South Dakota State University
Volume 17 No.2 / fall 2012
The next level … When South Dakota State University transitioned to Division I, people talked a lot about patience and building for the future. I would say we surprised a lot of alumni with how quickly our athletic programs were able to adjust while sustaining success at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics. Momentum began to build (not peak) last March when our men’s and women’s basketball programs both went to the “Big Dance.” The momentum has continued into the fall as our athletic programs have again jumped onto the national scene. In early August we announced leadership investments totaling $18 million for our proposed indoor practice and human performance center. Sanford Health of Sioux Falls has agreed to provide $10 million and another $8 million came from anonymous donors. Most recently we announced an additional $5 million anonymous challenge match. With that said, our total gifts stand at more than $25 million in commitments. Thanks to the help of many, there is much to celebrate — however, there is still work to be done. The demands put on SDSU student-athletes and coaches today create the need for a highquality practice and training space that allows our teams the opportunity to compete at the highest levels. Simply stated, there is a tremendous need for this project and we have a small window of opportunity to raise funds necessary to move the facility forward this year. The mission of the athletic department has always been to provide the best possible studentathlete experience. Our student-athletes have found achievement both in the classroom and in competition by taking advantage of the opportunities that loyal supporters like you provide philanthropically. This facility will continue to support our mission to Develop Lifelong Champions for generations of Jackrabbits. The Time is NOW to make this happen. Thank you for your continued support. We hope to see you at an event soon!
Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.
Justin Sell Director of Athletics
South Dakota State University
CONTENTS
Volume 17 No.2 / fall 2012
2 indoor practice facility A $5 million matching challenge is the latest tool in the Athletic Department’s plan to build a $28 million plus facility. 6 Forty Years of frost Athletes and coaches recall 10 of the most significant volleyball and wrestling matches hosted at 40-yearold Frost Arena.
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14 re-creating sdsu wrestling A new coach who has wrestled on national teams during his postcollegiate career has created a buzz in the wrestling community. 15 new hires In addition to three new wrestling coaches, there are seven new assistants in other sports plus changes in administration. 17 coach spotlight Second-year equestrian coach Megan Rossiter rode many trails from her Wisconsin home en route to SDSU.
6 forty years of frost
Frost Arena’s first major event was the 1973 Division II NCC national wrestling championship and it was the tournament debut of the Daktronics Matside® wrestling scoreboard. PRESIDENT David L. Chicoine DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Justin Sell ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, SPORTS INFORMATION Jason Hove SDSU SPORTS INFORMATION ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Ryan Sweeter SENIOR ASSOCIATE AD/EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Leon Costello EDITOR Andrea Kieckhefer, University Relations CONTRIBUTING WRITERS, Photographers Dave Graves, Dana Hess, Kyle Johnson, Karissa Kuhle, Devanshu Narang University Relations DESIGNER Nicole Appl, University Relations Athletic Department South Dakota State University, Box 2820, Brookings, SD 57007 1-866-GOJACKS Fax: 605-688-5999 www.gojacks.com
about the cover Looking into the future — The upper drawing shows the fully developed athletic complex with a new football stadium, the existing Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center and the indoor practice facility and human performance center. A fundraising drive is under way to build the practice facility, which will include a 300-meter track (lower left) and the human performance center, which will include a hydrotherapy facility (lower right). See story Page 2.
Rabbit Tracks is produced by University Relations in cooperation with the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State of South Dakota. Please notify the Athletic Department office when you change your address. 1,900 copies printed by the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State of South Dakota. PE069 10/12
18 where are they now? Seven years ago Brad Lowery was running at a record pace for SDSU. Since then he has recalculated his pace and is on target to become a math professor. 20 donor spotlight: the paulas The former student-athletes didn’t wait to establish their careers before becoming givers. It’s inline with service mentality. 21 sponsor spotlight: de smet farm mutual insurance Nearly 30 years ago, the insurer became the first sponsor of SDSU athletics and the alliance seems just as strong today. 22 behind the scenes: natasha schreiber Fans don’t know what a compliance officer does, but SDSU is happy to have Schreiber handling the NCAA paperwork. 23 soccer feature: Hannah phillips The midfielder has been preparing for life after college — and at med school — by spending time at hospitals.
Fourth-quarter Fundraising
Gifts sought for indoor practice, human performance facility
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omentum wears a Jackrabbit jersey, but the clock is running as the SDSU Athletic Department tries to score a fourthquarter rally. Fundraising for an indoor practice and human performance facility on campus has notched several major scores this summer and fall, but the university still needs to put more points on the board soon. To quote the fundraising slogan — the time is now. That tag line is being used to sell the $28 million plus facility to supporters. On Aug. 3, the university announced a lead gift of $10 million from Sanford Health and another $8 million in donations from anonymous donors. On Sept. 24, the school announced a $5 million matching challenge donation 2
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from one of the two earlier anonymous donors. Between Aug. 3 and Sept. 24, SDSU has collected $1.3 million from other donors. Athletic Director Justin Sell says that puts the fundraising effort at $24.3 million, but its late in the fourth quarter. “The momentum is there, but we need some people to help close it. I’ve been here three years and I’ve found that Jackrabbits, when our backs are to the wall, we find a way to get it done,” says Sell, who also helped guide Northern Iowa on a similar project. It is a self-imposed wall that SDSU faces, but to be a top-flight Division I program, the facility needs are clear. Sell says, “Given our climate, we have a need for indoor practice space. Our student-athletes are performing at
high levels right now. For us to ensure that success long into the future, we need to have terrific athletic facilities to support that. “Our opportunities to build these buildings will impact future generations 30, 40 and 50 years down the road.”
Facility timeline He says there is no better time than now to start. In fact, the Athletic Department’s plan was to show broad and deep financial support for the project when it appeared before the Board of Regents Oct. 10. The regents’ approval would allow the project to be included in funding bills to go before the state Legislature. The state Legislature’s 40-day session begins Jan. 8, and the bill must be crafted in advance of that.
FOURTH-QUARTER FUNDRAISING Sell says the game plan is to get the Legislature’s blessing before it adjourns in March 2013. Construction could begin as soon as May 2013 with the project completed by fall 2014, “before we go into winter, which would be tremendous,” he says. Of course, a lot of pieces would have to fall into line in the next two years in order to meet that schedule.
Focus on fundraising The most important piece right now is fundraising, he says. “If we can get in front of enough people, we’ll get it done. The message has been well received,” Sell says.
Joining Sell on the fundraising team:
• Leon Costello, senior associate • • • •
athletic director for external operations; Nik Aamlid, assistant athletic director for annual giving; Slade Larscheid, associate athletic director for development; Steve Erpenbach, president of the SDSU Foundation; and Keith Mahlum, vice president for development at the SDSU Foundation.
But Sell says he can’t win the fundraising game by blitzing just seven guys.
Opposite page: This drawing shows an envisioned football stadium, the existing Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center (center) and the proposed indoor practice facility and human performance center. A fund drive hopes to secure more than $28 million for the practice facility. Below: The indoor practice facility is to include an 80-yard football field with 10-yard end zones on both ends, and an eight-lane, 300-meter track.
Sell’s sales associates Hence, he has recruited 15 former football players to serve as captains to contact teammates from their era and three former track coaches. Both groups go back to the 1960s. Jay Dirksen, a 1968 graduate, coached track at State from 1969 to 1977. Scott Underwood, a 1973 graduate, coached from 1977 to 1995, and Paul Danger, a 1995 graduate, coached from 1998 to 2004. Sell says, “That gives me about 20 more salespeople. Certainly, they’re looking at the smaller gifts, but any gift is important.” Danger says, “The response has been tremendous. Kim Fordham, a former national champion for South Dakota State track and field, as soon as I sent an email to her, she responded within minutes, saying, ‘I will donate.’ That’s been typical. “Scott Underwood, when we were discussing this, he said, ‘Our alumni will step forward.’ That early prophecy has materialized already.”
A godsend for track fans While the indoor practice facility will give football, baseball, softball and soccer teams a place to conduct drills during the winter months, it will give the track program an opportunity to hold meets on the eight-lane, 300-meter track. For a program that doesn’t even have an outdoor track on campus, the prospect of a first-class indoor competition track is mind-boggling. Danger says, “It takes what already and traditionally has been a strong cross-country and track and field program to the competitive level other conference schools have been at for a long time. This reinforces a commitment to cross-country and track and field.” The final product of that commitment will be a “game changer” for the track program, Sell says.
