Coyotes look to win final NCC Indoor Track and Field titles

Seven North Central Conference men’s track and field teams and seven women’s track and field teams will start the quest for the final NCC Indoor track and field championship title Friday and Saturday in Mankato, Minn.

The USD Coyotes men’s track and field team will look to defend last years NCC title while the USD women’s track and field team looks to improve on last year’s uncharacterics fourth place finished, which snapped a string of two consecutive indoor titles.

Last year’s NCC indoor meet saw the Coyotes come away with the team title over MSU-Mankato. USD outscored the Mavericks 223.5 points to 222 points as the Coyotes won the final event of the meet, the 4×400-meter relay.

The Coyotes and Mavericks again look to be the front runners for the final NCC title. The difference in who wins the title could be in the number of athletes both have participating in the meet.

USD has many athletes on the men’s side who should be able to either win events or finish in the top three.

Some names to watch for this weekend:Dominic Artis, the junior sprinter should challenge for a top spot in the 60-meter dash and some of the other sprint events. Artis suffered an injury in last year’s NCC Indoor meet, but if he stays healthy, he should have an outstanding indoor meet.

Ben Oberle, the junior sprinter, should be another top contender in the sprint events, more specifically, the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. Oberle finished third in both events at last year’s NCC indoor meet.

Terry Liggins, senior hurdler, is a lock to win the 60-meter hurdles if he does not get hurt or have other problems. Liggins looks to become the first athlete to win four straight indoor hurdle championships. Liggins will more than likely compete in the 200-meter dash and the high jump.

Scott Hargens, senior middle distance, won the 800-meter dash last year while anchoring the 4×400-meter relay team. Hargens has had a very good indoor season and should be able to pick up the 800-meter title and several others along the way.

Josh Olson, senior jumper, will, obviously, compete in the long jump and triple jump. Olson finished eighth in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump last year.

Preston Scott and Ben Walters are two guys in the throwing events that were solid at last year’s meet. Scott won the weight throw as last year’s indoor meet.Those are just a few of the USD men’s track and field athletes to watch for.

Check with this blog and with the volanteonline.com for updates.

For the USD women’s team has a lot of athletes to watch for and should be able to finish higher than last year’s performance.

Some athletes to watch are: senior Stephanie Gebhart. Gebhart redshirted last year in order to train to become an 800-meter runner, adding to her 400-meter dash ability. Look for Gebhart to finish high in one or both events as well as helping out with a relay team.

Emma Erickson, freshman middle distance, should contend in several events and shoudl be able to come up with at least one title. Erickson should be in the running for the 800-meter dash title and the 1,000-meter run.Quick note, the USD women’s team only had one runner in the 1,000-meter run and none in the 800-meter dash last year. The Coyotes will certainly improve in this area.

Natalie Stout, junior jumper, should contend for the triple jump title. Stout, who won the NCC title in that event as a freshman, finished fifth in the triple jump last year. Look for her to rebound.

Allison Smith, junior sprinter, should contend for titles in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. She scored points at last year’s meet and could move into the top two or three spots this year.

Lindsay House, senior hurdler and jumper, won the 60-meter hurdles and was fourth in the long jump. House has not had the same level of success so far this indoor season, but she may come out of the woodwork to repeat last year’s performance.

Ramsey Kavan, sophomore distance runner, won the NCC cross country title after having to redshirt due to transferring from Norte Dame and the fact that the Fighting Irish did not release her from her scholarship. Kavan should be able to come up with titles in many of the distance events.

This meet will probably come down to Nebraska-Omaha and the Coyotes. I think this is a different USD team than last year’s and I look for them to come up with the league title.

Another interesting and important angle comes from this quote from USD women’s track and field coach Lucky Huber in Ryan Moore’s Volante story in this week’s paper explains perfectly what the NCC meet is all about.

“It’s really the kids that score one, two and three points in the meet that really make the big difference.”

Many of the athletes above probably will not fall into this category, but the ones that are in the back half of the top eight are very important and make the difference.

If you do not believe me, ask USD men’s track and field head coach Dave Gottsleben. His team won by a 1.5 points. That adds up to two eighth place finishes or one seventh place finisher.

