Rabbit tracks spring 2013

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

VOLUME 18 NO.1 / SPRING 2013

Pausing to reflect In the world of college athletics, and in life in general, it is easy to get so focused on “what’s next” that sometimes we forget to pause and reflect on what we have accomplished.

As I reflect on this past year, I am reminded of a quote from the late, great John Wooden: “Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character.”

As South Dakota State Athletics moved to Division I, we achieved many great “wins” as a department. In our first years of eligibility, we had NCAA tournament appearances, FCS playoffs, a Summit League Commissioner’s Cup, and record numbers in season tickets, Jackrabbit Club and the Scholarship Auction.

Those moments were cornerstones in Jackrabbit history, but success did not stop there.

We set our vision higher. Last year we again achieved competitive greatness on the field, academic success off the field and set financial records as a department.

As a true testament to the character of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, alumni and fans, I am here to tell you that we did it again in 2012-2013.

For the second year in a row, we sent both our men’s and women’s basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament. Football hosted, and won, an FCS playoff game. We are in prime position for the Summit League Commissioner’s Cup. In one night, with the help of our anonymous donor, sponsors and attendees, we raised $505,000 through the Jackrabbit Athletic Scholarship Auction. Finally, we have again set record highs in both season-ticket sales and Jackrabbit Club donations, including our biggest month ever for the Jackrabbit Club in April (surpassing the previous record by more than $40,000).

The biggest win in all of this, however, is that our student-athletes continue to achieve high marks in the classroom as evidenced by a 3.2 overall GPA. We had 22 of our 90 seniors graduate with a 3.7 GPA or higher. Our student-athletes have embraced their opportunities to get involved with the community and serve as great role models for the Brookings youth.

This is truly what it means to be a Jackrabbit. There are so many other accomplishments we could list as all 21 of our athletic programs are doing great things. We WILL reach higher and we WILL continue to get better, because that is the Jackrabbit way. But for now, let me just say THANK YOU! Thank you to our student-athletes for making it easy to come to work every day and for the effort they put in to achieving academic and athletic greatness. Thank you to our coaches and staff for the endless hours that are put in and for the passion you have for your work.

And thank you to you, our alumni and friends, for the unbelievable support that you show year after year.

Our future is bright because of you. It IS a great time to be a Jackrabbit!

Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.

JUSTIN SELL DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS

VOLUME 18 NO. 1 / SPRING 2013

2 ANGIE GEBHART The honors student and equestrian team member found a way to serve the animal she loves — as an equitarian.

4 SEASON BRINGS PEAK PERFORMANCES Members of the swimming, wrestling and track and field teams all had something to shout about when winter season ended.

12

15

6 GOLF INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY The outdoor sport has become an indoor game thanks to new practice facilities within Frost Arena.

8 “WE HAD A GREAT YEAR” The destination was great, but the journey was equally memorable for the men’s and women’s basketball programs.

12 TYLER MERRIAM The voice of the Jackrabbits was named South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year for 2012, only the third SDSU announcer to gain the honor.

8 “WE HAD A GREAT YEAR”

Expectations were high for the men’s and women’s programs for 2012-13, and neither team disappointed. For the second consecutive year, both squads qualified for the NCAA tournament.

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, Stuart Hughes, Kyle Johnson, Karissa Kuhle, 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 Coach Aaron Johnston holds onto his son, Dylan, 20 months, as the women’s program celebrates its fifth consecutive Summit League tournament championship. The Jacks beat the University of South Dakota at the Sioux Falls Arena March 12.

Coach Scott Nagy, fourth from left, rallies his team around The Summit League banner after the Jacks knocked off North Dakota State for the conference tournament crown in the nightcap March 12. See story Page 8.

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.

2,000 copies printed by the SDSU Athletic Department at no cost to the State of South Dakota. PE069 5/13

14 COACH SPOTLIGHT Wrestling mentor Chris Bono grappled with the best in the world during his 31-year career, which began at age 5.

15 COMMUNITY SERVICE It’s not seen by the average fan, but community service forms an important leg on the stool of the SDSU athletic program.

16 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE FEATURE Tera Potts has made a name for herself on the SDSU all-time performance chart, but the distance runner’s 4.0 grade point average shows that studies and career aren’t being neglected.

17 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? These days softball means slow-pitch co-rec games, but twins Brooke and Brittany Postma haven’t forgotten their days at SDSU. 18 SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT The Showdown Series between SDSU and USD has found a fitting sponsor in the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council.

19 DONOR SPOTLIGHT Former Jackrabbit athletes Scott and Kris (DeRuyck) Munger give back to their alma mater through sponsoring scholarships and donating to projects.

“Veterinarians, students and horse lovers alike want to improve the wellbeing of horses, donkeys and mules who are down on their luck. Whose heart doesn’t break when you see the long ears and humble attitude of a downtrodden donkey?” — angie gebhart

Angie Gebhart

Former Jackrabbit seeks to improve health care of horses

H

orses have been a big part of Angie Gebhart’s young life.

The chronology for the 2012 SDSU graduate tells the tale: • Showed in both the 4-H Western and English divisions in middle school and high school, and was a member of the national champion 4-H Horsebowl team.

• A four-year letter winner on the SDSU equestrian team, earning the team spirit award as a freshman, and in 2011 became the only rider in program history to earn AllAmerican honors.

• The Spanish degree and equine minor recipient is currently living an equitarian life, which means a person immersed in the health care of horses.

“I’m just crazy about horses and want to do whatever I can to help educate people in caring for their horses,” says Gebhart, a high school and middle school Spanish teacher in Waconia, Minn.

2

RABBIT TRACKS

Her introduction to equitarian work was October 2010. Needing an internship as required in the equine minor, she signed up to accompany veterinarians for a one-week stay in Veracruz, Mexico, under the umbrella of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

Their mission was educational in nature with the veterinarians helping the locals in providing better equine care to the animals and training to their owners.

Gebhart served as an interpreter for the vets at the sites where horses were being tested. She also met with owners to discuss any horse-related issues that they were experiencing.

Life-changing time “The days were long and the week went by fast,” says Gebhart, who came back from Mexico completely invigorated and focused on what she wanted to do next.

“It was my eureka moment. I realized what I wanted to do with my life,” says Gebhart, whose experience in Mexico evolved into what she terms the equitarian initiative.

“Veterinarians, students and horse lovers alike want to improve the wellbeing of horses, donkeys and mules who are down on their luck,” she says.

“Whose heart doesn’t break when you see the long ears and humble attitude of a downtrodden donkey?”

The Maple Grove, Minn., native points out that equitarian initiatives not only provide specialized aid from vets, they have also become humanitarian projects by nature because the initiative combines aspects of education, community empowerment and cultural exchanges to help people whose livelihoods depend on the animals.

“These animals are the farm trucks and school buses in many areas,” says Gebhart. “That’s why this initiative has become so near and dear to me.”

ANGIE GEBHART Gebhart, who earned All-America honors from the National Collegiate Equestrian Association as a senior, went to Mexico knowing she had the full support of her Jackrabbit coaches and teammates.

“The ability to share my experience with them was reassurance that what I was doing was interesting and making a difference,” she says. “The belief my coaches and close friends on the equestrian team had in me to begin with was probably a large part of what made me apply to go on these veterinarian-only trips.

“This may sound obvious, but being on the team was a great way to learn teamwork and a little humility, which definitely came in handy when working with large groups of people in unpredictable situations in a foreign country.”

