn’t a lot of change. Both of them focus a lot on technique. That’s kind of the

nature of throwing. My past coach, Justin St. Clair, focused a lot more on the weight room and a lot more on power development and getting really strong. That gave me a really good base over the years for development. Coach P’s style focuses a little bit more on general athleticism. So, we took a little bit of time out of the weight room, but we’re adding it into things like plyometrics, jumping, mobility and different forms of unique strength. And I think the two complement each other very well. I think that’s why last year ended up going so good and I think most of our athletes would agree with that as well.

• Threw the 3rd furthest weight throw in school history (70-02.50)

• Finished the season ranked 18th in the NCAA for the weight throw

• Finished the season ranked 46th in the NCAA for the shot put

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 4th in the weight throw (NCAA Indoor Championships)(First Team All-American)

• 2nd in the weight throw (Summit League Championships)

• 5th in the shot put (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the hammer throw (Summit League Championships) (5th longest in school history 216-0)

• 6th in the shot put (Summit League Championships)

• 11th in the discus (Summit League Championships)

• Threw the 8th furthest discus in school history (170-8)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the hammer throw and shot put

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 5th in the weight throw (NCAA Indoor Championships)(First Team All-American)

• Summit League Indoor Field

Athlete of the Year

• Summit League Championship Field MVP

• 1st in the weight throw (Summit League Championships)(3rd furthest in school history 7505.50)

• 2nd in the shot put (Summit League Championships)

• Threw the 6th furthest shot put in school history (62-09.25)

• Ranked 31st nationally in the shot put

Outdoor:

• Summit League Outdoor Championships Field MVP

• 1st in the hammer throw (Summit League Championships) (2nd furthest in school history 225-4)

• 2nd in the shot put (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the discus (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the hammer throw, shot put and discus

• Threw the 4th furthest discus in school history (181-5)

With

Mid-Distance, Senior

I’m sure you had a lot of opportunities to go somewhere else for school, what made you choose NDSU?

Just the interest and love they showed me right out of the gate. I sent them a recruitment form freshman year. The old distance coach, Andrew Carlson, reached out to me right away. He had me come down on a visit and showed me what NDSU had to offer—its facilities and its culture. They really did a good job convincing me to come down.

What has been your favorite part of being here?

The people. The stereotype that North Dakota people are friendly really is true. Everyone’s really nice.

What are your goals heading into the season?

Obviously to PR. You always want to improve every year. You also want to win conference. That’s another big goal for us, both indoor and outdoor. You know, last year, we didn’t quite meet our goal of winning indoor conference.

That’s something we definitely want to come back and do.

As you’ve gotten older, are you finding yourself taking on more of a leadership role within the team?

I’d say so. Every time freshmen come in, they’re coming into a new training system. They’re taking on more training volume. I always try to give them tips here and there on how to adapt to the training well. We want

them not to overexert their body. We want to keep them injury free.

Were there people that helped you with that when you came in?

Yeah, quite a bit. We have a really cohesive team unit I would say for sure.

As someone who can’t fathom it, what does it feel like after you run a 4:06 mile?

I felt really good. I was surprised. I didn’t think I would run that fast. Sometimes you have races where you just feel absolutely terrible and your legs are hurting. And then sometimes, you go into a state of, I guess, euphoria. When it’s like that, everything is moving the way it should be moving and you just run the time that you want to run. That day was a good day.

What are some of your passions off the track?

As it’s getting colder, the outdoor rinks are freezing over. I played hockey growing up. I don’t mean to stereotype myself as Canadian, but I played from like the age of five all the way up to 17. So, hopefully, I’ll get out there with my friends and family.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2018-2019

Indoor:

• 2nd in the distance medley relay (Summit League Championships) (7th fastest in school history 10:08.00)

2019-2020

Indoor:

• 2nd in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 7th in the 800m (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the 1500m (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 3rd fastest 1500m in school history

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 2nd in the distance medley relay (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 6th fastest mile time in school history (4:06.82)

Outdoor:

• 1st in the 1500m (Summit League Championships)(3rd-fastest in school history 3:47.37)

Nell Graham

What’s your major?

So, it’s technically business administration but I take tri-college classes at MSUM for speech-language pathology.

I want to help people with language and fluency disorders gain their language so that they can communicate normally.

What makes you want to do that?

I’ve always wanted to help people and I love interacting with people. Both my mom and my sister have hearing loss. So, it’s kind of appealing to me that I can help people like them in the future.