- – Vance Janak

New offensive coordinator rounds up coaching staff

With the hiring of the new offensive coordinator Gordon Shaw, I believe the Coyote football team has rounded out its coaching staff. When looking at the mix of new coaches along with the ones that didn’t, but might in the future, get head coaching jobs, this is one talented coaching staff.

It seems head coach Ed Meierkort knew right away he would have to fill his open coaching positions with people that have D-I experience, either playing or coaching. This helps the Coyotes because those coaches will know what it takes to recruit the players who can succeed at the D-I level and have them work hard like they would need to at the D-I level.

As I mentioned before, the latest hire is a former assistant coach from the University of Minnesota Gordon Shaw. Shaw was an assistant under former head coach Glen Mason and wasn’t retained under former first year Golden Gophers coach Tim Brewster. Usually new coaches like to bring in their own staff, so Shaw sat the year out waiting for the right opportunity to come up. Fortunately for the Coyotes, they are the right job.

Yes, Shaw didn’t coach last year, but he has quite the impressive resume. Actually without Shaw, Mason probably would have been fired a year or two earlier. Shaw worked with Minnesota’s offensive line, defensive line, and he was a major recruiter in Minnesota. Shaw built probably the best offensive lines year in and year out in Minnesota. He helped running backs like Marion Barber (Dallas Cowboys), Laurence Maroney (New England Patriots), and Gary Russell (he wasted a bunch of talent by not going to class and being an idiot and blew a big shot at the NFL) run for one thousand yards a season. In the case of Barber and Maroney, well they did it in the same seasons usually and Minnesota became the first team to have two 1,000 yard rushers for three straight years. Your team cannot achieve that with a mediocre to good offensive line. You need a great offensive line to accomplish that feat as consistently as Minnesota did.

This fits Meierkort’s philosophy perfectly. Meierkort is a run first guy and sometimes Todd Hoffner would get away from that philosophy. Shaw will stick to this philosophy and the Coyotes have produced some very good running backs already in Jamal White, Stephan Logan, and Amos Allen. Shaw will bring out the most of the offensive line and the running backs. It’s scary to think the running game could get even better with Shaw there.

Shaw is also a great recruiter in Minnesota. This is important, especially in the Twin Cities and the suburbs. Shaw recruited Minnesota for basically 17 years, so he has made major relationships across the state and he knows which schools to recruit at. Minnesota has more talent then one might think. Cretin-Durham Hall is considered one of the best high school football programs in the nation. They have been on Fox Sports Net, not just the North part, in national games. I am sure Shaw has a relationship there and programs just as good in Minnesota. Shaw knows what type of players the Coyotes will need from Minnesota who fit the D-I mold.

I am throughly impressed with the Coyotes hire of Gordon Shaw. I think he is EXACTLY the type of coach the Coyotes need to bring in for their move to D-I AA. He fits everything Meierkort wants to do offensively and he is a great recruiter. This is a major hire and I am surprised a bigger school didn’t jump on Shaw earlier. I guess having Glen Mason as someone of your references must not look that good to most schools, but maybe they should have looked at his whole resume, because it is quite impressive. This gives the Coyotes great hope that the program will succeed going into Division I.

–Justin Rust

Welcome, Augieholics

As our religious friends from Augustana make their way down to Vermillion for tomorrow night’s basketball doubleheader against USD, let me be the first to welcome them to our humble abode.

Vermillion ain’t Sioux Falls by any means, but down here, we breed successful basketball teams. And right now, that’s what we Vermillionaires care about.

Yet, let me also be (perhaps) the first to congratulate you on a fairly impressive men’s basketball season. You’ve risen from the depths of a perennial could-have-been to now a might-be in the always tough North Central Conference. Your men are 19-7 and 7-4 in the NCC. Honestly, that’s pretty good. And if you manage to knock off the USD men tomorrow, you’ll pretty much solidify yourselves for a regional berth.

And once again, your women’s basketball team has thrived in the middle of the NCC. Like the men, your women are 19-7 and 7-4 in the conference. Barring some crazy screwup, you’ll easily find yourself in the regional tournament (which, by the way, will likely be held in Vermillion).