Honors College project Gebhart was an Honors College student. Consequently, she needed an honors research project as a graduation requirement.

Gebhart met with assistant professor Rebecca Bott, an equine specialist in the department of animal science, and Honors College Dean Tim Nichols, to discuss the idea of bringing the equitarian initiative to South Dakota.

She decided to use previous contacts with the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in Ziebach County, which, according to state census data, is the fourth poorest county in the nation based on per capita income.

“That was my independent research project,” says Gebhart, who with Bott received funding through the Honors College to survey all the

equine practitioners in the state to get their perspective on health care for reservation horses.

Gebhart and Bott then traveled to the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation to conduct a health-care and needs assessment on 300 horses in June 2011.

According to Bott, their five-day stay on the reservation was a success, especially due to Gebhart’s work prior to the trip.

“Angie was tremendous in taking the initiative to make all the necessary contacts and get in touch with the people we needed to visit,” she says.

“She learned that we needed tribal council approval so we went down there and spoke and answered their questions.

“One of the main things on reservations is that there’s not always a veterinarian nearby to offer services for horse care due to long distances, so that’s an on-going challenge they are facing.”

More equine training In October 2011 Gebhart and Bott returned to Mexico for a week to gather more ideas on equine care. They talked with people and surveyed community leaders, while assisting veterinarians with surgeries and dentistry on horses.

When they were at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in summer

2011, one of the prominent needs identified was hoof care.

From that information they put together a farrier apprenticeship educational program for the Pine Ridge Reservation, which was supported by a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Grant awarded to Shawn Burke of SDSU Extension.

In June 2012 they traveled to Pine Ridge with farrier instructors Mike Olson and Brooks Varnum. The two men taught a farrier apprenticeship course to individuals selected from an application process.

In addition to farrier training, Gebhart assisted in hosting workshops and discussions on equine nutrition and health to the general public as well as talks on vaccinations and caring for horses.

After excelling in 4-H shows to starring with the Jackrabbits, Gebhart has come far, spreading her equitarian educational message to make a difference.

Gebhart keeps a scrapbook of all her experiences, which dates back to her SDSU days—a memorable time as she labels it.

“The best memories in college I have are from traveling with my teammates to new places and getting to experience riding horses across the country,” she says. “I miss it every day.

“I feel so fortunate to have had the training, experience and memories because of the equestrian team. I learned a great deal about responsibility, networking contacts, self-confidence and the ability to persevere. Those are all character traits that I carry today in my equitarian work.”

KYLE JOHNSON

Opposite page: Angie Gebhart says “I’m just crazy about horses and want to do whatever I can to help educate people in caring for their horses.”

Here the 2012 SDSU graduate and four-year letter winner on the Jackrabbit equestrian team stands with her favorite animals on the Cheyenne River Reservation in summer 2012. Above: Assistant Professor Rebecca Bott, standing far right, of the department of animal science, works with farrier apprenticeship instructors and students on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Angie Gebhart and Bott developed the farrier apprenticeship educational program in summer 2012.

SPRING 2013

3

Season brings peak performances

I

n Brookings, the improbable happens every season.

Two years after announcing their departure from Division II, State was compiling a lopsided record and public opinion weighed heavily against remaining in a division deemed too tough. Some said SDSU was in the big leagues and striking out.

Closing the books on the 2012-2013 season, those years have been largely forgotten. SDSU has redefined normal; building athletes from regionally to nationally ranked competitors and fielding conference dominant programs.

Shattering Records Swimming and diving head coach Brad Erickson has been at State since the D-II years. In 1974, Erickson became the first swimmer from SDSU to compete at the NCAA Division II championships and under his coaching, athletes have now reached the Division I championship level.

The men placed second in The Summit League Championships for the 4

RABBIT TRACKS

second year in a row and the women finished fourth. The athletes broke 17 school records on top of breaking 32 records last season.

“This season has been one of our best ever. There’s always next year and the year after that,” says Erickson. “But I’ll take 17 new records any year.”

The Jacks finished undefeated in dual meets, but Erickson says there is always room to be better.

Led in performance by seniors Shea Patrick and Kyle Ochsner, they attribute the team’s continuous improvement to recruiting and hard work in the weight room and the pool.

“When I joined the team as a freshman in 2009, we were so far behind where we are today,” says Patrick. “Our coaches have done a great job recruiting, and as a team we’ve worked extremely hard to keep getting better.”

For the women, Kaylin Caron will enter her senior year holding six school records, all set during the Summit League Championships. Caron says

she hopes her work ethic and positive leadership will help earn the Jacks a swimming title.

“It’s my senior year, and through my time on the team I’ve found it’s really all about building a strong support system for each other,” says Caron. “I try to lead by setting an example and doing the right things.”

Living the wrestling lifestyle Under head coach Chris Bono, the wrestling program was led by allconference wrestler Cody Pack. Pack grew up on the mat; at 3 years old his father was still a competing collegiate wrestler.

“I was still wrestling when I had Cody,” says father Terry Pack.

“I’d bring him to my meets and his babysitters were the coaches, the cheerleaders and the wrestlers,” At the age of 4, Pack began training under his father, who brought him up to be a national competitor, winning two California state championships and joining the junior Fila world team. After

SEASON BRINGS PEAK PERFORMANCES Pack signed with SDSU, his younger sister and father moved to Beresford to start the Legends of Gold club and be closer to Pack.

“We moved to be closer to Cody,” says Terry. “In the summer he trains with other collegiate wrestlers and runs youth camps at our gym.”

Pack grappled his way to the NCAA championships at 157 pounds, punching his ticket with an upset of Wyoming’s second-seeded Andy McCulley at the NCAA West Regional meet. In the first round of the tournament, Pack fell to Virginia’s Jedd Moore and then lost in the consolation match.

Though the ending was a frustration for Pack, says father Terry, it was also a success for the young wrestler. His father was the first person to greet Pack after the loss. Terry says it was to offer congratulations rather than a critique.

“I’ve been his coach all through high school. This gave me a chance to be his dad,” says Terry. “When he came off the mat, I just got to be his dad.”

Coach Bono says to expect more Jackrabbits on the mat next March.

Bono took over the team at the end of last season. An NCAA champion himself from Iowa State in the 150-pound weight class, he says the wrestling lifestyle is key to winning on the mat.

“The wrestling lifestyle means there’s no offseason,” says Bono. “Every day, athletes have to bring energy, enthusiasm and discipline with them onto the mat.”

Bono says he plans to redshirt all incoming freshman next year and focus on recruiting and training his incoming athletes to a nationally competitive level.

DeHaven. “He doesn’t mind leading races or pushing the pace.

DeHaven says Lusignan’s toughness will push him to train to a nationally competitive level.

Lusignan says he is currently running more than 95 miles each week and hopes to increase that to 110 miles.

Senior Tera Potts placed second in the mile for the women.

DeHaven says his team is eager to climb to the top of the conference rankings.

“This season was characterized by a team that was very young,” says DeHaven. “We have a lot of talent and ended indoor with a solid season to build on.”

DeHaven says the team is looking forward to building their team as SDSU’s indoor practice facility breaks ground in the coming year.

“The facility will have a significant impact on our program as soon as the shovel is put into the ground,” says DeHaven.

“It should be a catalyst for improvement in our program to draw in recruits and give our team a rally flag.”

Since completing the transition to Division I athletics in 2009, the Jackrabbits have fought their way to the top of the Summit League.