‘Jaw-dropping’ building Sell adds, the track boosters “know it and they’re really excited about it. The track message is ‘Let’s make sure we contribute enough to get a 300-meter, eight-lane track and the running and fall 2012
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FOURTH-QUARTER FUNDRAISING
The human performance center is to include hydrotherapy to aid athletes in injury prevention and treatment.
jumping spaces we need. Let’s make sure we’re going to have the facility we want.’” Sell says, “A priority for me is to get the indoor practice facility the size we want it. That will be No. 1 for me.” Amenities within the facility can be added later, but there wouldn’t be an expansion to lengthen or widen the track. The building will be roughly 150,000 square feet, five times the size of the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center that will be adjacent to it. “It will be jaw-dropping. When I walk in there, I will have to pinch myself. It will be that dramatic,” Sell says. To envision the enormity of the building, Sell says to picture a box covering Coughlin-Alumni Stadium. The indoor facility will have room for 4
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an 80-yard football field with a 10-yard end zone on both ends, a 300-meter track around it and additional space to conduct jumping events. Architects have estimated the cost of the field house (with football turf and a 300-meter track) at $27.7 million.
Human performance center The other portion of the facility is the human performance center, providing areas for sports medicine and strength and conditioning. It will have space for physical therapy, hydrotherapy and observation rooms. Sanford professionals and SDSU faculty and students will work side by side in areas of exercise science, nutrition and human performance, injury prevention and evidence-based injury treatment and rehabilitation,
according to University President David Chicoine. Adding the human performance center to the project raises the price tag to $33.4 million. Adding the human performance center and seating for 1,000 in the field house brings the cost to $38.3 million. As part of the partnership, Sanford Health is the exclusive provider of sports medicine to SDSU athletics for the next 10 years.
Part of Athletic Master Plan With a formal name as big as the proposed edifice, the Indoor Practice and Human Performance Athletic Facility has been on the SDSU Athletic Master Plan since 2010 and the university received approval from the
FOURTH-QUARTER FUNDRAISING regents for preliminary planning of the facility in June 2011. A new football stadium also is part of the plan and a couple years ago that is where the spotlight was falling. But the fundamental importance of the Indoor Practice and Human Performance Athletic Facility to so many sports has moved the project to the forefront. Danger said, “At SDSU, now you can clearly see the university and athletic administration and all the sports together have the same vision for the importance of this amazing facility.” It’s also a vision for current studentathletes.
Diana Potterveld, a freshman soccer player from Fort Collins, Colo., says, “The new indoor facility will improve our ability to compete and excel at the highest level, both athletically and academically. It will be exciting for our soccer team to have a year-round training facility with so many resources available to us.”
and targeted donors. Sell acknowledges that the former group may not be in a position to give much. However, “it helps to have former student-athletes talking about the project, it creates momentum,” he says. And everyone knows how important it is to have momentum on your side when it’s the fourth quarter.
The time is now
Dave Graves
Most of the fundraising has been done by approaching individuals, but group presentations were made this fall in Brookings, Sioux Falls and Minneapolis to former student-athletes
“It will be jaw-dropping. When I walk in there, I will have to pinch myself. It will be that dramatic.” justin sell, athletic director
See it on the web To look at architect’s drawings of the inside of the facility and to hear coaches, administrators and athletes talk about it, go to www.sdsudevelopingchampions.com or connect to the page through the Athletic Department’s gojacks.com Web page. fall 2012
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forty years of frost
forty years of Frost The first event at Frost Arena was a February 2, 1973, basketball game against NDSU, but for this issue we will look at 40 years of volleyball and wrestling at Frost Arena. From left: The title-clinching match against Oral Roberts in 2007; the ten mats used in the 1973 national tournament; the Halloween trick played on second-ranked Augustana in 2000; Mike Pankratz, left, a national placer in 1993; Rick Jensen, a 1976 national champ and 1977 and 1979 national runnerup; celebrating a sweep over Oral Roberts for the 2007 league title; Arika Sanders pounding a serve against the University of Northern Colorado in 1997. 6
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forty years of frost: volleyball
volleyball Volleyball underdogs: Teams supersede predictions to reach playoffs.
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ass, set, attack. That’s been the flow at Frost Arena for nearly 40 years now, and for eight seasons before the team started playing at Frost. While SDSU volleyball tradition traces back to an undefeated inaugural season in 1966, the most memorable matches at Frost Arena have been in the last 15 years. As the university prepares for the 40th anniversary of the opening of Frost Arena in February, a list of 40 historic sporting moments has been compiled by Jason Hove, sports information director, and other officials connected with the SDSU Athletic Department. Basketball began at Frost Feb. 2, 1973. The first volleyball match was Sept. 21, 1974, a 2-0 win over ConcordiaMoorhead.
But the five most exciting matches, as determined by Hove’s panel, occurred between 1997 and 2007. In the program’s early years, SDSU was crowned state champions in AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) play. But when women’s athletics began play in the North Central Conference under the auspices of the NCAA, the volleyball team never threatened to advance to postseason.
First postseason match That is until 1997, although the 1996 team finished with a 21-14 mark and fifth-place finish in the conference. “A lot of people didn’t think we were key players in that (bid for the regionals) but we were,” says Arika Sanders, fall 2012
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forty years of frost: volleyball a senior on the 1997 team that entered the final week of regular-season play knowing that it needed to win to be selected for the North Central Regional. SDSU rose to the occasion, beating a traditionally strong St. Cloud State program 3-0 (16-14, 15-7, 15-10) to advance for the first time. “St. Cloud State was one of our big rivals that we always wanted to defeat,” says Sanders, who only started her senior year, but was a second-team All-American then. An outside hitter from Tracy, Minn., Sanders finished the season with 513 kills, then a school record, and more than her three previous years combined. Recalling that match 15 years ago, she says, “We dominated them. I remember it was a blast. We had so much fun playing together. Roxie (Rath) and Liz (Force) did a great job hitting out of the middle for us, and Julie (Nihart) was setting.” Sanders didn’t do too bad, either. She had 13 kills, six digs and a block. Rath belted 13 kills with 11 digs and eight blocks. Rose Ebnet added 11 kills, eight digs and five blocks. Merridee Rodel notched 11 kills, eight digs and five blocks. Nihart had 44 set assists. It was the Jacks’ fourth straight 3-0 victory. “We were just living in the moment, not even thinking about what it was going to mean for the history of SDSU volleyball. We were just in the zone doing what we do,” says Sanders. History was set by becoming the first SDSU volleyball team to advance to NCAA postseason play.
A special personal memory Arika Sanders
The game was played before a senior night crowd of 620 but there was one
Five biggest volleball matches at Frost Arena Nov. 16, 1997 SDSU 3, St. Cloud State 0 SDSU secures first postseason appearance Oct. 31, 2000
SDSU 3, Augustana 1 Augie ranked 2nd, SDSU ranked 9th
Nov. 3, 2000 SDSU 3, Northern Colorado 0 UNC ranked 7th, SDSU ranked 9th Nov. 4, 2000 SDSU 3, Nebraska-Omaha 1 UNO ranked 6th, SDSU ranked 9th SDSU 3, Oral Roberts 0 Nov. 10, 2007 Clinched Summit League title
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Middle hitter Roxie Rath was a major contributor in leading the Jacks to a 3-0 win over St. Cloud State to advance to postseason play for the first time in 1997.
person in particular that Sanders was waiting to see walk through the door. “They were just about to the start the Stars and Stripes song and I took one last look to the door — and there he was, grinning ear to ear ... my papa! Well, I just cried and it was one of the best games and memories from the building. “Nothing better than when the people who helped make you who you are, walk through the doors to support who you have become,” Sanders shares.