So, do you know ASL?

No, not yet, but I want to learn it so badly.

What other passions do you have

outside of Track & Field?

I love hanging out with my friends. I like to watch a lot of Netflix and TV. My parents are in Knoxville, Tennessee right by the Smoky

Mountains. So, I love going hiking and just kind of doing anything outdoorsy. I love to travel and I love watching track.

I didn’t think you were from Tennessee.

I’m not. I’m from near Rochester, Minnesota. My parents moved to Knoxville right after I graduated high school. I love going to the University of Tennessee football games when I visit them. SEC football is so much fun to watch.

What are your goals for this season?

I think the biggest goal would be obviously our team conference championship. That’s the main goal. And then, our 4x400 relay team really wants to be able to qualify for regionals and run a time under 3:40. That would be awesome. I just want to help the team out in as many ways as possible.

Last year, you came super close in the 400 meters at the conference championships, taking second in the indoor and outdoor. Is that

something you have your sights set on heading into this season?

Yes, that would be awesome. I do the heptathlon, starting last year, as well, so that is kind of a hard double, but I know that I’m capable of running a good time.

Are there any events in the heptathlon that you hadn’t done before coming in last year?

I really hadn’t ever jumped the high jump or the long jump. I’ve never really done shot put or javelin.

Do you feel like you have a stronger grasp heading into some of those events heading into this season?

Yes. I’ve been practicing all fall and with our new multi-coach, Jackson Schepp. We’ve been working on a lot of techniques. At the end of last year, I was excited to get back to working at a lot of them because I knew I had a lot of things I could improve on.

When did you first fall in love with track?

When I was in elementary school, we

had to run the mile and when we did, I beat all of the boys.

I thought it was so cool and it just made me want to run. I love track, but I love the team even more. It’s so fun to come here every day with my best friends and work towards a common goal.

Is the social aspect of track one of your favorite parts?

Yes, I love getting to meet new people. And I think the opportunities that track has brought to me are really cool.

I get to go all around the country with my best friends and compete at these insane meets and I get to see a bunch of new places.

What are you most looking forward to this season?

Trying to win conference again. It wasn’t fun to lose last year. So, hopefully, we can bring back the conference title this year. Other than that, just getting to compete and hopefully improving my times and just enjoying my last few years of track.

2019-2020

Indoor:

• 6th in the 400m (Summit League Championships)

• 1st in the 4x400m (Summit League Championships)

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 4th in the 400m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 3rd in the 400m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 2nd in the 400m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

• 5th in the pentathlon (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the 400m (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the 4x400m relay (Summit League Championships)

• 2nd in the heptathlon (Summit League Championships)

• 7th in the 200m (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 8th fastest 400m in school history (54.61)

• Ran the 9th fastest 200m in school history (24.26)

With

Senior

What are your goals for the season?

My goal for the season is to go to nationals in indoor and outdoor so I can get a banner up on the wall, and I definitely want to win conference again as a team.

It seems like recapturing the conference crown is something everyone on the team is talking about. Is that a big driving point?

Yes, for sure. We had 27 consecutive wins and that ended just last year for the first time. It has been hard on most

of our seniors and our juniors. We really want to get it back and I think that’s really what’s pushing us forward.

Have you seen big improvements over the offseason?

I have for sure. I saw it even after we lost indoor last year. Even though we didn’t win conference in outdoor, our performances were so much better because we took that loss and we moved on from it. I can see the fire in everyone training. Even Coach Keller is trying to push us when he’s talking to us. He wants us to remember that we

lost the streak and that we can bring it back.

Coach Pritchard told me your group has been doing more speed and endurance training. Is this your first time experiencing something like that?

For sure. This has been the toughest fall training I’ve ever had in my six years of being here.

What is your favorite thing about track and field?

Honestly, the fact that it’s an individual sport and a team sport at the same time. I can hold myself accountable and hold teammates accountable at the same time. I feel like you have the best of both worlds with that.

Was it a pretty big culture shock coming up here from the Bahamas?

It was a huge culture shock. But this is a family and everyone welcomed me. It was a pretty easy transition, if I do say so myself.

What has been your favorite part so far of living in the Midwest?

My favorite part would have to be the people. I didn’t expect everyone to be as nice as they are. You always hear that Midwesterners are nice, but they truly are really nice people. They greet you and because this is a college town, everyone is very excited to watch you compete and you kind of feel like a celebrity too.