With teams posting new all-time highs every year, fans and alumni can expect to see more yellow and blue at the top of the NCAA rankings.

STUART HUGHES

Track enters outdoor season Sophomore distance runner Trent Lusignan is entering the outdoor season as a champion. At the Summit League Championships, Lusignan took the high podium in the 5,000 meter race and placed second in the 3,000 meter race.

His coach said Lusignan’s personality makes him a fierce competitor.

“The best way to describe Trent is hard-nosed,” says track coach Rod

Opposite page: Cody Pack, top, struggles to put a University of Northern Colorado wrestler on his back in their 157-pound match at the Feb. 8 dual at Frost Arena. Pack ended up being pinned.

However, at the West Regionals he placed second and qualified for the NCAA tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. Top: Trent Lusignan (3) passes the Western Illinois runner while putting distance between himself and Brant Haase of the University of South Dakota in The Summit League indoor 5,000-meter run Feb. 25 at Vermillion. Lusignan won in 14:33.69 to lead the men to a fourth-place finish at the conference meet. Above: Shea Patrick, shown in an Oct. 5, 2012, intrasquad meet at Frost Arena, recorded a personal best of 2:03.67 in placing third in the 200-yard breaststroke at The Summit League Championships in Rochester, Mich., Feb. 23. He also was third in the 100-yard breaststroke and was part of the third-place 400-yard medley relay. The Jacks finished second overall.

SPRING 2013

5

INDOOR GOLF FACILITY

From left: Morgan Fitts and Hudson Carpenter practice putting on the indoor green, which is part of a 48-by-26-foot practice space that had been racquetball courts at Frost Arena.

Indoor golf facility

Golf indoor practice facility allows for yearlong training

S

outh Dakota State University now houses a golfer’s dream practice facility, with the exception of an actual golf course, of course.

With financial help from donors, former and current parents of the players, alumni and friends of the program, Jackrabbit golfers now have an indoor practice space to call their own.

Before the indoor facility was available, golfers lacked an area to practice offseason. With the new facility, SDSU golfers are no longer forced to take two months off from the game, or drive to Sioux Falls to use practice facilities during the winter months — they have their very own 48-by-26-foot practice space in the southern part of Frost Arena in the old racquetball courts.

“At any given time we have two to three people practicing in the room, but we can comfortably have four to six working in there,” says golf coach Jared Baszler. “Realistically, we can have 10 practicing in there, but the more people, the more congested it gets.”

The $62,000 practice facility was completed in March 2013, with more than two years of planning and fundraising behind it.

“The indoor practice area is as close as it gets to the real thing when you can’t play outside,” says Brian Wynia, a senior men’s golfer from Sioux Falls. “We’ve already made improvements from the fall season and I truly believe the 6

RABBIT TRACKS

facility has been the strongest motivator and inspiration for our program.”

Planning and progress of the facility was split into two phases.

Phase one Phase one began in December 2012 with the removal of a wall between the two racquetball courts. Next, a storage area was built within the women’s locker room to hold sports medicine supplies that were stored in the racquetball areas.

The next step was the construction of a 900-square-foot Synlawn artificial putting green and chipping area, and the installation of a large tee shot practice net, which happened in early January.

The green features artificial grass that can be adjusted to multiple heights to mock outdoor golf greens. Two inches of foam padding was installed underneath the artificial grass to replicate the spin and bounce a golf ball acquires outdoors.

“My short game is definitely more sharp coming out of the gates this spring,” says Greg Fehrman, a senior men’s golfer from Rothschild, Wis. “I can practice basically every shot you can imagine.”

Both the men and women’s teams agreed the new facility was a vital component to keep their game on track during the offseason.

“I use the facility about seven times a week,” says Morgan

INDOOR GOLF FACILITY “We can work on our short game or work with certain clubs we are struggling with. I’m staying loose between tournaments and not getting away from the golf scene just because there’s snow on the ground; it’s really helped my game.” — Morgan Fitts Fitts, a senior women’s golfer from Brookings. “We can work on our short game or work with certain clubs we are struggling with. I’m staying loose between tournaments and not getting away from the golf scene just because there’s snow on the ground; it’s really helped my game.”

Phase two Phase two included purchasing a $32,000 high-performance Foresight Sports launch monitor and simulator. The original plan allowed for two years to fundraise for the simulator, but fundraising efforts exceeded expectations, and the simulator was installed in early March.

The digital simulator allows golfers to play a round of golf based on the launch monitor analyzing the flight of the golf ball in just its first few feet. “It’s basically like a video game,” says Baszler. “And it’s very accurate. It shows if you hit bad shots, and shows if you hit good shots.” Golfers can choose from an array of courses to play, and have the option of using the virtual driving range.

“The new simulator stores data to help us figure out what we need to fix with our swings,” says Fitts. “My favorite part is playing all the different golf courses with my teammates on the simulator. It helps keep me competitive between tournaments, and makes practice interesting.”

A portable box inside the simulator called a launch monitor can be used indoors or outdoors and stores each

player’s personal practicing data for future evaluation. The launch monitor records statistics including swing speed, launch angle, spin rate and more, and compares each player’s statistics to PGA and LPGA Tour averages.

“I can virtually go whenever I would like to play a course such as Firestone in Akron, Ohio, and play a full round of golf in about an hour,” says Fehrman. “It’s very common for my roommate, Hudson Carpenter, and I to go in at 9 p.m. and have a friendly competition on the virtual course. I have no doubt that this will help our golf program improve year in and year out.”

A keypad entry system allows golfers to access the indoor practice facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. SDSU golf team members are able to practice their game whenever they feel like playing a round.

Once the Indoor Practice and Human Performance Center is complete, golfers will have another indoor space to practice their game. Players will be able to hit 60- to 80-yard shots as an entire team into a large netting system in the new performance facility.

“I think all the guys and girls have a higher level of commitment and a stronger will to practice because of the new practice facility,” says Hudson Carpenter, a junior men’s golfer from Stillwater, Minn. “It will also help tremendously in regards to recruiting.”

KARISSA KUHLE

Lukas Davison tees off on the virtual driving range, which uses a $32,000 high-performance Foresight Sports launch monitor and simulator.

SPRING 2013

7

WE HAD A GREAT YEAR

“We had a great year” Records fall as men’s, women’s teams repeat history

B

asketball achievements at SDSU? The short list of major milestones during the 2012-13 season includes:

• Men’s and women’s basketball teams both return to the NCAA Tournament.

• Aaron Johnston becomes the all-time leader in coaching wins for women’s basketball.

• Nate Wolters rewrites the basketball record book.

They serve as yet another chapter in Jackrabbit sports lore and talking points for years to come.

Home streaking The SDSU men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the second straight year after defending its Summit League Tournament championship.

The Jackrabbits fell to Michigan in the second round to finish 25-10 — pushing Scott Nagy’s career-leading head coaching record to 341-208 in 18 years at the SDSU helm. He also directed the Jacks to their first Summit League regular-season crown with a 13-3 mark.

“When expectations are high and you meet those expectations, some people might feel like that’s just an average year but we had a great year,” says Nagy, whose program enters the 2013-14 season with 30 consecutive wins in Frost Arena for the longest home winning streak in Division I. The streak is an SDSU and Summit League record.

“We won 25 games and when you consider they were against probably the best competition that we’ve ever had, particularly the nonconference games, I would rate it as one of the best seasons ever in the history of South Dakota State basketball.”

