My Championship Experience - Men's Indoor Track & Field Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships. 

North Dakota State senior Travis Fitzke's championship experience at the 2013 Summit League Indoor Track & Field Championships:

 Welcome to the 2013 Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championship. My name is Travis Fitzke and I am a senior on the North Dakota State Bison track team.  This was my 11^th Summit League Championship between indoor track, outdoor track, and cross country, and every championship I have been involved in has always made lasting memories for me. This year’s indoor track championship was nothing short of that.   I want to thank The Summit League and the University of South Dakota on behalf of my teammates, coaches, and fans who came to support us on doing a great job in preparing the DakotaDome venue for a successfully run track and field meet.

Saturday, February 23^rd 2013

My experience began much like most of our travel days, with eating breakfast at the dining center on campus before loading the team bus at 9:30 a.m. for a four-hour trip south to Vermillion, S.D.  The bus ride allows us time for things like homework, taking a nap, playing cards, or staring out the window at the flat landscape of eastern North and South Dakota while pondering about the opportunities of the upcoming track meet. 

Once we arrived in Vermillion and checked into our hotel, we headed over to the DakotaDome for a pre-meet shake-out.  The facility was full of athletes, all getting their last reps in before the competition started the next day.  That is when the anxious feelings started.  I could feel the anticipation and readiness of our team.  This is one of the coolest things about sports to me. 

After our shake-out we headed to the local Hy-Vee grocery store for a team dinner.  Although we were a little curious how the Hy-Vee supper was going to be, everyone was pleasantly surprised and we left satisfyingly full, ready for competition the following day.  The day ended with a team meeting at the hotel and motivational speeches from our coaches and team captains.

Sunday, February 24^th 2013

A 9:30 a.m. wakeup call was the start to this day, followed by continental breakfast.  Different from many other sports, track team members are all on a little different schedule.  Some guys get up earlier as they compete at different times, some are up doing morning shake outs, and some (like me) sleep in until the last minute before getting out of bed to catch the end of the hotel breakfast.

After letting my breakfast settle, I headed out for a run around the wonderful city streets of Vermillion, S.D.  I did not compete at all on Sunday as both of my events were on Monday- the final day of the championship. I finished my run at the DakotaDome in time to watch some of the heptathlon events. For me, watching teammates compete is very fun, but also very hard to do as it makes me quite anxious to compete myself.  Throughout this first day of competition there are teammates scattered around – some eating at proper times before their event, some competing, and some like me who are spectators for the day. 

After getting some lunch, I headed back to the DakotaDome and cheered on teammates for the rest of the evening until the first day concluded and we headed to USD’s union for a team pasta dinner.  At this time, there are some guys who are very worn out, as they have competed all day, and there are some who are still awaiting their first event. Emotions are varied widely throughout a track team at this point.  We headed back to the hotel for some relaxing time and another team meeting before going to bed. 

Monday, February 25^th 2013

I woke up this Monday morning feeling surprisingly relaxed.  Our team was still in a good position to win The Summit League crown but there was a lot of work to be done.  After devouring some Holiday Inn breakfast I returned to my room to mentally prepare for a long day of competition. 

My first event of the championship was the mile run at 1:20 p.m.  I headed over to the DakotaDome around noon and started my warm-up shortly after.  The race did not turn out quite as I had wanted, but I placed second. There was no time to sulk about that, as I had to forget about it and prepare myself for the 5k which was less than two hours away. 

It was my first-ever 5k on the track.  Seeing 25 laps on the lap counter was a bit mentally draining, but I got through it and placed second again.  Although not completely content with that, I gave it my best effort and came up just a bit short.  At this point in the meet I also learned that our team was going to get second as well.  My goal and the goal of our team was to win.  We gave it our best effort, but some things did not go our way and we came up 13.5 points short of the USD Coyotes. 

After the awards were handed out and the meet was wrapped up, we boarded the bus again for our trip back to Fargo.  Although we left a little disappointed, we could not hang our heads as everyone gave their best effort.  After running a total of 33 laps on the track in one day, I am quite sore but ready for the outdoor season to start.  We are all back at school now hitting the books hard and preparing for our next goal, a Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championship!

I would like to congratulate all of The Summit League teams on their competition and great representation of this league and look forward to doing it again in May! 

Go Bison!

-Travis Fitzke 

Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and Women's Basketball Championships, March 9-12 and throughout the 2012-13 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.

My Championship Experience - Men's Swimming & Diving Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships. 
 
Oakland senior Pat Richardson's championship experience at the 2013 Summit League Swimming & Diving Championships:

 

The Team. The Tradition. The Excellence.

This motto is displayed in Oakland’s natatorium, where the 2013 Summit League Championships have just concluded. This past weekend provided a chance for me to experience what those words truly mean. Every day of competition encapsulated what it meant for me to be a Golden Grizzly competing in The Summit League.