What are you most looking forward to in the season?

I’m looking forward to competing for the last time. My bones are all cracking and I am tired. So, I am ready to get this over with. I know it’s going to be sad when I’m done but I’m really looking forward to ending this with a bang.

Do you have any postgraduate plans yet?

Yes. I would like to move to Oregon and probably work there in the school district somewhere and, eventually, work my way into coaching track and field and hopefully wiggle myself into the University of Oregon and coach track and field there.

Do you know what age you want to work with in the school?

Definitely elementary.

2017-2018

Indoor:

• 2nd in the high jump (Summit League Championships)

• 3rd in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• Tied the mark for 10th highest high jump in school history (5-07.00)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the high jump (Summit League Championships)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• 10th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• Won the Bahamas under-20 national title in the high jump

2018-2019

Indoor:

• Tied the mark for the 7th highest high jump in school history (5-08.50)

• Ran the 9th fastest 60m in school history (7.70)

Outdoor:

• 4th in the NACAC U23 Championships in Mexico (Tying 10th all-time in school history 5-08.75)

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 1st in the high jump (Summit League Championships)

• 3rd in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• Tied the mark for 3rd highest high jump in school history (5-10.00)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the high jump (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the high jump

• Jumped the 10th longest triple jump in school history (39-09.75)

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 3rd in the high jump (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• 5th in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 2nd in the high jump (Summit League Championships)

• 4th in the triple jump (Summit League Championships)

• 7th in the long jump (Summit League Championships)

• NCAA West Preliminary Rounds qualifier in the high jump

With

What are your goals for the season?

My goals for the season are to possibly win the 3k and also, as a team, of course, to win the conference this year. It was kind of upsetting last year to not win the conference so I’m really excited to see what the whole team can do.

How often is last year’s outcome brought up?

With our coach, it definitely is something that is brought up because it gives us that fire and that drive to want to win. It definitely is something that comes up often. Our coach includes it in his speeches almost every practice.

When did you first start to like track & field?

I didn’t start it until my freshman year of high school. I didn’t really go to a school that had the option

of being in track, or cross country. It was something that was very new to me. But I always knew that I enjoyed running. I loved doing the mile at school and also doing pacers. That kind of just gave me this love for running. And when I knew that I could have the opportunity to do it, I took it as soon as I possibly could.

How soon did you think about running collegiately at some point?

It wasn’t till around my junior year that I thought about that and figured out that that could be an option for me. That was just a goal that seemed so far away. But as the seasons tended to get better, and I became more experienced, I realized that that was a real option for me. So, after talking to my coaches, I was definitely interested in the possibility of doing that.

What are you most looking forward to this season?

I’m just looking forward to being with our team. Our team culture has been really good. We’ve just grown so much and I feel a lot closer. I’m excited to work with them on the process of winning the conference, hopefully.

What have been some of your favorite memories so far with the Bison?

Definitely our team camp that we had was one of my favorite things that we’ve ever done. And also winning our cross country conference this year is one of my favorite memories.

What was the team camp?

For the team camp, we went to Belle Shores, Minnesota for the weekend. We had all this time together and right after was our first meet of the season. We just played volleyball, we

ran together, we swam, we just got to do a bunch of different activities that we don’t usually get to do together because it’s usually all running all the time. It was kind of nice to have something outside of running to be able to bond together and get to know each other a lot better.

From cross country to the steeplechase to a host of distance events you do, there’s a lot of variety. Is that something you enjoy?

Yes, I love having variety. I think I get sick of doing the same thing over and over again. I kind of like having to switch my mindset with different races. I think it just helps me mentally to kind of just focus in on that one race, and being able to change that is nice when one race isn’t going well.

What are some of your passions outside of track & field?

I really enjoy reading, actually. I don’t get to do it as often as I would like, but that is something that I really enjoy doing. I also am part of a club called Fellowship of Christian Athletes and I spend a lot of time with that. All my friends outside of sports are mostly from that club. That’s just something that I’m super passionate about because it’s my faith—that’s pretty much what I run for.

What are some good books you’ve read recently?