The Jacks’ wins included one over New Mexico on the road in December. At the time the undefeated Lobos were the 16th ranked team in the country. It marked SDSU’s first win against a ranked team in the Division I era and the Summit League’s only win over

8

RABBIT TRACKS

Above: A number to remember. Nate Wolters wore No. 3 during his four-year Jackrabbit career, during which he became the school’s leading scorer and rebounder as well as being selected to The Associated Press third-team All-America team. Right: Jordan Dykstra (42), a 6-8 forward from Rock Valley, Iowa, returns to lead the 2013-14 Jackrabbits after being selected as second-team All-Summit League. Ashley Eide (30) earned first-team All-Summit League honors and finished her career with 1,095 points in leading the Jacks to the NCAA tournament.

WE HAD A GREAT YEAR

a ranked team this season.

After defeating SDSU, Michigan kept on winning before falling to Louisville in the national championship game.

“That’s good for us,” remarks Nagy. “It tells you how good a basketball team they had and it tells our players that we aren’t very far away.”

SDSU was led throughout the year by senior Nate Wolters, who was named Summit League Player of the Year after topping the league with 23.9 points per game. Junior Jordan Dykstra earned second-team Summit League honors and senior Tony Fiegen was named honorable mention.

Dykstra led the Jacks with 7.9 rebounds per game and he averaged 12.5 points — second to Wolters’ 22.3. Fiegen was the team’s best field goal shooter, hitting 56 percent of his attempts, while ranking third in rebounds (5.4) and points (10.2). Fiegen and Wolters ended their careers with a school-record 128 games played apiece.

SDSU had the most representatives on the Summit League all-academic team with two: Dykstra and junior Brayden Carlson, who averaged 9.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per outing.

One for the ages The statistical bars have been raised significantly following the four stellar seasons that Wolters put in.

The 6-foot-4 guard from St. Cloud, Minn., became just the third player in NCAA Division I history to register at least 2,000 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists in a career. His legendary numbers show a school-record 2,363 points, a school-record 669 assists and 602 rebounds.

His point production erased Mark Tetzlaff’s total of 1,931 — a mark that stood for 28 years. Brian Norberg held the previous assist record with 605 from 1996-99.

Wolters became the first player since the NCAA began keeping assists as an official statistic in 1983-84 to average 20 points (22.3), five assists (5.8) and five rebounds (5.6) in two separate seasons.

Recognizing his accomplishments, Wolters earned Associated Press thirdteam All-America honors — the highest honor by a Jackrabbit at the Division I level. His season point average ranked fourth nationally and his assist average was 21st in the country.

In a win at Fort Wayne Feb. 7,

Wolters notched a school-record 53 points for the highest scoring output in Division I this season. The performance eclipsed the 44 points Dave Thomas set against Coe College in 1973. In the Fort Wayne game, Wolters drained nine three-point field goals, breaking the record of eight held by Randy Suarez in 1987 and Jason Sempsrott in 1996.

For the scoring outburst, Wolters earned three national player of the week awards: ESPN Player of the Week, Lute Olson National Player of the Week and the ESPN Capital One Impact Performer of the Week.

“From the standpoint of statistics, from the standpoint of how successful our team has been and from the standpoint that the competition is the best that SDSU has ever had, there is nobody who would dispute that Nate is the best to ever play at South Dakota State,” cites Nagy.

“I would like to find out how many Division I schools have their all-time leading scorer also be their all-time leading assist person? I bet you couldn’t find a handful out of all the Division I schools in the country.

“There are two areas in which Nate gets overlooked. He is a tremendous SPRING 2013

9

WE HAD A GREAT YEAR rebounder for a guard and he is very good on defense. We relied on him so much for offense and handling the basketball all the time, but people really got a good view of what he can do defensively.

“Players like him, in terms of his capabilities and what he did for our team, are just not out there all the time.”

The Summit League named Wolters its player of the week a league-record seven times, giving him 15 weekly honors for his career, which ties the all-time league mark. He also earned the league’s male athlete of the month twice.

When the U.S. Basketball Writers Association released its men’s alldistrict teams, Wolters made the district six squad for the third straight year — becoming the first Summit League player to earn all-district honors three times.

Indeed, Wolters was in the national spotlight and he was recognized for his many accomplishments.

He was a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I. It’s named in honor of Lou Henson, who ranks sixth in career Division I coaching wins with 779, following his retirement in 2005 after long tenures at Illinois and New Mexico State.

In February, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame released the 12 finalists for the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, and again, Wolters was on that list, too.

The annual honor is named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtics great Bob Cousy.

March produced a trio of awards.

First, Wolters was one of 20 players named to the Lute Olson All-America team. That was followed by his selection to the National Associate of Basketball Coaches All-District 12 first team.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches then announced its All-America teams and Wolters was named to the third team. He becomes just the second player in Summit League history to garner National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America status since 1997-98.

10

RABBIT TRACKS

Make that five trips Name the only basketball program in NCAA history, men or women, to advance to the NCAA Tournament in its first five years of Division I eligibility?

Answer: SDSU women’s basketball.

Yes, the Jackrabbits did so by claiming their fifth consecutive Summit League Tournament championship.

Although SDSU fell to South Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, it was another high-quality season with a 25-8 record, including the Summit League regular-season crown with a 14-2 slate.

“We won 25 games and only 40 other teams in the country out of 340 were able to accomplish that so that’s pretty unique in itself,” says head coach Aaron Johnston. “I wish we had played better in the post-season, but that doesn’t take away from what we did during the year.”

Two Jacks earned first-team allSummit League honors in senior Ashley Eide and sophomore Megan Waytashek.

Senior Katie Lingle was recognized as the Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year. Eide and Waytashek were also named to the academic all-Summit League team.

Eide, who reached the 1,000 career point club, paced SDSU with 14.0 points per game. Waytashek owned the team’s best scoring average in league play at 15.7. Twice she posted 30 or more points in a game, including a Jackrabbit Division I era best 33 against Kansas City. Lingle hit a team-best 49.5 percent from the field, while ranking third in rebounds with 8.7.

“Our players once again did a great job in the classroom,” cites Johnston.

“Off the court, too, they were really involved in the community doing community-service projects that impacted the people here.”

Always a winner Nancy Neiber didn’t have to think twice when hiring Aaron Johnston as her assistant women’s basketball coach.

“Aaron was my choice even though he was very young,” recalls Neiber. “I had lots of faith in him. His work ethic, knowledge and passion for the game are very impressive.”

Neiber stepped down as head coach late in the 1999-2000 season as the all-time leader in wins with a 301-140 record and five NCAA tournament appearances in 16 seasons.

Johnston served on an interim basis and finished with a 4-2 record. He was officially named head coach in summer 2000 and the wins have been piling up ever since. In a victory over Oakland Jan. 10, Johnston overtook Neiber’s mark and by season’s end, his career slate read 315-107.

The first to applaud the milestone was the person he passed. “I’m very proud of Aaron and what he has accomplished,” says Neiber. “He does an exceptional job of teaching life’s lessons that are so much a part of being a student-athlete. Those teachable moments are why our women’s program has been extremely successful.

“Aaron and his staff do a wonderful job developing our student-athletes from freshmen to seniors. Their growth and improvement is amazing from year

WE HAD A GREAT YEAR to year. Our student-athletes buy into his system, understand their roles and become champions.”

