February 29, 2008...7:16 pm
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
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