I like fantasies. There’s a book called “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and it’s part of a whole series about fairies and stuff. It sounds kind of funny, but I like that kind of stuff. It’s just fun to go somewhere else different than this world and just be able to be inside of a book. I just love that.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2020-2021

Indoor:

• 6th in the 3000m (Summit League Championships)

• 7th in the 5000m (Summit League Championships)

• 9th in the mile (Summit League Championships)

Outdoor:

• 7th in the 3000m steeplechase (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 10th fastest steeplechase time in school history

2021-2022

Indoor:

• 5th in the 3000m (Summit League Championships)(8th fastest in school history 9:46.16)

• 9th in the mile (Summit League Championships)

• 9th in the 5000m (Summit League Championships

Outdoor:

• 3rd in the 5000m (Summit League Championships)

• Ran the 8th fastest 5000m in school history (16:49.36)

*Interview conducted on November 15, 2022

Over three seasons at NDSU, Collins has guided the Bison to three straight Summit League Tournament appearances. NDSU has reached the semifinal round of the Summit League Tournament in two of his first three seasons.

Collins guided the Bison to their second-straight appearance in the semifinals in the Summit League Tournament and posted a 15-9 overall record and 9-7 Summit League record in 2020-21. The Bison had four players earn all-league honors in 2020-21 with Heaven Hamling highlighting the group after being named the Summit League Newcomer of the Year, while also grabbing a spot on the All-Summit League Second Team and Summit League All-Newcomer Team. Emily Dietz and Ryan Cobbins picked up All-Summit League Honorable Mention, while Reneya Hopkins was named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team. It marked the first time in program history NDSU had three all-league selections in the same year and also the first time NDSU has had two players named to the all-newcomer team in the same season.

During his first year at the helm, the Bison went 11-19 overall and 7-9 in the Summit League. It was the most regular season and league wins for the Bison since 2014-15. His first victory at NDSU came on Dec. 1, as the Bison beat New Hampshire 67-61. The win was the 200th career victory for Collins. Junior Michelle Gaislerova was named to the AllSummit League Honorable Mention Team, while freshman Ryan Cobbins was named to the All-Summit League Newcomer Team.

Prior to coming to NDSU, Collins spent the 2018-19 season at the University of Kansas as an assistant coach. Collins was the head coach for eight seasons at NCAA Division II Emporia State prior to his year at Kansas.

During his time at Kansas, Collins primarily worked with the post players. He helped recruit the No. 2 class in the Big 12 after the early signing period in November.

Collins spent 12 years at Emporia State, including the last eight as the head coach. He compiled a record of 199-56 with five straight MidAmerica Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament titles (2013-17) and six straight trips to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 (2012-17). In 2017, Emporia State finished the season ranked first in the NCAA Central Region for the third time in four years.

His 2015 team won the NCAA Division II Central Region championship, advancing to the Final Four with a 29-5 record. Collins has a 33-9 career postseason record in the MIAA and NCAA tournaments, while compiling a 15-8 overall record against teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

Collins was named the KBCA Women’s Basketball Four-Year Coach of the Year in 2015, while being named the NCAA Division II Region 7 Russell Athletic/WBCA Coach of the Year in 2014. The Hornets finished with 20 or more wins in seven of his eight seasons as a head coach.

Off the floor, the Hornets finished with the top GPA (3.72) in NCAA Division II in 2017. The 2018 squad finished fourth in the nation with a 3.71 GPA.

Prior to being the head coach at Emporia State, Collins spent four years as an assistant for the Hornets. Emporia State won back-to-back MIAA championships in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, the Hornets won the NCAA Division II national championship with a 30-5 record. Collins served as the primary recruiter that identified, evaluated, recruited and signed the class that won the national championship.

-From GoBison.com

How are you feeling about the season so far?

As good as I could have hoped for. We have obviously had a lot of changes from last year. We have eight new players with our freshmen and transfers and we have two new coaches. So, that’s a lot of turnover and change between one season and the next. But it was something that we needed. And it has turned out to be really good for us. I think we’re in a great spot right now with our coaching staff and with our cohesiveness. And then obviously, with our players.

Were you looking for somewhat of a culture shift?

Yeah, you know, last year, anybody that followed us close, knows we had a really good second season and we expected to be a lot better than we were last year. And for a variety of reasons, we had some pieces that just didn’t fit with what we were trying to do. To be able to take the next step, we had to go a different direction in a couple of different areas with coaches and players and just reset a little bit. We’re trying to build this thing. And I think it’s taken a couple of years to figure out what works here, what kind of people work here, who we want to be and what that looks like to be successful in our league. It’s never as fast as you want it to happen, but I feel really comfortable with where we’re at now and feel like this is the best team we’ve had by a significant margin. So, I’m looking forward to getting the results that we know we’re capable of and we’re excited about the beginning of the season. What was the offseason like trying to get all of those new pieces to fit together?