The players can testify to that, just ask senior Leah Dietel. “Coach Johnston is very passionate and knowledgeable about the game,” she says. “He really knows how to get the most out of his players and is able to instill a passion for the game in them.

“I’m thankful to have been able to play under a coach who is able to get his team to play at a competitive level with such a high intensity.”

Johnston, who has never had a losing season, is a three-time Summit League Coach of the Year and twice was voted Division I Independent Coach of the

Year. In 2003, he was named Molten/ Women’s Division II Bulletin National Coach of the Year after leading SDSU to the national championship.

For Johnston, it’s been like Act 2 when expressing his thoughts on passing Neiber.

“I think what we’ve done has just been an extension of where Nancy brought the program,” he says. “When Nancy came in women’s athletics was looked at completely different.

Compared to what we have now, she had to work a lot harder. She will always be looked at as the person who really got women’s basketball moving in the right direction.”

KYLE JOHNSON

Opposite page: In her first full season as a starter, Megan Waytashek (24) gained first-team AllSummit League honors. Clockwise from upper right: Senior Katie Lingle (42) earned the Sixth Woman of the Year award from the Summit League. She only started three of 32 games, but averaged 19 minutes per game, tops among reserves, and was second on the team in rebounds and third in scoring. Tony Fiegen (34), a 6-7 forward from Madison, wrapped up a career that saw him play in 128 games, which matches Nate Wolters for the school record. He also earned honorable mention all-conference honors while scoring 10.2 points per game. Coach Aaron Johnston expanded his footprint on the SDSU women’s program when he became the all-time leader in victories with 315 in 13-plus seasons. He coached the last six games of the 1999-2000 season after the previous record holder, Nancy Neiber, stepped down.

SPRING 2013

11

JACKRABBIT BROADCASTER

Jackrabbit

broadcaster

“I used to sit in my basement and do games in front of the television.

Turn the sound down and broadcast to nobody.”

— Tyler Merriam

Merriam masters craft at young age

A

s Tyler Merriam marked his fifth year as voice of the Jackrabbits, the Pierre native was named South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year for 2012.

Compared to his predecessors who have won the award — Norm Hilson and Steve Imming — Merriam is still a pup. He just turned 28 on April 30.

Merriam freely declares, “Give me another 15 years and then we can talk about if I belong in their category.”

But the 2007 journalism graduate is no neophyte to the broadcasting business. In a sense, he’s been at it all his life.

Merriam says, “My parents (Rick and Gloria) are very outgoing, very sports oriented. It (broadcasting) was something I wanted to do at a very young age and the more I did it, the more I wanted to do it and the better I wanted to be at it.

“I used to sit in my basement and do games in front of the television. Turn the sound down and broadcast to nobody.”

That’s certainly not the case now.

Eight South Dakota radio stations carry Jackrabbit football while men’s basketball is on five stations. WNAX, a 5,000-watt station in Yankton that covers much of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota, carries both sports.

12

RABBIT TRACKS

In addition, the weekly television program “Jackrabbit Insider” can be viewed in 4 million homes weekly, helped in large part by Fox Sports North.

More than game broadcasts “Jackrabbit Insider” is hosted and produced by Merriam, whose official title is coordinator of broadcasting services for the SDSU Athletic Department. The show is one of many duties for Merriam in addition to announcing scores and statistics.

Merriam explains, “Any video that goes on the (athletic department) web (site) usually comes through my office.”

He also has been archiving SDSU game videos back to the late 1970s.

“When I first started, we had virtually no archive. We got access to the archive videos from Sioux Falls television stations and converted coaches’ films to video,” he says.

In addition, Merriam is asked to produce recruiting and ticket marketing videos.

On Monday evenings, Merriam hosts a coaches’ show that is carried on the radio network. Also, a three-minute daily update is sent out on the radio network. “Every day we’re getting out the message of SDSU athletics,” Merriam says.

At this point, Merriam handles all the work. The crew at Yeager Media Center shoots the video.

More video foreseen Those are all duties that Hilson and Imming didn’t have when they were the voice of the Jackrabbits. Those men worked for WNAX. Merriam is an employee of the athletic department. He foresees continued growth in his area “because video content on the Internet is only going to continue to grow.

“Fans want more online video and content. I’m happy to say Justin and Leon Costello have that same vision.”

Athletic Director Justin Sell and Costello, senior associate athletic director, came to SDSU within a year of each other from Northern Iowa. Sell, now in his fourth year at State, wanted to start a television show. Merriam was in the right place at the right time.

‘I’m incredibly lucky’ While the joke is that Merriam’s post as coordinator of broadcasting services needs to have the office name abbreviated, he is a humble man.

“I’m incredibly lucky,” he often repeats. “My first break here, Ron got me in the SID office.”

As a college student, Merriam was working part time at a Brookings radio

JACKRABBIT BROADCASTER

Tyler Merriam, shown on the set of Jackrabbit Insider, has been the voice of the Jackrabbits for five years. In that time he helped establish SDSU’s video and Internet presence as well as gained an honor for himself — he was named 2012 South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year.

station and helping Sports Information Director Ron Lenz. Merriam’s next break came when Scotty Kwasniewski decided to switch careers and end his stint as broadcaster of SDSU women’s basketball after the 2007-08 season.

Not long after launching “Jackrabbit Insider,” Imming announced he was retiring from sports broadcasting.

“My timing was right. It’s like hitting a home run in consecutive at bats,” says Merriam.

A willingness to play explains why Merriam got a chance to join the team, but it doesn’t explain why he was voted South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year by his peers. He attributes a lot of that to the network’s coverage — “we’re everywhere,” he says.

be the last time he earns the award,” Imming says.

The award will be presented to Merriam at the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association banquet June 10 in Salisbury, N.C. It will serve as an anniversary trip for Merriam, who married Jill Bickett, a nurse who is originally from Madison, on June 30, 2012. “The summers are our time,” says Merriam, who agrees that his broadcasting duties leave few hours for free time during the school year.

But Merriam doesn’t complain about being in demand. “I’m in a really good spot right now,” he says.

‘In a really good spot’

Of course, it helps that the teams he is broadcasting have been successful.

“I’ve been to five NCAA tournaments — three women and two men — and covered two football playoff teams. I’ve gotten to know people from ESPN and CBS. “You get to cover winning teams with a great fan base,” Merriam says of his voice of the Jackrabbits gig.

Part of that fan base is Kristi Carlson, of Brookings, who relies on Merriam to deliver away football games as well as some basketball games. She says

Imming, who worked with Merriam for two years doing football and men’s basketball games, agrees to an extent.

“Tyler’s hard work on a plateful of duties, including weekly television and radio programs for Jackrabbit athletics, has drawn more and more attention around the state. Also, play-by-play of Jackrabbit football and basketball also reaches across the state.

“More and more people have become aware of the great job he does. With his talent and dedication, this shouldn’t

Great teams, great fans = great job

Merriam is “always excited. He makes you feel like you’re at the game, even if you can’t be there.

“He’s accurate and his passion for what he is talking about always come through on the radio shows.”

Understanding the job That’s part of Merriam’s definition for what makes a good announcer.

“It’s someone who can convey the emotions, the energy, the facts and be entertaining all at once. You need to be able to be loud at a big moment, but not so over the top that you can’t be understood.”

That said, Merriam adds, “It’s hard to make an exciting game boring and it’s hard to make a boring game exciting.

As we all know, there are a lot of games that aren’t interesting. You have a 25-point game with seven minutes left.