But as we all know, records mean squat when Augustana and USD get together, especially on the court. Your men had their little fun against USD back on Jan. 12, while your women couldn’t quite get to the USD women. So, we’ll call that first round a push.

If Corey McIntosh duplicates his performance against USD, the Augie men’s team could come out on top. We’ll give you that Corey Mac is one helluva player. Props on getting him. This conference hasn’t seen a player like him in quite a while. Yet, can his supporting cast duplicate their effort? I guess we’ll see. Will your boys put up 95 points against USD once again? I guess we’ll see.

Yet, no matter what happens tomorrow night, you’ve been one heckuva little rival. Things may have heavily favored USD since the D-I exodus of our friends a few years ago, but it’s been a fun ride.

Have a safe trip down I-29 and we’ll see you in the Dome. Hope you’re ready.

— Jeremy Hoeck

P.S. Maybe the Coyote Crazies should draw up a constitution like the Augieholics have. Just a thought.

USD women on some kind of roll

By virtue of Saturday’s 74-54 thumping of Minnesota-Duluth, the USD women’s basketball team has clinched a share of the North Central Conference regular season title.

The Coyotes need just one more win (or a North Dakota loss) to capture the outright conference title. The last time USD accomplished that feat was the 2002-2003 season, when the Coyotes finished 25-7 and 14-2 in the NCC.

Yet, perhaps the more interesting stat is USD’s 10-0 record in the NCC. With two home games remaining, this is a Coyote team that could conceivably go undefeated (12-0) in league play. And in this rough-and-tumble, grind-it-out league, who would have thought that possible?

The answer is, nobody.

Remember, it was the USD men’s team that was picked to cruise to a conference title. The women’s team was picked to finish second, behind North Dakota.

But following a loss to Adams State back in late November, the Coyotes (24-1) have completely turned it around. Riding a 22-game win streak, USD is in the drivers seat for both the conference tournament and the regional tournament, which could both be held in Vermillion.

This is a USD team with incredible senior leadership and players with a set goal (think, title) in mind. And barring any major slip-up in the postseason, this is a team that could very easily contend for a national championship.

But before I get too ahead of myself, remember, USD has two home games: Thursday against Augustana, and Saturday against St. Cloud State. So, whether you’re a basketball fan or not, come out to the Dome and support this team. You won’t see another squad like it in a very long time.

— Jeremy Hoeck

Commentary Unedited: Are the Coyote men Domebabies 2.0?

This is the full version of the Men’s Basketball Commentary that I wrote for the 2/20 issue of The Volante. I decided to put this up on the sports blog because it is a little more fleshed out than the one that ran. Some of my full points were cut due to space restraints in the paper. I have no problem with what was cut, but I think the full one deserves to be out there for anyone who wishes to read it.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Drew Quandt | Online Editor

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Four-And-Four in the North Central Conference. The USD men’s basketball team has four losses in the NCC. I can remember when people were talking about whether or not this team would have four losses all season.

Then came a week that I’m sure Boots & Co. would love to forget. I’ll bet they’re overjoyed that their next opponent is coming to the Dome.

So I guess the question all of you readers are waiting for me to answer is this: are these the Dome Babies version 2.0?

Hold on a minute; don’t write them off just yet. This isn’t like the Coyote football team earlier this year. They had a myriad of problems throughout the year, both in the Dome and far away from it. No, the Coyote men have not been an average team playing fantastic opponents, they’ve been a fantastic team playing down to their average opponents’ levels. This is a fluke, not a trend.

I still know that this men’s basketball team is a national title contender. Why? USD was the better team in all 3 of last week’s road losses. The Coyotes had the edge in the departments of talent, depth and experience. The problem for USD is they hit a slump at the worst possible time.

Against Nebraska-Omaha, the Mavericks scored 40 points in the paint. Please, don’t think about this next statement too much: UNO put up more than half of their points in the paint against Tyler Cain and Steve Smith. Cain alone averages 4.5 blocked shots per game. Smith is nearly a seven-footer with a solid defensive game. Nebraska-Omaha went on to win by double digits. Try and tell me with a straight face that USD’s opponents will score half of their points in the paint for the rest of the season. That just won’t happen again.