One incredible week Ebnet, a fellow Minnesotan, experienced the season from a different perspective. She stepped into a winning program as the only freshman starter. “It was pretty amazing for a freshman. ... I remember the crowds kept getting better and better as our season went on,” Ebnet says. The team went on to beat Augustana 3-0 in the first regional match and then lost to regional champ NebraskaOmaha. SDSU qualified for regional play in Ebnet’s sophomore and junior season, but lost in its first match. In 2000, Ebnet’s senior season, the Jackrabbits beat Nebraska-Omaha in five games before being whitewashed by Augustana, which finished as national runner-up. Reaching the 2000 North Central Regional is a story in itself with SDSU beating three ranked foes in five days at Frost. SDSU gained revenge on second-ranked Augustana 3-1 (15-6, 8-15, 15-13, 15-12) on Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 31, and seventh-ranked UNC 3-0 (15-3, 15-13, 15-8) Friday, Nov. 3; and completed a season sweep of sixth-ranked UNO 3-1 (15-3, 15-1-, 13-15, 15-7) Saturday, Nov. 4.
forty years of frost: volleyball All three of the triumphs were tabbed by the sports panel as among the top volleyball moments in Frost history.
Back-to-back record crowds Against Augustana, junior Shauna Sturm powered a career-high 34 kills and Ebnet tied a career high with 31 kills as the ninth-ranked Jackrabbits won 15-6, 8-15, 15-13, 15-12 before the record crowd of 787 — 25 more than the previous record set in a match against Winona State in 1998. Strum added six blocks while Ebnet had a match-high 28 digs and teammate Liz Archer notched a career-high 20 digs. Shauna Sturm sends a kill past an Augustana defender and then celebrates a victory over the second-ranked Vikings Oct. 31, 2000
Ebnet says, “It was just amazing Five biggest volleyball crowds beating Augie at Frost Arena because they were 1,301 – vs. North Dakota State, 11/4/2006 such great rivals. 1,197 – vs. Western Illinois, 10/23/2010 I just remember the intensity of 1,129 – vs. North Dakota State, 10/26/2002 our team. We were 1,038 – vs. Augustana, 9/18/2001 never looking beyond the team 1,021 – vs. Omaha, 9/6/2011 we were playing, but also looking runner-up year. However, there was ahead at what we had to do. tournament-level excitement when “I just remember Shauna being on SDSU hosted Oral Roberts on Nov. 10 fire, the team just firing on all cylinders. in the final match of the 2007 season. The team just taking it to them and not A win would give SDSU the regular backing down.” season league crown. After the win, Augustana, UNC and The Jackrabbits didn’t disappoint a UNO were all tied for the conference season high crowd of 914, winning 30lead at 12-2 while SDSU was just a 21, 30-18, 30-22. game back. The Bears dropped into a Kristina Martin pounded 18 kills tie for second when SDSU beat them and scooped 15 digs while Mackenzie before yet another record crowd — 893 Angner added 14 kills, and Samantha ’Rabbit boosters. Pearson registered 17 digs. Amy With two all-conference players, Anderson had four of the team’s 10 “They were a good team, but we had blocks. the intensity coming off of Augustana,” Martin, a senior, says, “I remember Ebnet says. I felt we were preventing them offensively. I remember them making Conference co-champs a lot of errors. Defensively, our blocks Beating UNO gave the Jacks a were more than the norm. We stepped perfect 13-0 regular-season mark at up the effort, keeping the ball up that home and thrust them into a three-way one more time.” tie for the conference title with UNO and Augustana at 15-3. Ebnet, who A chance to make history had 21 kills and 17 digs against UNC, Phil McDaniel, the current coach pounded out 25 kills against UNO. and an assistant then, says, “Everything For the week, Ebnet had 77 kills and was lined up for us to make history.” Sturm had 65. Ebnet was named player The win made SDSU conference of the week in the NCC. champs in The Summit League in its Reflecting on the week, Ebnet, first year of eligibility and gave the who later would be a first team AllJacks the No. 1 seed in the conference American, says, “Shauna and I had tournament, the school’s first around 30 kills (per match), which was postseason action as a Division I school. unheard of. I don’t think many players (Its DII days ended in 2004.) had stats in that range. I guess we were The win capped a 23-8 regular pretty fired up for those games. season in which SDSU won eight of its “We had to beat all three of them last nine matches. (Augie, UNC, UNO) to try to host the Mackenzie Osadchuk recalls regions, which we didn’t. Our goal was trumping Western Illinois Nov. 3 in to try to host regions.” four games in a road match in a “toeto-toe battle on their senior night. We Champs in their new league set ourselves up to be No. 1 in the SDSU never has hosted a regional tournament. Then we beat Oral Roberts tournament, even in its 2001 national
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forty years of frost: volleyball • wrestling on our senior night” to be regularseason champs. “When we did that, we were on a high for a week. We felt like we were on top of the world. To accomplish this goal felt so great,” she adds.
Coach: Can’t wait to fill up Frost McDaniel, now in his second year as head coach, says, “We played a very good match against a very good team. Everybody was on board, ready to explode with every great thing our team did. The girls really feed off our energy. They were awfully excited.” Excitement grew as SDSU won the conference tourney to advance to play
the University of Nebraska in a Division I regional. McDaniel says, “We owe a lot to that group. They’re the ones that set the bar. They’re the role models. Their picture is in our team room and so is the 2001 team. That 2007 team, that’s the top of the list right there; 2007 is the team to beat. “We constantly compare ourselves to that group. It’s one step at a time, but the girls know what our expectations are.” As for Frost Arena, he says, “I can’t wait to fill it up.”
wrestling
Dave Graves Amy Anderson, a career leader in blocks and kills, sends an attack past Oral Roberts in a 2007 match that notched The Summit League regular-season title for SDSU.
Forty fabulous years at Frost
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ll the basketballs are in the storage room, the scoreboard is lowered, and the spotlight is on. It’s time for wrestling at Frost Arena! The first event at Frost Arena was a men’s basketball game against the University of North Dakota Feb. 2, 1973. But the first large event in the $3.7 million facility was the Division II national wrestling championship, a first for South Dakota State. Since then, SDSU also was host to the 1979, 1993 and 2000 DII national tournaments and a 2010 DI regional championship. Prior to 1973, like the basketball program, the wrestling team shined in the cramped Barn with its practice facility in Wrestling & Frost Arena 1973 NCAA Division II National Championships, 6Th Stan Opp second, first major event at Frost Arena 1979 NCAA Division II National Championships, 9Th Rick Jensen second, Al Minor fourth 1993 NCAA Division II National Championships, 6Th Brian Loeffler, national champ at 190 pounds 2000 NCAA Division II National Championships, 4Th Six All-Americans with two national champs — Paul Konechne (141), Jon Madsen (heavyweight). Finals draw 2,101 with 9,011 for the two days. 2010 NCAA Division I National Championships Tyler Sorenson becomes first SDSU wrestler to win a Division I regional championship.
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an even more cramped room downstairs. The quarters didn’t prevent success as Coach Warren Williamson also had one of the top teams in the North Central Conference. But when Stan Opp and his teammates were able to move their workouts to the new HPER center, he was energized. “It was quite exciting for us. We had a brand-new facility,” says Opp, who came to State from Aberdeen and placed second and fifth nationally his sophomore and junior seasons, respectively. As a senior with the national meet at home, “there was a lot more pressure on me to do well,” he notes.
Veteran wrestlers, new arena shine Opp went all the way to the 118-pound finals, where he was decisioned by a Slippery Rock State wrestler. “I wrestled a kid in the finals that was almost a foot taller than me,” the 5-foot, 4-inch Opp says. “Everything I tried, he just countered.” Two of Opp’s teammates also placed — Gerry Person, third at 167; and Dick Vliem, fifth at 190. But the real news was that on March 4, the day after the two-day tournament, Coach Williamson and Assistant Athletic Director Harry Forsyth could sit back and say State had successfully staged a 10-mat national tournament with more than 500 wrestlers.
Mats and mud everywhere The facility proved to be an excellent stage for national performances and no one got stuck in the mud surrounding Frost Arena.
forty years of frost: wrestling The tournament arrived before sidewalks could be laid and thawing snow created a quagmire around the building, which would later bear the name of then-Athletic Director Stan Marshall. Pallets were used as sidewalks. Eight wrestling mats covered the basketball floor and two were on the east balcony, which didn’t have bleachers then. This was the last year that it was an open tournament. The following year wrestlers had to qualify for the event. It also was the first year that computerized seeding was done. Forsythe said he and Williamson “talked to the computer center folks and told them what we wanted and they made a seeding program for us. The coaches were all very skeptical and said it wouldn’t work. “We fed all the information into the program for the first weight class and had that seeding done in about 30 seconds. We took the info over to the classroom annex for the coaches and put it on a big screen and they went through it with a fine-toothed comb and couldn’t find anything wrong with it. “In about 30 minutes we had all the weight classes seeded. The program worked so well that the Division 1 folks used it and so did many others from then on. We had many compliments on the tourney and the NCAA folks that were here were very impressed also.” Opp recalls “a lot of butterflies going through your gut. I was wrestling before the home crowd. We probably drew a couple thousand students, plus I’m sure there were kids that came from surrounding towns to watch the national tournament; and my family was there. “With the scoreboard lowered and the spotlight shining on the mat, it drew excitement to the crowd and it jacked up the wrestlers, too.”