It was stressful because you just don’t know. You decide to make changes and then, it’s just wide open. The availability of the portal has kind of changed everything in college athletics. At this point, there are people going just to go because it’s a new thing. It feels like most kids don’t end up in a better situation. Some do, but a lot don’t. I think that’ll even out here as the years go by and more data is probably being shown on where people go and where they end up.

Coaching staff-wise, you always have people in mind. So, that wasn’t as stressful. I knew exactly the direction we were probably gonna go with that, and that turned out just how we hoped it would for coach Jaime

Adams and coach Michaela Crall. We are pretty fortunate that things worked out the way they did.

You have quite a few international players on the roster. Is that by design or is that kind of just a coincidence?

It’s actually just a coincidence, really. Marwa Bedziri, the young girl from Sweden who’s a freshman we are redshirting this year, is somebody I knew about when we were at Kansas. We started recruiting her really early when we got here at NDSU. Georgia Baldwin, from Australia, is somebody we recruited out of high school when we first got here as well. She didn’t choose us. She went to Eastern Kentucky and then went into the portal where we got her. Leah Mackenzie is the point guard from Australia. So we were looking in the portal for a transfer point guard. At the same time, we were kind of getting back in with Georgia. Leah Mackenzie is her high school teammate. She switched her commitment to us after New Mexico had a coaching change. Kristina Ekofo Yomane, from Belgium, is a junior college kid that we had been following and keeping tabs on. Even though she’s originally from Belgium, she has been in the States for a couple of years.

With all the changes, I’m assuming you really leaned on the few returning players to really help integrate everybody.

Without question. We met with that group pretty regularly in the spring. And we asked them what they wanted this program to look like because it ultimately is as much theirs as it is ours. We asked them what kind of people they wanted to play with. We put some things together as a team and we put together a sort of constitution for our team on how we were going to behave, how we were going to act, who we wanted to be, what we were going to allow to happen and what we weren’t going to allow to happen in our team. And I think they took real ownership of that. When we had all these new players come in, they set the tone for us right away in June. It also helps that our new players are phenomenal young people that really fit the culture that we’re trying to build here.

What do you see the strengths of the team being this year?

We are longer than we’ve ever been.

We have some really good length. I feel like our depth at our four-five spot is as good as it’s ever been. We feel like we’re two to two and a half deep at both of those spots with quality players. That’s something we haven’t had the luxury of in the past. In the past, we felt pretty good about our first one or two, but then there had been a drop-off. Also, our athleticism in general has increased quite a bit. So, we’re going to play faster this year than we’ve ever played and we are making attempts to do that. We have a lot of young and new players so we’re not trying to bog them down with a ton of information. We are just trying to play to some fundamentals on offense on how we want to run the floor and what we’re looking forward to try. We want to be pretty fast and pretty loose—at least in transition.

Are there any of those other new players that you want to touch on for readers?

Anybody following us is going to want to know who Elle Evans is. She’s a 6’3’’ freshman that is playing the wing for us. She is going to have a chance, I think, to be Freshman of the Year in our league and one of the best players in our league going forward. She’s just uber-talented. She is long, she is fast, she can shoot it, she can drive it and she handles it well. And she’s mature as heck for an 18-year-old. She has caught on to the schemes and things that we’ve talked about really, really quickly. She’s earned a starting role already for us as a freshman and it’s going to be hard for her to lose that given her personality and the way she comes to work every day. So, she is somebody that people probably need to know.

Is there anything else you want to say to our readers that we haven’t talked about?

I would love to encourage fans to come out and see us. This is going to be the most fun team we’ve had to support and watch. This is the best group we’ve had personality-wise and ability-wise. It’s going to be an exciting time. I think we have a really good chance to finish in the top two or three in our league and really compete there at the top.

Funding Friday We Support

Women Business Owners

*Interview conducted on November 15, 2022

Photo by Zac Lucy

Roger Kish enters his 12th season as head coach of the North Dakota State wrestling team in 2022-23. He is the fourth head coach in the 65-year history of the Bison wrestling program after taking over the program in 2011-12 from the legendary Bucky Maughan.