Then, the Coyotes traveled to MSU-Mankato to take on another Maverick team. Those Mavericks, who were dominated in the DakotaDome just under two weeks prior, came out at home and decided to control the pace and be physical with the Coyotes. There was no question that USD had a chance to win, even in the final seconds. However, the Mankato crowd was completely into the game and, despite USD’s best efforts, they just couldn’t get past a good team in a tough place to play. Everyone here saw how Mankato performed away from their home court. Their performance at home was fueled by revenge. MSU-Mankato won’t have a full tank for the next match-up.

Staying in Minnesota, the Coyotes took on St. Cloud State, and Eric Hall played the game of his life. Too bad the rest of the team didn’t help him out. Hall can be in the twenties every game, but if other players on the team aren’t putting up their regular numbers (Grimsley, Cain and Begeman) forget about a victory anywhere outside of the dome. Do you think USD will have another game where Grimsley is in single-digits for points, Begeman is not hitting anything from behind the arc, and Cain isn’t blocking shots and stealing the ball? Not likely.

Let’s get everything sorted out right now: The USD Coyote men’s team is still a national title contender, who hit their worst slump of the season over the course of a week. That week just happened to be their most difficult road stretch of games all season. This team has way too much experience and talent to fall out of the playoffs, or to continue playing this poorly.

Stop with the gloom and doom. USD won’t host the regional or conference tournaments, but the Coyotes will be a contender and still have a great opportunity to win one or both.

In other words: Don’t put them in the crib just yet.

Coyote men’s basketball team in a tough spot, but will history repeat itself?

This quote by Argus Leader beat reporter Mick Garry has in his story today from USD men’s basketball senior Dustin Little pretty much sums up what the Coyotes need to do to get back on the winning track.

“It’s time to stop talking about playing better and just start playing better. It’s time to go to practice, practice hard, then go into a game and get it done. We need to start playing to win.”

What else can you do after losing three straight North Central Conference games on the road? For one thing, no excuses, which is what you get out of a senior who’s a member of an NCC postseason tournament championship team his freshman year (2004-05) and last year’s NCC regular season and postseason title team.

The 75-60 loss the Coyotes suffered at the hands of Nebraska-Omaha last Saturday was baffling because of how lopsided the final outcome was and the fact that USD seemingly got outplayed by UNO.

The two losses in Minnesota to MSU-Mankato and St. Cloud State aren’t any better, but the Coyotes were MUCH closer in both of those games compared to the UNO game.

Consider the fact that the Coyotes were up 72-69 with 3:24 remaining on a 3-pointer by Mitch Begeman and again up 75-72 with 2:35 on a 3-pointer by Dylan Grimsley against MSU-Mankato.

Begeman had a chance in the final seconds with a floater, but it didn’t fall. The Coyotes really have had that one.

Then there was the St. Cloud State game in which the Coyotes were tied with 3:53 remaining before dropping a 75-71 decision.

What USD men’s basketball head coach Dave Boots told Mick Garry after the loss to the Huskies is exactly true, which is certainly why Boots said it.

“We’re not getting the stops we need at the end of games, we’re not getting the rebounds at the end of games, we’re just not doing the little things you do to win close games. This was a repeat of Thursday night where we simply did not make the plays down the stretch that we needed to make.”

So what happens now? Where does the team go from here? How do they get back on track and win games?

For starters the Coyotes get a home game Thursday with North Dakota at 8 p.m. The Sioux are a team that the Coyotes beat 88-65 earlier this year. That helps.

In my opinion, every game from here on out is a must-win for the Coyotes and they need to win out if they hope to have a very comfortable chance at the postseason. The Coyotes have lost to good basketball teams and teams that are contenders, but, when it comes to being a top team, you have to win them all.

Consider the fact that St. Cloud State wasn’t ranked in the North Central Region rankings, the Coyotes have a good chance of falling out of the rankings.

I’m sure none of the USD players or coaches are worried about this right now as they are more concerned with correcting their ills of the recent weeks. But looking forward, the Coyotes could finish the regular season with a 23-4 and 8-4 in the NCC if they win out.

That would probably put the Coyotes in either a tie for third at worst and possibly second if they get some help.

If the glass is half full, the Coyotes could pull out a run similar to the 04-05 team that nearly won the North Central Region after winning the NCC postseason tournament title after coming into the league tournament as a No. 2 seed and won the automatic berth into the NCAA Division II tournament.