What a birth announcement to the nation for South Dakota State’s new addition.
Rick Jensen’s swan song In just six years, SDSU was again hosting the Division II National Championships. On Feb. 24 1979, Cal-State Bakersfield beat Eastern Illinois by one-quarter point, the closest team race in tournament history. For SDSU, the story was Rick Jensen, SDSU’s first four-time conference champ. It was his third trip to nationals, having won as a 126-pound sophomore in 1976 and finishing as runner-up in 1977 at 134 pounds. He redshirted in 1978 and had shoulder surgery in October 1978, but he returned to the mat in early December and was “looking forward to the national tournament being at Frost,” says Jensen, now in his first year as an assistant coach at Rapid City Central. The Watertown native comfortably handled foes from Northern Iowa, Augustana and North Dakota State en route to the 142-pound finals. “A lot of family was there” for the finals as well as “a good showing from SDSU students and fans.” The crowd was “always noisy. You knew that you were there” before an engaged throng of wrestling addicts. But crowd energy didn’t produce a victory. Bakersfield’s Tom Gongorda won 4-2. “I had my most average match in the finals,” Jensen says with disappointment still in his voice.
Impressing President Hilton Briggs But he looks back at a 128-24 career mark, hall of fame inductions, and four years of performing for a program that
Clockwise from left: Stan Opp, the 1973 national runner-up at 118 pounds; Action from the 1979 national tournament at Frost Arena; SDSU senior Gerry Person confers with assistant coach Greg Schmidt, center, and head coach Warren Williamson at the 1973 national championship at Frost Arena March 2-3. Person, a conference champ at 167, finished third at the NCAA DIvision II national meet. Jon Madsen, left, fends off Fort Hays State’s Keith Blaske in the final seconds of the 2000 heavyweight championship at Frost Arena. Madsen, an unseeded redshirt freshman, beat Blaske 4-3 in the finals after stunning No. 1 seed and returning champion Jeremiah Constant of Central Oklahoma in the semifinals.
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forty years of frost: Wrestling
“Those were some good days.” hall of fame wrestler rick jensen recalling is time at frost arena was a steady spectator draw, and says, “those were some good days.” He remembers pinning a University of Minnesota national champion in 1974 as SDSU won 23-18 in Jensen’s second collegiate match. There also were home matches against the University of Nebraska and hard-fought duals with league foes Augie, NDSU and Nebraska-Omaha. His most memorable match was actually an exhibition dual his freshman year against Athletes in Action, a Christian team that included post-collegiate DI wrestlers. Jensen drew a former Iowa State wrestler and pulled off the upset. “When I walked off the mat, somebody slapped me on the back. It wasn’t somebody who was supposed to be there. I asked, ‘Who in the heck was that?’ Coach said, ‘That’s the president of our university,’” Jensen says of a “pretty excited” Hilton Briggs. “That’s why I enjoyed wrestling back then, I enjoyed getting people’s attention,” Jensen says.
‘There’s no place like home’ SDSU had 31 wrestlers earn All-American honors at national championships during the 1980s, but it wasn’t until 1993 that State grapplers had a chance to gain the status before the home crowd again. The Jackrabbits were led by Mike Pankratz, a North Central Conference champion at 126 pounds with an undefeated dual match record of 12-0, and Brian Loeffler, a three-time All-American who had moved from 177 to 190 pounds for his senior year. Wrestling on their home mats, both men became the school’s first four-time AllAmericans. While classmates went on spring break, Coach Mike Engels’ qualifiers stayed home. Loeffler thought like Dorothy — “there’s no place like home.”
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The St. Clair, Minn., recruit says, “Having the national tournament at home was huge for me. I liked not having to travel. The year before I didn’t do as well at nationals (sixth) as I thought I should have. I do think it tipped the scales in my favor to be at home.” He listed the benefits of “sleeping in my own bed, the comfort level of knowing where things are and where to go, not worrying about the little stuff, where the towels are, whatever. “You can focus on what you need to; not if I forgot anything at the motel room.” Even though most students were gone for spring break, he said a noisy crowd motivated him in his overtime championship against Ferris State’s Dave Surofchek. His personal rooting section included a couple dozen friends, neighbors, family members and former coaches from St. Clair, a town of 600 about 10 minutes from Mankato. “You couldn’t draw it up any nicer. To be at home, to be in the finals; there was no way you couldn’t be motivated to do the best you could,” Loeffler says.
Big expectations for Konechne When Paul Konechne sought the 141-pound title at the 2000 Division II National Championships, the former Kimball Kiote had all 14 of his brothers and sisters in his cheering section. “Being the No.1 seed, it’s always in the back of your mind that you’re the target,” recalls Konechne, now an electrical engineer in Rock Rapids, Iowa. “Everybody’s going to perform a little better against you because they want to take down the No. 1. “As you prepare, you’re a little extra cautious so you don’t make that mistake that will cost you. Losing in front of those fans would have been devastating.”
The apex of excitement
Top, Mike Pankratz, below, Brian Loeffler
Instead of devastation, Konechne experienced jubilation. His first two matches he won by technical fall, then he claimed a one-point win in the semifinals, and recorded a pin at 3:21 in the finals for his first postseason championship in high school or college. “Everything I worked for my whole life culminated in that match,” Konechne declares. “My friends give me a lot of crap about that victory dance, but it was the most incredible moment of my life.” He had a 2-0 lead and took the bottom position when the second period began against Kurt Karjalainen of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Karjalainen was leg-riding high on top of Konechne, who rolled toward his back, which, in turn, put Karjalainen’s back on the mat.
forty years of frost: Wrestling The move forced Karjalainen’s shoulders to the mat just long enough for the referee to slap the mat.
Victory dance When Konechne heard that, “I jumped up in the air and the dance started,” the 2002 graduate says. Coach Jason Liles says, “He won on a defensive fall, which was a move he practiced a lot. That was unique that he would win on a defensive fall; a move that he envisioned himself winning that way.” Konechne adds, “My opponent had to either give up a reversal or fight the chance of giving up a pin. He held on a little too long.” After the match, he told the Brookings Register, “that’s one move I always do in practice, and I never seem to get it in a match because guys usually never get their legs in on me. I actually visualized that move before my match and it was kind of weird when it happened.”
Support from back home That was what Konechne was thinking after he had a chance to cool down. Immediately after the win, “I was so excited I wasn’t aware of anything outside of myself. But after I settled down I got to enjoy the atmosphere. The fact I got to do it in Frost Arena made it that much more special for me,” Konechne says. In addition to parents and siblings, the crowd included “fans that watched me from elementary and high school. “I hate to say I wrestled better because the event was at Frost Arena, but it may have helped a little. You definitely felt the support of the crowd after the match when your hand was being raised. It was a big moment in my life and they were able to share it with me” says Konechne.
Sorenson makes history for SDSU Following the 2003-04 season, SDSU began competing at the Division I level and the days of hosting national Paul Konechne stands atop the awards stand after pinning Kurt Karjalainen of the University of Nebraska-Kearney to win the 141-pound NCAA Division II title at Frost Arena in 2000.
championships ended. But State did host the 2010 West Regionals, and senior Tyler Sorenson became State’s first Division I regional champion and second SDSU wrestler to qualify for the Division I National Championships as a Division I program. (SDSU wrestlers qualified 55 times for the Division I championships as a result of their Division II tournament achievements.) Before facing NDSU’s Drew Ross for the 197-pound championship March 6, Sorenson says, “I knew that was my last match at Frost. I wanted to go out with a nice win. My game plan was to go out and be physical and score as many points as I could.” He did just that, winning 17-2 in a technical fall at 7:00.