Kish has a 98-66 overall record including a 44-28 record in conference duals. Kish has guided the Bison to a 27-24 mark in the Big 12 Conference and was 17-4 in the Western Wrestling Conference.

Kish spent two years as an assistant wrestling coach at NDSU under Maughan prior to taking the head coaching position ahead of the 201112 season.

Kish guided the Bison to a fifth, sixth and seventh-place finish in the Big 12 Championships over the last three years. In 2020, Cam Sykora became the program’s first-ever Big 12 champion at 133 pounds and Andrew Fogarty placed second at 165 pounds for the third straight season. In 2021, Luke Weber claimed the program’s second Big 12 Championship at 165 pounds, while Jared Franek earned a runner-up finish at 157 in 2021 and 2022.

Kish has coached 15 Bison to NCAA Championship qualification in the last three seasons. In 2021, Weber, Franek, Owen Pentz and Brandon Metz qualified for the NCAA Championships, with Weber claiming three wins in St. Louis, while Franek and Pentz also picked up two victories. Six Bison qualified to the NCAA tournament canceled by COVID-19 last season.

Kish has directed the Bison to a pair of NCAA West Regional/

Western Wrestling Conference championships (2014, 2015) and two WWC regular season titles (2013, 2015). Kish is a three-time WWC Coach of the Year and the Bison have produced 18 NCAA West Region/WWC/Big 12 individual champions.

Four wrestlers, Trent Sprenkle (2013, 125/5th), Steven Monk (2014, 165/3rd), Kurtis Julson (2015, 174/8th) and Hayden Zillmer (2015, 184/6th) have earned All-American honors. In addition, Clay Ream is a three-time NCAA Elite 90 award winner and Jared Franek became the second Bison wrestler to receive the NCAA Elite 90 award at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling National Championships.

Kish joined the NDSU program after a successful wrestling career at the University of Minnesota. Kish was a graduate assistant for the Gophers in 2008-09. The Lapeer, MI, native was a two-time All-American and two-time NCAA runner-up for the Gophers at 184 pounds.

He had a career record of 117-27 for the Gophers. As a sophomore, he went 35-7 en route to a Big Ten title and an NCAA runner-up finish. In his junior season, Kish was 37-3 and was the Big Ten and national runner-up. He was also a team captain.

Kish graduated from Minnesota in May 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing education.

He was also a two-time cadet national champion and also captured a USA Wrestling junior national title. At Lapeer West High School, he was a four-time Michigan state champion. Kish is the son of Roger and Brenda Kish. His older brother, James, wrestled at North Carolina.

-From GoBison.com

Being a smaller school than a lot of the schools in your conference, how do you go about selling NDSU to your recruits?

For wrestling, there are a few things that we specifically look at when we sell North Dakota State. We sell our team. We sell our culture. We sell the lifestyle. We sell the standard which we hold our guys to because that’s important. Kids want to be a part of something great. They want to have a good balance of wrestling and academics. We sell relationships—relationships are the foundation our program is built on. The relationships that we have with the student-athletes and the relationships that we have with the families. We really cultivate a strong atmosphere for wrestling and we sell that. There’s a level of trust from kids and coaches and coaches and families. It all works really well together. We celebrate the culture within our program and we also sell our community. I always tell people on the recruiting trail that Fargo is really the best-kept secret and you don’t quite understand it until you get a chance to experience it.

Fargo is the place where the biggest tournament is wrestled. So, everyone knows Fargo. They understand the Fargodome, but they don’t know the community. They don’t know the institution and the academics and the grand size of the Fargo-Moorhead community.

Most folks from afar just assume that we’re some small community in North Dakota. When you get the chance to get them out to a football game or a tailgate, get them out to the downtown area, which most never knew existed, they didn’t know all of that vibrancy existed. Once you get them out to West Fargo and South Fargo and get them to see how big the community really is, they usually can see themselves coming here.

You started off the season beating a No. 8 ranked Nebraska squad. What did that mean to you and the program?

I think it’s good to have something that you can look at and say, “this is what we’ve been working towards.”

I think it’s just a good marker to show we are right there with those big programs and that you can

accomplish big things at North Dakota State as an individual and as a team.

I think the biggest takeaway from the duel is to recognize that our young guys are very talented and I think that provides a good foundation for the future.

Can you tell us a little bit more about those young guys that fans might not be as familiar with?