The Coyotes then advanced to the North Central Region Finals before falling to a hot-shooting 3-point shooting Metro State team 89-84. That snapped an 11-game win streak for a team that set a school-record with 27 wins.

That team was aided by the experience of seniors Josh Mueller, Luke Tibbets and Steve Anderson. That team lost four games in a row before going on their run that included winning the final six NCC regular season games.

Will it happen again? Three straight losses could give way to four straight regular seasons, an NCC post season title and a significant run into the North Central Region tournament?

Little and Eric Hall each had significant playing time on that team. In their final season as a Coyote, you know those two want to go out on top and will do all they can to get the problems corrected and get back on top.

Yes, things can get worse for the Coyotes, but they’ll probably only get better and should be fun to watch.

- – Vance Janak

USD men’s basketball team drops third-straight league road game

By Vance Janak

Three consecutive North Central Conference road games added up to three-straight losses for the USD men’s basketball.

The Coyotes finished their three-game road swing Saturday with a 75-71 loss to St. Cloud State in Halenbeck Hall.

Senior forward Eric Hall scored a career-high 30 points while junior center Steve Smith added 13 points for the Coyotes. Senior guard Dustin Little contributed nine points while junior Dylan Grimsley finished with eight points.

Leading the way for the Huskies was center Matt Schneck with 17 points. Forward Andrew Bernstetter added 15 points while senior David Dreas poured in 14 points. Jesse Fisher rounded out the Huskies double figurer scorers with 11 points.

The road trip, which started with a 75-60 loss last Saturday at Nebraska-Omaha, also saw the Coyotes drop a 78-77 decision Thursday night at MSU-Mankato.

In all three games, the Coyotes trailed at halftime. Against MSU-Mankato and St. Cloud State, USD held the lead or tied the game with less than four minutes to play.

With the loss, the Coyotes (19-4) drop to fourth in the NCC (4-4). Mankato holds the conference lead with a 9-1 record in league play while Augustana is second at 6-3 and UNO third at 5-4.

The Coyotes, who shared the NCC regular season title with MSU-Mankato last season, are virtually eliminated from winning the NCC title.

USD got off to a better start than SCSU as the Coyotes jumped out to a 10-5 lead on a Hall 3-pointer with 15:43 remaining in the first half.

But the Huskies battled back and took their largest lead of the first half 26-19 on a Taylor Witt 3-pointer with 7:01 remaining in the first half.

The Coyotes retook the lead 32-31 on a jump shot by junior forward Rane Mergen with 4:08 remaining in the first half. But the Huskies took a 39-35 lead into halftime.

USD took a 53-51 lead with 9:52 remaining in the game on a jump shot by Hall. The two teams swapped the lead with neither grabbing more than a two-point advantage.

Smith scored a layup with 3:53 remaining to tie the game at 61-all, but that was the closest the Coyotes would get as the Huskies slowly took control of the game to come away with the victory.

The Coyotes will face North Dakota Thursday at 8 p.m. in the DakotaDome. USD defeated UND 88-65 Jan. 19 in Grand Forks.

Final photos from the men’s game

By Justin Wolfgang

Here’s a few pics from the second half of the game.

 Tyler Cain dishes the ball to Dustin Little who makes the following shot.

 Dylan Grimsley looks for a shot around a Maverick defender.

 Dustin Little yells for a timeout after scrambling for the ball with a Maverick defender. 

Second Half for the USD at MSU-Mankato men’s game

It looks like Coach Boots hammered into the Coyotes head the idea of rebounding as they have already grabbed a couple offensive rebounds and a couple of defensive rebounds. Both three point shots didn’t fall for the Coyotes though. Boots is still all over the officials and it is the most animated I have seen him with the officials in a while. He is constantly talking to them and in their ear. I am actually surprised he hasn’t gotten a technical foul yet. Granted most of the talking has been calm but he has lost it a couple of times. The Coyotes are starting to gain some momentum on the offensive end and their shot selection has improved this half. They still have some work to do at they are down 46-40 at the 17:00 mark. Dustin Little just grabbed a huge offensive rebound and called timeout. Little just showed the kind of hustle they need to commit for the rest of the half as he was on the ground when he pulled the ball away.