Getting the crowd involved “For that tournament, Frost Arena was pretty packed on both sides. Wrestling is a pretty emotional sport and when a guy makes a big win and the crowd picks up, it just echoes through there. I actually could (hear the crowd) in the third period, when I really picked it up to get the tech fall. You can definitely tell that people are cheering for you.” That included a good delegation from his hometown of Garretson. The two-time national qualifier took time to absorb the atmosphere after wins in the first two rounds. What he saw was 1,232 fans despite SDSU also hosting the Summit League basketball tournament in Sioux Falls the same day. “I talked to a lot of friends and family members throughout the day.” His friends included many athletes in other sports. “When I was there, there was still just one sports arena,” says Sorenson, whose wrestling career ended about a month before the Dkyhouse Student-Athlete Center opened north of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium for the football, baseball and softball programs.
Frost Arena — a second home “All the sports were at one place, so you got to know all the people in the other sports,” Sorenson says. Looking back at his four years at Frost, he fondly recalls “just hanging out in the locker room with all the wrestlers and all the friends. Being in one place with all the sports, it was just a place of camaraderie. For me it was like a second home because I was there as much as anywhere.” That home felt particularly good on match nights. “It’s set up for wrestling with the big scoreboard and the lights. We are wrestling in the dark with a spotlight just on you. I liked to shine in the spotlight. I liked having all eyes on me,” says Sorenson, who now is trying to develop wrestlers at Beresford. While the media spotlight has shone brightest on basketball in Frost’s 40 years, there’s no shortage of wrestling triumphs to pin on the memory mat. Dave Graves fall 2012
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Re-creating SDSU Wrestling
New wrestling coach creates a buzz
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rmed with its first new head coach in 20 seasons and almost as many new wrestlers as holdovers, there is a buzz about the SDSU wrestling program. Chris Bono, 38, was hired April 17 after Jason Liles resigned March 8 following 19 years at State. Bono brought in two assistants he has worked with previously as well as 12 freshmen and two junior college transfers. He inherited another 16 grapplers. The local wrestling community is anxious to see what the Bono era will produce. “The energy and level of enthusiasm is off the charts,” says Matt James, a long-time wrestling fan who has been running the clock at SDSU meets for 10 years. “That’s the buzz I hear in the wrestling community. Coach Bono is well connected in the wrestling community. It’s refreshing to have that buzz.” The source of that buzz may be Bono himself, a fast-talking, no-nonsense man who has more energy than his fivefoot, three-inch, 160-pound frame can contain. “We’re going to have an attitude. We’re going to expect to win. We’re going to hustle. Our team is going to be in great shape,” Bono said. “Our philosophy is to score as many points as we can. We’re going out there and look for the pin and score as many points as we can. We’re not looking to win onepoint matches.”
A rebuilding job Bono has a challenge to reestablish a winning program at a school with a storied Division II history and a disappointing account at the Division I level. From 1993 through 2002 the Jackrabbits finished in the top six at the Division II national tournament. The program began competing at the Division I level in 2004-05 and has only won two duals in six years of Western Wrestling Conference matches. “The (recent) results aren’t what anybody wants. They haven’t had anybody go to the national tournament in two years,” Bono says. With five lettermen and several newcomers who could be in the starting lineup, Bono says that will change in 2012-13. “We’ve got some great kids here in the program, but technically and tactically, we’re hurting,” the veteran coach observes.
A nationally known competitor Bono grew up wrestling in Jacksonville, Fla., and began his college career at Iowa State in 1992. After five years of wrestling in one of the nation’s top programs, Bono became a Cyclone assistant coach, serving from 1997 to 2005. As a collegian, he won the 150-pound title as a junior, was runner-up as a senior and ranks fifth on the program’s all-time wins list with 130 victories.
As an assistant coach, Bono won a number of national titles while wrestling freestyle. In 2001 and 2002, he won consecutive World Team Trials titles and in 2003 he was the U.S. Senior Freestyle National Champion, all at 145.5 pounds. In 2004, he took third at the Olympic Trials. He was a World Team member again in 2005 and in the 2008 Olympic Trials lost in the challenge finals.
Assistants’ resumes impressive Israel Silva, one of two new assistant coaches, has seven years of international experience. Silva is a four-time World Team Member for Mexico, a three-time Freestyle Pan American medalist and a 2012 Olympic alternate at 192 pounds. For the past three years, Silva was an assistant coach at the Northwest Wrestling Regional Training Center, an Olympic-level center in Corvallis, Ore. The other new assistant, Andrew Sorenson, just finished his collegiate career. A two-time national qualifier for Iowa State, Sorenson finished his career with a 93-31 overall record, including a 42-9 mark in dual meets. He was a twotime Big 12 Conference place winner, taking third in 2010 and second in 2012 at 165 pounds. At SDSU, the kinesiology undergraduate is pursuing a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies. Dave Graves
Chris Bono 14
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Israel Silva
Andrew Sorenson
NEWHIREs T
he SDSU Athletic Department spotlights 11 individuals who are either new to the Jackrabbit staff or have taken on new duties beginning with the 2012-13 school year. Let’s take a look at their backgrounds and job descriptions in their respective areas.
Rachel Boone, equestrian “I like the ability to be outdoors, to get up with the sunrise and take in the day. I don’t like being behind a desk. I’m a total country girl.” That’s Boone describing why she loves her job so much as barn manager for the equestrian program. She worked in the barn as a work-study student throughout her SDSU years before graduating in May 2012 with a degree in environmental management. “I knew I would enjoy it,” says Boone. “I enjoy working with the horses and the labor that comes with it. When the job opened up, I realized it’s like my home so I gave it a shot.” Boone is charged with keeping the equestrian barn up and running smoothly, from cleaning the facility to fixing and keeping track of equipment. Perhaps her most important responsibility is with the equine population. “I make sure the horses are good to go, that they are happy and healthy.” A native of Aberdeen who starred in basketball and volleyball for Central High School, Boone has been familiar with horses ever since taking riding lessons in elementary school. Although Boone was drawn to the position due to its outdoor nature, desk duties do come with the territory. “I keep all the horses’ records, especially the lease agreements for incoming horses,” she says. “I also
make sure that farrier (shoeing) and vet records are kept up to date throughout the year.”
Alex Hupp, softball After serving two seasons as an assistant coach at Emporia State University, and after a standout career at the University of Nebraska, Hupp joins the softball program as an assistant coach. Hupp helped lead Emporia State to an 84-27 record, including a 28-4 mark in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play. The school advanced to the NCAA regional in both seasons and posted a 20-0 association record in 2012 when the Hornets advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional final in Edmond, Okla. While playing at Nebraska, she threw a no-hitter and posted a career 3.09 earned run average in 197 innings of work. Off the field, Hupp earned first-team academic all-Big 12 honors twice and commissioner honor roll accolades in all four years with the Cornhuskers. Hupp earned first-team high school all-America honors in 2006 following a standout career at Olathe East High School in Kansas. She received 200506 Gatorade Softball Player of the Year recognition in the state after leading the school to three straight state championships.
Mike Jewett, women’s basketball The Flandreau native was named assistant coach for the women’s basketball program. He has coached at the collegiate level
New, familiar Jackrabbits residing in athletic department
throughout the Midwest for nearly 20 years, most recently serving as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State from 2006-2010. The Mustangs improved their win total in each of his four seasons there, compiling a 15-12 record during his final season. Jewett’s career head coaching record stands at 110-85, which includes a three-year run at Franklin College in Indiana. He began his coaching career as a student and volunteer assistant at Augustana from 1992 to 1997. During that time frame, he also served as head girls’ basketball coach at Brandon Valley High School for three years. Jewett was elevated to full-time assistant coach at Augustana from 1997 to 2001 before heading to Franklin. He returned to the North Central Conference as an assistant coach at St. Cloud State, where he helped guide the Huskies to back-to-back NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances in 2005 and 2006. During the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years, Jewett was a basketball official and taught English at Marshall, Minn., High School. He replaces Chad Oletzke, who was named head women’s basketball coach at Illinois-Springfield.
Carissa Nord, women’s basketball No stranger to the women’s basketball program, Nord has been elevated to a full-time assistant coaching position. A graduate assistant in 2011-12 when the Jackrabbits made their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, Nord replaces Emilee Thiesse, who took on the head coaching duties at Minnesota StateMankato.