Juan Mora, our heavyweight freshman right out of Central Valley in California, kind of took a risk in coming out here. He was unfamiliar with me and he had never really been to Fargo, but he bought into the relationship and the culture. And he did it. In the Nebraska duel, he came up with probably the biggest win of the duel. If you asked him about it, he would tell you that he did it for his friends. Whatever it took, he was going to do it. I don’t think you would have convinced him otherwise, especially in that moment. It was great to see him come through—he’s going to have a really big future and he’s just kind of figuring it out and that’s impressive. He is a freshman doing it out there against grown men.

Another freshman doing really impressive things is Michael Caliendo. He got a big win in Nebraska and keeps stringing together big wins. He is very talented and at some point, Bison Illustrated is going to be doing a full writeup on this young man. He is probably the most talented and most competitive freshman that I’ve ever worked with at North Dakota State. I think that’s a fair assessment. And his mentality is much more mature than the usual freshman.

The other kid I think is important to talk about is our 125, Carlos Negrete Jr. He is another California kid from the Central Valley. In the Nebraska match, he took a really tough matchup and, I think, kind of got caught up in the moment a little bit. But he kind of rebounded and had a really nice weekend at the Bison Open and took third place and dropped a match in overtime that he probably could turn around if he got the chance to do it all over again. I think it was more of a learning opportunity for him. He’ll learn

Freshman Michael Caliendo celebrating after a big win against Nebraska.

Photo by Ben Dishong

Jared Franek is a key returner for this year’s squad.

Photo by Zac Lucy

from his mistake—it was more of a strategic mistake than a technical one.

Do you think that the older leadership on the team has allowed these young guys to come forward in a quicker fashion?

Absolutely. They see these guys have success on a national stage, the Jared Franeks. They see these guys have this national exposure and success and they go, “Wait a minute. I work just as hard. I’m just as disciplined and I can compete with these guys in the room.” It instills a little more confidence in this class. Michael Caliendo wrestles with Franek as much as he can and they go toe to toe and they have a lot of fun.

Is there any worry about keeping the team humble after a win like the one against Nebraska?

No, I don’t think so. We just move on to the next. If we don’t wrestle our best, we are going to face a lot of challenges. Our guys know that. It was fun to ride the high of a win like that for a couple of days but we’re nowhere near where we want to be. If we are satisfied about being ranked 18th in the country as a team without any All-Americans or national champions on the roster,

then we have a bigger problem.

I think it’s good to have something that you can look at and say, ‘this is what we’ve been working towards.’ I think it’s just a good marker to show we are right there with those big programs and that you can accomplish big things at North Dakota State as an individual and as a team.”

-Head Coach Roger Kish on the win in Nebraska

nodak insurance company performance complex

Renderings provided by NDSU Athletics

his past October, the North Dakota State University athletic department unveiled the Nodak Insurance Company Football Performance Complex to student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors and fans with a ribbon cutting held on campus. The entirety of this $54 million facility was privately funded, no state or university funds were used.

This state-of-the-art training facility will train and develop NDSU football players, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, baseball, softball and the men’s and women’s track and field programs throughout the year. Additionally, the complex will help enhance recruiting and demonstrates NDSU’s commitment to excellence.

The project’s completed first phase included construction of the full-size indoor practice facility and the outdoor artificial turf practice field that student-athletes utilized this past fall. The second phase, enabled by a $15 million gift from the WE B Giving Foundation, will be completed in Spring 2023. Phase two will include a football locker room, team meeting rooms, athletic training and equipment spaces.

The facility will cover more than 117,000 square feet, including the practice field, operations building

and storage warehouse. It will ultimately include an elevated gathering area for recruiting visits and guests, a weight room and fueling station and a retractable netting system to accommodate multiple sports. There are seven overhead doors open from the indoor facility onto the outdoor practice field for ease of transition during team practices. LED lighting systems, scoreboards and play clocks are also installed on both fields.

The complex was designed locally by Foss Architects and Interiors of Fargo, in collaboration with Crawford Architects of Kansas City, which recently designed football practice facilities for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks.

In the past decade, NDSU has opened new competition venues on campus for basketball, wrestling, softball, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, in addition to significant facility upgrades for volleyball at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse and soccer at Dacotah Field. Other new training facilities include the Nodak Insurance Company Basketball Performance Center and the golf indoor short game facility, as well as the stateof-the-art strength and conditioning and sports medicine amenities in the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, which opened in 2016. In all, the NDSU athletics facilities overhaul has totaled $110 million in projects over the past decade.