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Dylan Grimsley has started find his touch. He has 11 points in the game and five in the half. With four minutes past, Grimsley has almost reached his point total for the first half. Grimsley is usually the key cog for the Coyotes offensive game every game. Plus the defense he provides has always been solid. The Coyotes have been able to force more turnovers in this half as well and it has fueled the Coyotes. This is definitely a different team in the second half. The rebounding and defense has been completely different. The Coyotes just grabbed another two offense rebounds. At the 14:00 mark, the Mavs hold a slight one point lead at 46-45.

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Eric Hall picked up his third foul and Mitch Begeman has checked into the game for Grimsley. Steve Smith also has three fouls. If you remember Mankato’s coach, you know he is a character. You can probably hear him yelling all the way to Vermillion. Smith is abandoning his inside game and just took another three. He nailed it to give the Coyotes their first lead of the game. Smith can hit the three, I just don’t know how consistently. He does have 14 points in the game. Tyler Cain has become a beast inside and is the Cain we know and love again. He is starting to block shots and alter them as well. Hall just nailed a three to put the Coyotes up 57-56 at the 10:00 mark. Another friendly media timeout.

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The Coyotes rebounding has improved like I said. I just received stats and the rebounding is shared by both teams at 26. Tyler Cain has 2 blocks and 5 steals in the game, all in the second half. Santos has only two rebounds in the second half. Smith has 14 points, but the Mavericks has started a running game on the Coyotes. Grimsley checked back into the game for Begeman. Smith is on the bench getting some rest. The Coyotes have shot 50% in the second half which is up from 43% percent in the first half. The Mavericks have been able to run the floor well as Jake Morrow has started to head up a little. He just scored 7 points in the last couple of minutes after having only 2 points for the game. If they can contain him again, it would be huge for the Coyotes. Mankato leads 66-63 with Dustin Little at the line.

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The fouls have added up for the Mavericks and the Coyotes are in the bonus. Little is starting to make it to the free-throw line which is big because Little might be the Coyotes best player from the line. In fact, the whole team is pretty good from the line. Cain is their worst free throw shooter and he has improved from last year. Hopefully the Coyotes take advantage of this fact and take it inside to draw the foul. It looked like Dylan Grimsley took advantage of that fact and was uncontested as he went to the hole. Guard Jadee Jones has four fouls for the Mavericks. Morrow just missed two free throws and the game is tied 69 with 3:30 to go.

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The Mavericks want a timeout after Begeman nailed a huge three. The Coyotes are starting to gain a slight edge in momentum after that three. The Coyotes are up 72-69 with 3:14 to go. This matches their biggest lead of the game as they have had one three point lead about a couple minutes ago.

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The Coyotes have grabbed the advantage in rebounds at 32 to 29. Offensive rebounds go to the Coyotes at 12 to 9. The Coyotes shooting is up to 52% for the half, but the Mavs are shooting 52% as well to stay in this game. Jessie Clark nailed two free throws with a minute left as the Coyotes lead 75-74. The Coyotes just turned it over and Whitaker put back a rebound as the Mavs take the lead 76-75 with 28.9 left. The Coyotes have just called a timeout.

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Eric Hall hit a short jumper with 15 seconds left but Jadee Jones hit another short jumper with 5 seconds left. The Coyotes call a timeout and will have the last shot. The Mavs lead 78-77.

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Well, the Coyotes got what they wanted. Becker got the inbounds and found Begeman who drove down the court and just past the foul line put up the jumper that missed and Grimsley wasn’t able to put it back in. The Coyotes drop the game 78-77 to the Mavs. Unfortunately, this puts a major damper on the Coyotes hope for the NCC Title in the regular season. I will be back after getting comments from the Coyote players and final stats.

—- Justin Rust

Photos from the Men’s game

By Justin Wolfgang

Here are some photos from the first half of the men’s game against MSU-Mankato. 

 Jesse Becker goes to the basket.

Jesse Becker sees a lane and drives to the basket.

 

Eric Hall goes up to the basket over a Mankato defender.

Dylan Grimsley goes to the basket.

Jesse Becker drives around a Mankato defender.