SPRING 2012
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new hires A native of Duluth, Minn., Nord previously coached at the NCAA Division II and Division III levels. In 2009-10, she helped lead the University of Chicago to a 19-7 record and a berth in the Division II national tournament. A year later as a graduate assistant at Wayne State College, the Wildcats went 26-4 overall, including the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regularseason title and an appearance in the Division II central regional. Before the collegiate scene, Nord coached the junior varsity team at Duluth Central High School in 200809. She also was the head coach of the Northern Lights AAU team in 2009. Nord played at the University of Wisconsin-Superior for three seasons, serving as team captain as a senior. Her career scoring average was 10.2 points per game, including a 10.3 average in 2007-08 as a senior when she shot 45 percent from three-point range.
Ed Posaski, budget Posaski is quite comfortable being in Brookings, even though he’s a long way from his hometown of Freehold, N.J., and the birthplace of Bruce Springsteen. “This is really a good opportunity for me,” he says. “There are lots of good things happening in athletics and the university as a whole. It’s a great place to be, and I’m fortunate to be part of that.” The new assistant athletic director for budget, oversees all financial operations for the athletic department, which include purchasing, travel expenditures, oversight and maintenance of all athletic budgets as well as any other business-related operations within the department. “I have to review and approve all financial transactions and anything else that involves spending money,” he says. He earned a degree in sports management from Bowling Green State University in 1996, followed by a master’s degree in sports administration 16
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at Morehead (Ky.) State University in 1998. Posaski comes to SDSU with good experience. He was associate athletic director for business and finance for five years at Texas A&M UniversityCorpus Christi after serving as director of marketing and promotions for three years at Radford University in Virginia. Prior to Radford, Posaski was director of marketing for two years at the College of William & Mary. His first job after graduate school was at Western Carolina University, where he served as assistant athletic director for external affairs.
effects, video board messages, and is in charge of posters and schedule cards. He’s constantly looking for fun, creative ways for more people to attend SDSU athletic events from promotions to giveaways. “I’m always on the alert for different promotion ideas for the athletic department and the university as a whole,” he says. “Coming to SDSU is a huge professional move for me.” Before enrolling at Northern Iowa, Hrubes earned a two-year degree in marketing management in 2006 from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Eric Hrubes, marketing
Jason Holtz, facilities
Only one month into the job, the new assistant athletic director of marketing and promotions hit the ground running. Hrubes took the SDSU Athletic Department nationwide during the unveiling of the Under Armour football jerseys at media day Aug. 9. “We had an entire marketing platform created where we had a behind the scenes video, photo shoot, a commercial, news release and photo covers to market our brand-new jerseys,” he says. “Even the Under Armour corporate office took notice of our unveiling. They sent it out through their social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, reaching more than 200,000 people. It was a fascinating process and a great event.” A native of Forest City, Iowa, Hrubes graduated from Northern Iowa in 2008 with a degree in sports marketing. In 2010, he earned his master’s degree in leisure, youth and human services administration from Northern Iowa. He was then hired as the school’s assistant director of marketing prior to coming to SDSU. Hrubes, who replaces Justin Swanson, oversees social media outlets for the Jacks and he’s highly involved when it comes to game atmosphere. He coordinates all the music sound
After four years overseeing events and facility operations at Fresno State University, Holtz takes on the role of assistant athletic director for facilities and operations at SDSU, replacing Doug Hagman, who now is overseeing the custodial crew at the Penn State athletic department. “I’m excited about the job because it’s a great opportunity for myself and my career,” he says. “I’m from Nebraska and having a great job that allows me to be near family is another great perk. “South Dakota State University has some great goals it wants to accomplish, and I knew that being part of that would be a great experience.” A native of Fremont, Holtz received his bachelor’s degree from Wayne State College in 2006 and he interned at Nebraska Wesleyan, where he was responsible for media and facility events. While earning a master’s degree at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., he was a graduate assistant in the athletic department dealing with events and facility operations. Kyle Johnson
coach spotlight
Megan Rossiter Equestrian coach rode many trails en route to SDSU
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egan Rossiter was driving across South Dakota to Colorado the third week of August pulling a horse trailer. She was on a recruiting trip of sorts—the four-legged kind. Her mission was to bring back horses for the SDSU equestrian program. “It’s good to know certain people in the industry who raise and own quality horses so our athletes can practice and compete on highly trained animals,” says Rossiter, who enters her second year as head coach. She left Colorado with two horses, one that was donated and one through a lease agreement. On her way through Nebraska, she picked up a third horse that also was leased. Trips like those take place twice a year to keep the herd at or near full strength, according to Rossiter, who notes the treks require special attention. “It’s fun getting out and doing this for the program, but you really have to be careful hauling a trailer,” she warns. “It’s 11 hours on the road and you can’t stop and talk to people, so in that sense it’s kind of tough. When it comes to live animals, you’re always on edge. We only stop to check on the horses to make sure they are OK.”
Lots of horse sense Always on the lookout for good stock, being on the road is nothing new for Rossiter, who grew up showing quarter horses in her hometown of DePere, Wis. She won high school state titles in the American Quarter Horse Association circuits and in the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Show. Rossiter was an intercollegiate rider in both hunt seat and western events at Murray, Ky., State University. In 1998, as a junior, she elected to participate in the national student exchange program at New Mexico State University. “They were the current national champions and I wanted to ride for their coach, Larry Sanchez,” she recalls. “I could use my scholarship at both Murray State and New Mexico State.” Rossiter’s knowledge about horses is well-rounded. From an educational standpoint, she earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Murray State in 2000 with a concentration in equine science. She followed that up with a master’s degree in animal science, with an emphasis in equine nutrition, from Oklahoma State University in 2008. “The degrees that I have are very helpful due to the nature of the sport,” she says. “We have to make sure the
horses are eating right and are well maintained. The other athletic teams don’t have live equipment. If our horses are injured or sick, the athletes have nothing to practice on.” Rossiter took over the Jackrabbit equestrian program in 2011 after spending four years at Drake Johnson Reining Horses in Wray, Colo., where she assisted in instructing riders, training and showing reining horses.
Success in Oklahoma Rossiter’s first coaching stint came at Oklahoma State, where she helped coach the western team as a graduate assistant from 2001 until 2003, when she accepted a newly created assistant coaching position. During her six years on the staff, the Cowgirl western squad won varsity equestrian national championships in 2003, 2004, 2006 and the reserve national title in 2005. In addition to varsity equestrian, the Cowgirls attained a good deal of success in Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competitions. Rossiter–coached riders captured 33 individual zone championships, 18 regional titles and seven national crowns. The program also claimed zone and regional championships in 2004 and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association reserve western national title in 2002. After taking part in the Cowgirls’ success, Rossiter is looking to move the Jackrabbits to a higher riding level, too. “I’m so excited to be working with young women in this equestrian program,” she says. “Being here is great, because there is so much support from the administration, staff and community.” Rossiter observes this season will be interesting with the 45-member roster showing 19 freshmen. “We’re going to hit the ground running and experience great things with a young team,” she says. “Everything was new last year with a new coaching staff, but this year we will be ready.” Kyle Johnson fall 2012
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B
rad Lowery grew up in a track family and learned to calculate pace at a young age. He became the school record holder in the 3,000-(indoors) and 5,000-(outdoor) meter runs and also flirted with breaking the four-minute-mile in his senior year (2005). Now his calculations are more complex. Lowery is a Ph.D. candidate in math at the University of Colorado-Denver. He moved to Denver in fall 2010 and this school year is researching dense linear algebra — a world filled with vectors, matrices and non-zero values. Just a few years ago, Lowery’s world was filled with circular math — calculated with a stopwatch and a track oval. Lowery left State as perhaps the track program’s most decorated runner to not claim an NCAA title. Lowery did earn All-American honors in his sophomore and junior seasons, both indoors and outdoors. But by his senior season, SDSU was in its transition to Division I athletics. Neither teams nor individuals could compete in national meets at the Division I or II level. But Lowery put his name all over the SDSU performance chart during the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
A memorable senior season
simple
math
Indoors, the 2001 Pierre High School graduate came within .03 of a second of tying Nick Burrow’s 1,000-meter record and was .06 of a second from tying Rod DeHaven’s 1,500-meter record. He smashed Greg Darbyshire’s 3,000-meter record (8:05.04 to 8:17:46). Outdoors, he nearly clipped the 14-minute mark in establishing a new record (14:00.24) in the 5,000 meters, winning that race and the 1,500 meters at the Drake Relays. That’s a 4:30 pace for three miles. On May 6, 2005, he attempted to become the first South Dakotan to run a four-minute mile in South Dakota. At a special event at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays, Lowery set a state and school record (4:01.67), but just missed his goal. When he graduated in December 2005, Lowery had sights on conquering more running goals.