You’ve got to make it entertaining and that’s not always easy.

“You’ve got to know when to insert stories and anecdotes.”

After a trip to the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters banquet, where national winners are NBC’s Dan Patrick and Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, Merriam should be well-equipped to ease listeners through next season’s blowouts.

DAVE GRAVES SPRING 2012

13

COACH SPOTLIGHT

CHRISBONO

Bono battled the best in 31-year career

T

oday, Jackrabbit wrestling coach Chris Bono proudly wears the SDSU colors of yellow and blue.

But in his 31-year career on the mat, the first-year coach at State says he is most proud of the matches in which he wore the red, white and blue of the United States.

After a collegiate career at national powerhouse Iowa State that saw Bono win 130 matches, including the 150-pound national title in 1996, Bono began a 13-year post-collegiate career that often found him wrestling against international competition.

“You’re over there as a country. You’re wrestling a Russian, an Iranian. You want to win for your country,” he says.

Competing in freestyle competition at 66 kilograms (145.5 pounds), he won consecutive World Team Trials in 2001 and 2002, was on the World Team again in 2005, and in 2003 won the Cup of Independence in Uzbekistan March 4 and the World Cup in Boise, Idaho, April 6.

An international achievement Bono says his most satisfying international win came a year later at the Olympic Qualifier in Slovakia.

The U.S. team member at 66 kilograms had failed to qualify in international competition for the Olympics. So USA Wrestling selected Bono to go to the January 2004 Olympic Qualifier. If he didn’t place, the United States wouldn’t be allowed to enter a wrestler at that weight in the Olympics.

In the quarterfinals at the qualifier, Bono beat Alireza Dabir of Iran, the gold medalist at the 1998 World Championships and the 2000 Olympics. Bono went on to place third, which allowed the U.S. to hold Olympic Trails at that weight.

Matched against McIlravy Bono’s closest bid to make the Olympics came in 2000, when former Philip High School wrestler Lincoln McIlravy beat him 3-0, 4-0. It was one of many defeats McIlravy dealt Bono in his career, beginning at junior nationals when they were teens.

In 2000, McIlravey won the bronze medal at 69 kilograms (152.1) pounds) and was the 1999 World Championships silver medalist.

McIlravey wrestled collegiately at the University of Iowa, where he won national titles at 142 pounds (1993, ’94) and 150 pounds (1997). His 150-pound title was a 5-3 overtime decision against Bono, a match the SDSU coach considers one of his greatest disappointments.

Bono won the title in 1996, when McIlravy took a redshirt year to train for the Olympics.

Chris Bono (top) battles to control Charlie Becks, of Ohio State, in their 150-pound title match in the 1996 NCAA tournament. Bono, of Iowa State, won 6-3 and finished as runner-up in 1997.

The 1997 match was an epic, pitting the Iowa and Iowa State rivals against each other for the third time that season.

McIlray scored a takedown eight seconds into the match.

Bono escaped a minute into the match. Bono escaped again early in the second period to tie the match at 2. It remained 2-2 entering the third period.

McIlravy took a 3-2 lead by escaping 15 seconds into the period, but with 18 seconds left a stalling call gave Bono a point.

“In overtime, I could tell he was exhausted and I was tired.

We had a scramble early and then came back to the middle. I gave up an easy takedown to lose the match” 32 seconds into overtime, says Bono, whose career mark at ISU was 130-35.

More than half of his losses came in his freshman year, when he went 15-18 and barely made the NCAA tournament.

At the time of his graduation, those 130 wins ranked second in program history. They still rank fifth. Bono considers his 150-pound title his most satisfying win. “To be an NCAA champion — that was the ultimate goal,” Bono says.

Changing career focuses His final match was June 12, 2010, where the 36-year-old finished fourth at the U.S. Nationals at 66 kilograms and didn’t make the World Team Trials. At that time he was on his second stint as an assistant coach at Iowa State. A month later he resigned.

For the next two years he was a salesman for Stryker Corp. in South Carolina, selling products related to arthroscopies and urology. It was in April 2012 that SDSU Athletic Director Justin Sell announced Bono as State’s next head coach.

“I’ve refocused all my energy into these (SDSU) studentathletes.”

DAVE GRAVES

14

RABBIT TRACKS

Athletes give back “They love that they’re competing for their community”

P

eople expect student-athletes to be great in competition, but for SDSU’s student-athletes, this expectation carries over into their off-time as volunteers. SDSU athletics fosters a competitive and volunteering spirit in its athletes who feel a sense of community and a responsibility to give back.

Jennie Sell serves as the academic adviser to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, an athletic volunteer program that connects the roughly 500 student-athletes on campus to volunteer opportunities. She says it’s not hard to get student-athletes involved in the community or on campus.

“The type of athlete who comes to SDSU is already very service-oriented,” says Sell.

The advisory committee meets each month to map out community service projects and outreach possibilities on campus and in the community. Coaches select players to represent their team on the committee, or students volunteer themselves.

“A lot of different people want to be involved so it’s a really varied mix of athletes volunteering for the committee,” says Steph Paluch, one of three committee officers.

All aboard for Project Joy From October to December, the committee organized a holiday charity drive for Project Joy, a Brookingsbased nonprofit dedicated to providing for local families during the holidays.

Student-athletes collected donations individually and as a team, raising $1,470 for Brookings residents in need. Teams were also able to “adopt” 12 families and deliver gifts to those families in person.

Paluch says that her fellow student-athletes recognize the yearround support they receive from

the community and try to give back whenever possible.

“We are always wanting to say thank you,” says Paluch, a guard on the women’s basketball team. “We’ve been given sports as a platform and try to use it to help out our community.”

Each university had the opportunity to create a YouTube video and the school with the most likes won an additional 2,002 pounds of food. SDSU rallied to pass North Dakota State University to win both competitions.

Food Fight champions

Volunteering adds to a collegiate student-athlete’s already substantial commitments. Student-athletes are constantly balancing school, sports, and a private life. Committee officer and football standout Zach Zenner says volunteering is more recreation than perspiration.

“It’s really rewarding and, honestly, most of the volunteering is just fun,” says Zenner.

Zenner says his favorite volunteer opportunities have been reading to students at a Brookings elementary school and shopping for toys to deliver to Project Joy during the Christmas season.

“We got to go to Walmart and literally pull almost everything off the shelves,” says Zenner. “We ended up donating three or four vans packed with Christmas toys to kids in Brookings.”

Zenner says he would still volunteer if he weren’t a student-athlete, but sports give him and his teammates a conversation starter to reach out to the community.

“Most people don’t recognize any of us as individuals,” says Zenner. “But they recognize the program and for us it’s a great way to establish our program in the community and help out.”

Among major seasonal projects, student-athletes collect food throughout the academic year for the Summit League Food Fight, a conferencewide community service project. Food and financial donations are collected at home games, and the university that raises the most money and food receives the Food Fight trophy.

For the 1,100 families who walk through the doors of the pantry, the competition is much more than a trophy. Amy Lacek directs operations at the pantry. She says when the studentathletes walk in with their donations, Brookings families walk out able to provide nutritious meals for their families.

“The donations make a huge impact in the area,” says Lacek. “Some items we won’t have to order for years because of the athletes.”

Lacek says the donations are crucial given the rapid growth in need for the pantry’s services. Three years ago, the pantry aided 300 families. In 2012, that number more than tripled to 1,100.

Knowing this, says Sell, makes the experience more than a competition for the student-athletes. “The athletes really get involved in the Food Fight,” says Sell. “They love that they’re competing for their community.”

The Jackrabbits won the 2009-10 Food Fight and in 2012-13 collected 22,545 pounds of food at six home basketball games to win again. For the first time, the Summit League introduced a social media aspect to the competition.

‘Volunteering is just fun’

STUART HUGHES Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members Steph Paluch, left, and Zach Zenner pose by a van load of Christmas gifts that committee members purchased in December 2012 for Project Joy. Athletes raised $1,470 in donations to fund the shopping spree to buy gifts for needy Brookings children.

SPRING 2013

15

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Not an average runner

Don’t be fooled by appearances

T

aking a surface glance, Tera Potts can leave the impression that she’s just another one of the 12,583 students at SDSU. There’s nothing flashy or flamboyant about this senior from Sturgis.

But one doesn’t need to spend much time with this 4.0 nursing major and distance runner to know she is anything but average.

“I didn’t have the average college experience, but I had what I would consider my best experience.

“I may have sacrificed some family time. There have been few trips back to Sturgis. But I’ve met my best friends, I’ve met my fiancé,” says Potts, who adds that she isn’t disappointed that she skipped the college party life. “You don’t get in trouble as an athlete. I don’t know if I sacrificed anything.

“I’ve definitely gained more out of athletic experience than I sacrificed to be a part of it.”

Overshadowed at high school Her contributions to the athletic program have been numerous, says coach Rod DeHaven, who remembers recruiting Potts as someone who was overshadowed by teammates at Sturgis.

Potts, a 2009 graduate, fell between University of Oklahoma recruit Jessica Engel ’07 and Mississippi State recruit Madeleine Takahashi ’11.

“She was kind of their other runner,” DeHaven says. “While she had decent times, it was difficult to foresee the success she would have. But that is a testament to her character. She doesn’t go half in on anything.”

That attitude has boosted the program, the coach says.

“All nursing student-athletes have to multitask to be successful. I never heard her say ‘I can’t do this workout because of nursing.’ She always found 16

RABBIT TRACKS

a way to make it happen. I think that rubs off on her teammates as well.

They see someone who is probably busier than them and say ‘What excuse do I have for not doing the work?’”

DeHaven says.

Ranked on SDSU’s all-time chart In outdoor events, Potts set the school mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time 10:34.39 at the Beach Track and Field Invitational in Norwalk, Calif.

Coming into the season, she ranked fourth with a time of 10:50.27. Her 1,500-meter time of 10:33.90 ranks fifth.

In the 2013 indoor season, Potts’ 800-meter time of 2:15.61 ranks eighth overall and her one-mile time of 4:55.02 ranks third.

Potts says that her 4:55 mile at Iowa State “was a huge accomplishment of mine,” but her proudest moment athletically was when she ran a 5:02.89 mile at the Summit League indoor meet in Vermillion.

That’s because her parents and other loved ones were at the DakotaDome to see her second-place finish.

She says her dad, Tim, is “definitely my No.1 fan. My dad didn’t miss more than three meets my entire college career. He flew to Michigan (for the Summit League cross-country championships in October.) He flew to California in April” for the Mt. Sac Relays and the Long Beach State Invite April 19-20.

Close bonds with teammates After gradation, Potts will commute to Sanford in Sioux Falls, where she will be a critical care nurse. Her future husband is in graduate school at State.

Mike Bredeson, a multi-event track athlete who graduated in May 2012, is pursuing a master’s degree in entomology. They will marry June 15 in Brookings. Of her seven bridesmaids, five are teammates. The other two are friends from Sturgis.

Potts cites “every single one of my teammates” for helping her to succeed as a Jackrabbit, but particularly mentions Krista Creager, her roommate, best friend and maid of honor.

Creager’s first memory of Potts was as the outgoing girl at cross-country camp before the start of their freshman season.

During their four years together, she says Potts has been “my absolute best friend and role model.”

Success comes from support Looking back at the challenge of balancing “a really well-respected nursing program and running at a Division I level,” Potts says, “there’s never a day you say, ‘Oh, I really don’t have anything to do today.’ It’s been pretty grueling.”

She says she has found escape in “praising God, going to church with my best friends, and hanging out with friends and family.”

Potts says her success in scholarship and sports is a mix of natural ability, upbringing, coaching, mentoring, drive, motivation and cheerfulness. “I try to be personable so you can make those connections. It’s hard to be successful by yourself.

“The support I’ve had from family, friends and faculty is just incredible.”

DAVE GRAVES

Where are they now?

Postma twins making new memories after unforgettable careers

A

fter four years of memorable travel around the nation with the SDSU softball team, former stars Brooke and Brittany Postma have settled down in South Dakota.

The December 2009 graduates from the College of Engineering are both married and out of competitive softball for the first time since they were young children.

Brittany, the older by two minutes, is now Brittany Green. She teaches middle school math and is founder and co-director of an after-school program in Pierre, where her husband, Paul, is a paramedic.

Brooke Edgar is a civil engineer with Helms and Associates in Aberdeen.

She and her husband, Brock, have two sons, Jace, 2, and Gage, 3 months.

They live on the Edgar family farm at Rockham.

The 26-year-old daughters of Bud and Kelly Postma of Madison traveled extensively when their dad went to national tournaments playing with the Sioux Falls Chiefs softball team.

By their teen years, the twins had traveled the region with their club softball teams.

and Florida. The Georgia tournament included a 3-2 win over Wisconsin, the program’s first win over a major Division I school.

Traveling at DI level

Known for hard work

But their travel memories grew immensely when they became Division I players for the Jackrabbits. Their first tournament stands out for both women. The Jacks traveled to Louisiana State for a weekend tournament in Baton Rouge in midFebruary 2006.

“It was a huge stadium with a couple thousand fans there watching. It was an intimidating atmosphere,” Brittany recalls. However, she also said it was “refreshing to know that level of atmosphere was out there.” And SDSU was competitive, only losing 4-0.

The team then returned to Brookings for three weeks of indoor practice before beginning a spring break swing featuring tournaments in Georgia

In fact, the twins each earned a total of 22 varsity letters at Madison High School in softball, cross-country, gymnastics, power lifting and track and field. In their freshman year at State, they were the only team members to earn the “Iron Jacks” title for their weight room work.

In 2008, Brittany was selected as a National All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete.

That and her selection by her 2009 teammates as the Jackrabbits’ most valuable player are what Brittany considers her proudest achievements at SDSU. Brooke points to the record book — she holds the career stolen base record.

Even bad days memorable Of course, some road trips are well remembered, but not favorably.

Brooke remembers that “my junior or senior year we were playing in Illinois and the whole team got the stomach flu. By the end of the day even the bus driver had the flu. It started out that our coach was puking. A couple teammates were sick so they didn’t play.

“The stomach flu spread through the team like crazy” and more dropped out in the course of the day.

After playing a doubleheader, the team loaded the bus in Macomb to come back to Brookings. “We didn’t even make it home,” Brooke says. “We stopped at a motel in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. We weren’t allowed in the (SDSU) weight room for a couple days after that.”

Being barred from the weight room would be trivial for most who are ill, but the Postmas were hard workers.

Top: The Edgars — Brock holds son Jace (23 months) while Brooke holds son Gage (3 months) at their Rockham home. Mothering and working as a civil engineer has replaced competitive softball in Brooke’s life. Bottom: The Greens — Paul and Brittany live in Pierre, where he is a paramedic and she teaches math. They were next-door neighbors for a few years when they were growing up in Madison.