Training at top programs
Lowery moves to doctoral studies when times don’t equal ambitions 18
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He trained briefly with the Big Sur Distance Project, a Marina, Calif., training group of post-collegiate athletes who were focused on qualifying for national and Olympic teams. It was led by Bob Sevenne, who coached 1984 Olympic gold medal marathon winner Joan Benoit-Samuelson. Brad Lowery sports his old SDSU singlet at the finish of the 2011 Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon. He completed the downhill cross along Clear Creek in 1:13:06, good for eighth place.
Where are they now?
Above: Brad Lowery sports an SDSU stocking hat at the peak of Mount Quandary (elevation 14,265 feet), one of Colorado’s 53 fourteeners, on a summer 2011 climb. The South Dakota prairie native has made Denver his home since 2010. Top Right: Lowery, a doctoral student in the University of Colorado-Denver math department, with the Denver skyline in the background. Bottom Right: Shown at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays, this run of Lowery’s would set a state and school record (4:01.67).
But there wasn’t enough gold in the project. Lowery left after four months, shortly before it disbanded for financial reasons. Lowery settled in Minneapolis, where he ran for Team Minnesota USA, a similar organization to Big Sur, but better positioned financially. “I really liked living up in Minnesota. It’s a really great system. Things are in place for that system to survive for a long time.” Not so for Lowery. He suffered a torn meniscus as a result of overtraining. An operation seemed to do the job, but after about a year arthritis developed in that left knee. That trigged Lowery to think again about graduate school, something that always had been in the physics major’s plans.
Called back to class When he graduated from SDSU, he had been awarded a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship by the NCAA. It was nearing use-it or lose-it time for that award, so Lowery came back to Brookings in fall 2008 with the idea
of earning his master’s degree in math and continuing to run competitively. He trained with State’s cross country team and that fall turned in a personal record half marathon (1:06:42 at Big Sur). In the spring, Lowery’s knee became cranky again; protesting loud enough that he relinquished running glory. Watching this summer’s Olympics did fuel a little “what if” thinking in Lowery. “I think what if I had done this differently, but I don’t think it was in the cards to be at that level. I still like to dream. It gets me through my morning five-miler.”
Brad Lowery today, tomorrow Today’s running goals are just to stay in shape, though he still races, including a 1:16 half marathon in June. His career goals are to be faculty member at a medium-size university where he can teach and do research. He says he has a couple years left at the University of Colorado-Denver and has enjoyed the teaching he has done there as well as at SDSU.
His doctoral emphasis is applied mathematics, which he defined as math an engineer would find useful. Looking back at his Jackrabbit career, Lowery says, “What I like the most about SDSU is the people and friends I met. I stay in contact with those people” and he met up with several of them at the Kansas-SDSU football game in Lawrence Sept. 1. Because of his June 25, 2011, marriage to Brookings native Rachel Maca, he reconnects with Brookings on holidays. Dave Graves
fall 2012
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DONOR spotlight the paulas
Former student-athletes first donors for practice facility
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ooking to fire up the Cobbler gridders he coaches, Jordan Paula makes his point by putting on items he proudly donned three years ago. “I’ve thrown on the pads for practice to get them motivated,” he says. “I take them off, but it works, they seem to be more ready to go.” It’s a good example of how Paula views life and it speaks well of his wife, Ketty, too. The former SDSU studentathletes are big when it comes to service for the betterment of others. Jordan, who earned a business economics degree and a secondary education teaching certificate from SDSU in 2010, coaches tight ends and linebackers at Rapid City Central High School. In the classroom, he’s a seventhand eighth-grade science teacher at North Middle School and serves as the school’s activities director. The former Ketty Cornemann graduated from SDSU in 2011 with a health, physical education and recreation degree. She is a physical education teacher and activities director at Southwest Middle School in Rapid City. She also coaches seventh-grade volleyball, middle school track along with coaching basketball at Stevens High School. Looking out for others has never been a problem for the couple ever since meeting four years ago on the SDSU campus. Thankful for where they came from, they were the very first to step forward and make a financial donation toward the university’s planned Indoor Practice and Human Performance Athletic Facility. “SDSU shaped us and gave us so much in terms of experience and academics,” says Jordan. “We were both blessed with scholarships that allowed us to compete and do so many things. It’s about giving back, to do something bigger than yourself. This facility will benefit all student-athletes.” 20
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A promise kept When the Paulas first heard about the facility they wanted to donate, and in February 2012, the SDSU Foundation received their gift. “Jordan and Ketty are great examples of young alumni getting involved by giving back,” says SDSU Associate Athletic Director for Development Slade Larscheid. “I’m not surprised they were the first to donate, because that’s just the type of people they are. Their donation shows that every gift makes an impact for our student-athletes and coaches.” Says Ketty, “We really care about SDSU and the student-athletes so we really wanted to make a contribution. It will affect so many teams, especially the outdoor ones that are hindered by the weather. It will also help the university as a whole when it comes to recruiting.” Ketty participated in three sports. After finishing with basketball, she used her remaining year of eligibility to compete in volleyball and outdoor track. For her, the donation gives credence to a commitment she made as a freshman. “My head coach (Aaron Johnston) did a really good job clearly defining how we got our scholarships, how blessed and lucky we are,” she says. “It’s something we should never take for granted. “People give money so we can go to school and compete in our sport. He instilled the idea of giving back and I instantly knew that at some point I would try and give back when I could.”
Giving others same chance While at SDSU, Ketty and Jordan both spent time in the athletic department doing development work by
calling former student-athletes to raise funds for the Jackrabbit Club. They were also heavily involved with the Student-Athletic Advisory Committee doing community service projects for children. “A service mentality means supporting things that you believe in,” says Paula, who was a running back for the Jacks from 2005 to 2009 and a twoyear track performer. “That’s the reason why we got into education in the first place. It’s gratifying to make an impact on young people and give them the same chance that we got. It’s about building character, which is why this new athletic facility will have a lasting impact on every student-athlete who comes to SDSU.” The facility will feature an eightlane, 300-meter track and 100 yards of synthetic turf for practices and live competitions. There will be space for sports medicine, athletic training, strength and conditioning, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, observation rooms and office areas. Construction is planned to begin spring 2013. It will be built north of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium and adjacent to the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center. For more information on the facility and the fund drive, see story Page 2. To give to the Indoor Practice and Human Performance Athletic Facility, go to www.sdsudevelopingchampions.com. Kyle Johnson
sponsOR spotlight De Smet farm mutual insurance
SDSU, De Smet Farm Mutual Insurance
enjoy long alliance
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oth have a long history of service so it made perfect sense for De Smet Farm Mutual Insurance Company and South Dakota State University to get together. As a land-grant university established in 1881, SDSU serves the state through education, research and Extension. Likewise, De Smet Farm Mutual has a long and consistent history of providing people with insurance coverage since 1916. The two service-minded entities forged a relationship nearly 30 years ago when De Smet Farm Mutual became the first sponsor of Jackrabbit athletics — a bond that has been continuous throughout these many years. General Manager Bill Poppen, who has been with De Smet Farm Mutual for 43 years, says the connection
with SDSU has been an easy one to maintain. “Our company motto is serving South Dakota from South Dakota, so we were greatly interested in working with SDSU and supporting the studentathletes. “So many of the people we serve have attended and graduated from SDSU during their lifetime, so consequently we feel it’s a very healthy partnership for all concerned.”
Matter of pride Poppen’s three children all graduated from SDSU and many of De Smet Farm Mutual’s employees during the years have earned degrees from State, including Caryn Pastian, the company’s underwriting supervisor. A 1985 graduate with a degree in commercial economics, Pastian is quite
clear when describing the link between her employer and alma mater. “Honestly, it’s a matter of pride, working with a great company like De Smet Farm Mutual and pride knowing that I’m an SDSU graduate and being able to attend games there,” she says. Pastian has a very personal reason for feeling that way and it underscores the unique partnership the two organizations have. Her daughter, Cylie, a high school sophomore, was diagnosed with bone cancer six years ago and has since recovered. In 2008 she was given an emotional lift courtesy of the Jackrabbit women’s basketball program. “She loves SDSU basketball and was a big fan of Jennifer Warkenthein, who got to know our family through her husband,” recalls Pastian. “Cylie was able to meet the whole team and all the players signed a T-shirt for her. “What they did for my daughter speaks to the pride thing again. To be associated with a school that would do something like that is awesome and it’s something we will always remember.”
A natural fit SDSU Athletic Director Justin Sell looks for the partnership to continue well into the future. “We’ve enjoyed our long relationship with De Smet Farm Mutual Insurance Company of South Dakota,” he says. “De Smet Farm Mutual was our first corporate partner when our partnership program began and they have stood by our side for many years. “With De Smet Farm Mutual’s South Dakota roots, the alignment of our program with their brand has been a natural fit. Their support has allowed our student-athletes to excel in competition and in the classroom.” Kyle Johnson fall 2012
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behind the scenes natasha schreiber
“Natasha provides leadership in the areas of initial eligibility requirements, monitoring of NCAA forms, composing compliance forms and student-athlete insurance.” — supervisor Kathy Heylens on compliance officer Natasha Schreiber
Behind the Scenes: Schreiber prepares student-athletes for season
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pbeat, outgoing and efficient are adjectives commonly used to describe Natasha Schreiber. Schreiber, a compliance officer for SDSU athletics for the past six years, spends her days in contact with studentathletes, coaches and athletic trainers to ensure every last bit of paperwork for student-athletes is complete and accurate. She juggles multiple tasks to keep athletes at SDSU up-to-date with the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules. Schreiber takes on the seemingly overwhelming duty for all 450 athletes in 21 sports at State, making sure no one gets lost in the shuffle. Schreiber’s supervisor, Kathy Heylens, associate athletic director and compliance officer, says Schreiber takes great pride in her position and the academic achievement and athletic success of student-athletes. “Natasha provides leadership in the areas of initial eligibility requirements, monitoring of NCAA forms, composing compliance forms and student-athlete insurance,” says Heylens. “She is very competent in her work, extremely organized and has terrific relationships with all of our coaching staff.”
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“I like that each day in my job is different,” Schreiber says. “I never know what is going to cross my path.” She is in charge of more than 150 official student-athlete recruiting visits each year and an uncountable number of unofficial visits. Schreiber also keeps record of each student-athlete’s health insurance. “Natasha is a true team player who is actively involved in making sure our student-athletes have a positive experience at SDSU,” says Heylens. Freshmen athletes have to be cleared through the NCAA eligibility center online before they can participate in intercollegiate athletics. “It’s my job to make sure all incoming freshmen are cleared,” Schreiber says. “The NCAA eligibility center reviews students’ high school transcripts and test scores, I then monitor their file to make sure the athlete has all the proper documentation in.” Summers at SDSU are a time of forecasting and preparation for Schreiber, and are anything but slow. “My summers are busy and filled with getting incoming freshmen eligible to practice and compete,” says Schreiber. “The ultimate goal is for all studentathletes to be cleared so they can compete.”
Schreiber also takes on the huge responsibility of keeping track of student-athletes’ countable hours, meaning she makes sure everything adds up correctly with the amount of hours a student is allowed to practice each month. Student-athletes are allowed 20 hours a week and four hours a day of practice time when their sport is in season, and eight hours a week outside of the season. “Coaches fill out countable hour forms and turn them into me, I then review them to verify they are in compliance with the NCAA bylaws,” Schreiber says. “I never know what kind of questions are going to come my way,” Schreiber says. “It’s a fast-paced environment and I like that.” Schreiber lives in Brookings with her husband, Matt, and their two young children Brayden and Hannah. When she’s not checking items off her work to-do list, Schreiber spends time at the pool and lake with her family. “My kids love going to SDSU sporting events,” she says. “They, too, are big Jackrabbit fans.” Karissa Kuhle
Soccer feature: hannah phillips
Soccer Feature: hannah phillips Phillips determined to help others
Touching souls, dressing wounds Despite her hectic schedule as a soccer player and her demanding classes as a double major in biology and premed, Phillips also found time to volunteer as a pediatric companion at Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls. “It was nice to go down there and just hang out with the kids for a couple of hours every week — escape the madness of being a studentathlete for a couple of hours,” she says with a laugh. “If I can bring a little joy to someone, that’s worth every minute. You also see the real fight of the human spirit. How some people overcome things is really inspirational,” notes Phillips. This experience changed Phillips’ outlook on life. This summer, Phillips took her desire to help others back home to the emergency room at Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette, Wyo. Her hands-on experience in providing immediate medical attention ranged from gluing cuts to putting dislocated shoulders back into place. “I get to irrigate lacerations and dress the wounds after they’ve been sutured, clean abrasions, splint broken bones, clean the rooms once they’re open and generally assist around the place,” Phillips says. “What’s cool is that you see a little bit of everything in the ER, so it’s been a real eye-opening experience,” she says.
Next stop: Med school
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enior soccer midfielder Hannah Phillips is a studentathlete, but she’s earned an extra hyphen. She’s a student-athlete-volunteer. “I’ve volunteered since high school at different places,” says Phillips. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she feels that it is important to give back to the community. “My mother is a very caring person and has always worked in fields where she gives a lot to others,” she explains. One way to give back was by volunteering as a mentor at the Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program. “The program pairs mentors with youth in Brookings schools,” she says. “You hang out with them and try to be a good role model for them. We went ice skating, climbed the Campanile, cooked a Thanksgiving dinner, got ice cream, you know – just hung out,” she says. She remembers how she used to look up to older athletes she admired when she was younger, and realized that being that person, she can have an enormous impact on younger people. She mentions being a mentor again after the soccer season is over this fall.
That experience has convinced Phillips that her next stop after SDSU will be medical school. At this point, she is torn between orthopedic surgery, sports medicine and pediatrics. “They say you never really know until you’re in medical school,” she says. She is looking forward to applying to medical school this fall. Through her volunteerism and her choice of career path, Phillips’ caring nature is evident. That’s quite likely due to the example set by her mother. “I’ve been very fortunate and have been given so many opportunities,” Phillips says, “so I think it’s important to give back to every community that you’re a part of.” Devanshu Narang Left: The interests of Hannah Phillips, a senior midfielder (shown here in 2010), go beyond the soccer field. The premed major has spent much of her free time doing volunteer work. Right: Hannah Phillips wears her Jackrabbit scrubs while spending her summer working at the emergency room at the Gillette, Wyo., hospital. The senior soccer player says her next stop is med school. fall 2012
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W S in b d Ja South Dakota State University Continuing & Extended Education
South Dakota State University Continuing & Extended Education
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T H E I N DOOR PR AC T IC E A N D H U M A N PE R FOR M A NC E C E N T E R PR E PA R I NG S T U DE N T-AT H L E T E S TO BE L I F E L ONG C H A M PIONS
NOW! THE TIME IS
SDSU to Build Indoor Practice Facility
With a $5 million challenge match announced in September, South Dakota State University now has more than $25 million in commitments for this transformational project that will benefit all of SDSU’s 475 student-athletes. The anonymous donor providing the $5 million challenge wants to motivate Jackrabbit alumni and support to invest in the project.
Proposed Features: • • • • • •
100 yards synthetic turf Eight-lane 300-meter track Expanded Academic Advising space Expanded Athletic Training space Expanded Strength and Conditioning area Physical Therapy & Hydrotherapy
Officials believe $28 million would complete the project with most of the preferred features. Construction of the facility is planned to begin in the spring of 2013, subject to successfully raising the additional funds and final approval through the South Dakota Board of Regents.
TO LEARN MORE OR TO MAKE A GIFT, VISIT:
www.SDSUDevelopingChampions.com FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE INDOOR PRACTICE AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE CENTER, CONTACT: Slade Larscheid Associate Athletic Director – Development South Dakota State University Foundation (605) 697-7475 Slade.Larscheid@sdsufoundation.org
Keith A. Mahlum Vice President for Development South Dakota State University Foundation (605) 697-7475 Keith.Mahlum@sdsufoundation.org
fall 2012
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