Brooke, a left fielder, was a threeyear starter and Brittany, a right fielder, was a four-year starter.

Still a Postma at State After receiving her diploma in civil engineering, Brooke went right into graduate school. She earned her master’s degree in civil engineering from State in December 2012. For a little more than a year, she has been a civil engineer with Helms and Associates.

After Brittany earned her diploma in math education, she spent a year helping with the Dakota State softball program. For the last two years, she has taught math and run a federally funded after-school program at a lowincome elementary school in Pierre.

There is still a family connection at State. Brianna, their youngest sister, played softball here as a freshman and is a senior math major.

“I still get to hear all of her math stories and get quick texts asking for help with her homework,” Brittany says.

DAVE GRAVES SPRING 2013

17

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT DE SMET FARM MUTUAL INSURANCE

South Dakota Showdown Series Trophy competition for SDSU, USD about more than wins

T

his traveling trophy isn’t just about wins and losses. It also examines intelligence, humility and service to others.

With those parameters in play, SDSU and the University of South Dakota will annually have bragging rights for the South Dakota Showdown Series trophy.

The year-long athletics and academic competition is being sponsored by the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council.

The showdown series was unveiled for the 2012-13 school year. The trophy, which was created depicting an open corn husk, will be presented to the inaugural winner following the spring sports season.

“We wanted to play a part in bringing this milestone rivalry series to life,” says South Dakota Corn Utilization Council President Chad Blindauer. “Agriculture is South Dakota’s number one industry.

It makes sense to team up with these academic powerhouses.

“We want to tell the story of how we are producing more with less and doing it in an efficient, effective and environmentally sound way. We are proud to serve as the title sponsor for the South Dakota Showdown Series.”

Fits state, mission The series operates on a point system in which each school can earn a maximum of 24 points per year based on head-to-head competition and Summit League championship finishes between the Jackrabbits and Coyotes in 17 men’s and women’s sports.

There is an academic component as well. Each university will be awarded points if their respective athletic programs can collectively maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Studentathletes who are South Dakota natives will be highlighted on the athletic department’s website throughout the 18

RABBIT TRACKS

year based on their performances in academics and athletics.

In addition to focusing on points earned by both schools, promoting values of good sportsmanship and community service will be strongly emphasized among SDSU and USD fans.

“We couldn’t be more excited that the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council is the presenting sponsor of this showdown series traveling trophy,” says SDSU Director of Athletics Justin Sell.

“It fits our state as a land-grant school with an agricultural mission.

“Not only does it highlight our athletic accomplishments, it also showcases the priorities that we place on academics, sportsmanship and community service. That’s what makes this series different from other ones around the country because most are based on winning and losing.”

Recognizing charities Complementing the competition aspect, Feeding South Dakota has been designated as the nonprofit organization that will benefit whenever the two schools meet. Fans attending head-tohead athletic events are encouraged to make a monetary donation to Feeding South Dakota when making concession purchases.

“It’s great to have Feeding South Dakota part of the showdown series because it allows us to recognize charitable contributions,” says Sell.

He notes the resumption of the rivalry has been a good one between the two universities who first met on the football field in 1889. The schools added competition in men’s basketball in 1915 and women’s basketball in 1966. They also compete in softball, soccer, tennis, track, volleyball and swimming.

All told, South Dakota’s only two NCAA Division I schools have

competed in more than 560 head-tohead matchups in their storied histories.

“The games have been excellent in terms of being intense and the fans are involved,” says Sell. “I’m very proud of both sets of fan bases. I think both schools have risen to the occasion of what Division I is all about. I’m very pleased with it. It’s been good and we need to continue to promote that.”

KYLE JOHNSON

DONOR SPOTLIGHT PAULAS DONORTHE SPOTLIGHT

Mungers hope others

follow their lead by giving back

W

ith so much in common, it only made sense for Scott and Kris Munger to return the favor.

“We believe in giving back to the entities and institutions that have given us so much,” says Scott. “We would not be where we are today without the education we received, the friendships gained and the work ethic taught to us from the experience of being SDSU student-athletes.”

Scott grew up on a farm near Warner and lettered as an offensive lineman for the Jackrabbits.

The former Kris DeRuyck grew up on a farm near Milroy, Minn., and lettered as a guard/forward on the SDSU basketball team.

After earning an economics degree with a business emphasis in 2000, Scott started an investment/insurance agency in Watertown that focuses on employee benefits and financial planning. He also opened a real estate development company that deals with commercial storage facilities and residential developments.

Also receiving an economics degree with a business emphasis, but a year later, Kris went to work for Wells Fargo in Aberdeen, Sioux Falls and Watertown. She is currently the business development director at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System in Watertown.

Initially meeting in fall 1998 following a home football game, they were married in 2003. They have three children: 6-year-old daughter, Avery; 4-year-old daughter, Reese; and 9-month-old son, Ty.

Generosity not forgotten The Mungers support the Jackrabbit Club, the Difference Makers Club and the Letter Winners Club. They sponsor scholarships for football and women’s basketball. In addition, they helped make the Dykhouse Student-Athlete

Center possible and they have given to the pending Indoor Practice and Human Performance Center.

“We truly enjoy giving back to SDSU,” says Kris.

“We have been extremely blessed with our careers and our family.

“We benefited from the generosity of past alumni and donors so we wanted to provide that same opportunity to other Scott and Kris (DeRuyck) Munger student-athletes. We were very fortunate to have great coaches and great opportunities.” more fans at our away games than the Season-ticket holders for football and home team had.” basketball, they can be seen tailgating prior to home football games. They also Giving encouraged make frequent road trips to watch the Scott had family at State, too. He Jacks play basketball. was able to play with his brother, Lee, “Our kids like to track down and a defensive lineman, for three years. high-five Jack the Jackrabbit and visit “That’s a great memory,” he says. “Two the ice cream stand,” remarks Kris, who farm kids from a small town in South maintains “fond memories” of her SDSU Dakota don’t get that opportunity a experience, especially having twin sister lot.” and track team member, Kim, as her Overall, according to Scott, “Aside roommate. from a great education, the memories “I was fortunate to have her as with the students, student-athletes, a fellow student-athlete,” she says. coaches and faculty are my strongest “Unless we had our uniforms on, we memories. Also, the rivalry games are were confused quite often.” experiences that will last forever.”

Other memories include “lots of Ten-plus years after earning their bonding time during team road trips, degrees, the Mungers have indeed been early morning workouts, study tables at giving back and they aren’t done. the library and scooting around campus “It’s our goal to give back all we were with Angie (Loken) Quast on her given and more,” says Scott. “We would moped.” hope all SDSU alumni and studentKris will never forget the Jackrabbit athletes can find a way to give back at fan base either. “The Jacks have the best some point.” fans and supporters of athletics. The KYLE JOHNSON parents and Back of the Bus crew were very loyal and traveled all over with our team. It was common for SDSU to have SPRING 2013

19

Thank you to all our corporate sponsors!

速

20

RABBIT TRACKS

Thank you to all our corporate sponsors!

South Dakota State University Continuing & Extended Education

South Dakota State University Continuing & Extended Education

SPRING 2013

21

Athletic Department Box 2820 Brookings, SD 57007-1497 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT US POSTAGE PAID BROOKINGS SD PERMIT 24