The start of the championship meet always begins with the 200 medley, and 800 free relays, which is where the energy of the meet is established. The energy of the room was at a frenzy, a roar of cheers and hands clapping. OU’s relays are what we pride ourselves on, and I was proud to be able to swim on the B 200 relay. I anchored the end of the relay, and we won the exhibition heat. Then the scoring relays walked out, which is not as simple as it sounds. All of the top relays from every school strutted out of the ready room to the song ‘Thrift Shop’, the volume of the room deafening. Then a few of my teammates threw baby powder in the air for our relay, in tribute to Lebron James pre-game ritual. The actual race itself was amazing, Oakland’s relay came close to beating our own record, which was set back when full-body technical suits were still legal. (Swimmers understand this means that the swims are starting to get crazy fast again.) This level of energy remained throughout the rest of the meet, never letting down and never subsiding. The swims fueled the enthusiasm on deck, and vice versa.

The upperclassmen led the cheers all throughout the championship, the teams responding with passion. Good and bad swims were greeted by support from teammates. I missed out on breaking two goals of mine, but my team was there to motivate me on to the next race. And my experience was shared by all on the Oakland bench and unrelenting support from my coaches and colleagues.  

Now our swimmers pride ourselves on being able to perform under pressure, and that was never more true than this weekend. A plethora of NCAA ‘B’ cuts were achieved by my teammates, and one is now swimming in the NCAA Championships event. Every race was hard-fought, and mind-blowing. My favorite swims to watch were that of Amr El Sayed, who proceeded to swim out of his mind, shattering records in every race he swam. I may never be at a swim meet where so much energy and effort was rewarded.

I was asked to write about my experiences at the Championship meet, but obviously there is nothing I could ever write to gain the same feeling. The things I will always remember, though, are the simple things. The focus of the swimmers in the warm-up sessions, the energy and enthusiasm of every team, and the feeling of finally finishing my last swim. Bittersweet.

I mentioned our motto. The Team. The Tradition. The Excellence. The team never once let me down, always supporting each other like a family. Our tradition of rising to the occasion, and meeting every obstacle, was what let me get through an emotional meet. Both of those things leading to the excellence in which I was able to be a part of for the past four years. An excellence of commitment to the sport, and to the program.

-Pat Richardson

Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships and throughout the 2012-13 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.

My Championship Experience - Women's Swimming & Diving Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships. 

South Dakota State freshman Olivia Olesiak's championship experience at the 2013 Summit League Swimming & Diving Championships:

As a freshman, I had no idea what to expect from my Summit League Championship meet and I can honestly say that I am better off with the experience both as an athlete and a student. It all began on one of the coldest days of the year (in my opinion) February 19^th, I honestly thought my ears were going to get frostbite on the walk from the HYPR to the PAC lot. After a quick practice the team loaded up the bus and we set out on our two-day, 16 hour bus ride to Rochester, Mich. It wasn’t long before the ride had everyone dozed off. After about six hours, we stopped in the little town of Stewartville, Minn., for Subway and a bathroom break. We had great luck with the one unisex bathroom in the back of the store and 20 minutes later we were back on the road. The long day continued and after another short stop we trudged into the Hyatt Place hotel for a good night’s rest.  

The next morning we set out for another long day on the road. After a lunch break and an unexpected gas stop we arrived at Hyatt Place hotel, again. With about half an hour to recuperate and freshen up we found ourselves back on the bus all too soon and set off to the pool for practice and the first night of prelims. There were five other teams we competed against consisting of USD, IUPUI, UNO, OU and WIU. After the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay we headed back to the hotel for dinner and bed. 

The rest of the week went by pretty fast. We all fell into a routine. The swimmers would get up around 7:30 a.m. to eat and be to the pool by 9 a.m. to warm up and start prelims. Divers would wake up around 9:30 a.m. to eat and be at the pool by 11 a.m. Once swimming prelims were done the swimmers would go out to eat lunch, normally at the mall food court. As they were eating, the divers would be warming up and competing in prelims. The bus would then drop the divers back at the hotel and pick up the swimmers so they could go back to the pool and warm up for finals. Needless to say, the coaches didn’t get much down time. Divers would return to the pool around 6 p.m. when the meet started and compete around 8 p.m. The meet would wrap up around 9:30-10 p.m. and the whole team would be shuttled along to grab some food and then to bed. One night we had a wonderful buffet of mac and cheese, pasta, fruit, veggies, dinner roles and cookies for dessert, all served by the parents. Other nights we would just order pizza.  
 
On Saturday, we had our final day of competition. The energy in the pool was buzzing. Everyone competing knew it was their last chance to achieve the goals they had been working toward all year. After some great races and dives it was time for the final award ceremonies. Our team ended up in fourth place by a close 36 points, and just like that the season was over. It was time to spend one last night sleeping in a bed until we had to pack up the next morning and load the bus for our 16-hour bus ride back home.  

Overall, this meet was a great team bonding experience. A big thank you goes out to everyone involved in helping our team compete, our coaches, the parents, other Summit League competitors, our athletic trainer and of course the bus drivers.  

-Olivia Olesiak

Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships and throughout the 2012-13 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.

NDSU Finds Solace in Basketball

By Graham Hays, ESPN.com

Looking at Hannah Linz lying exhausted on the court, North Dakota State women's basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff saw an opportunity to teach a basketball lesson. Here, it seemed, was an example of the effort required to make a season successful, personified in the prone form of a player who had to come back from cancer to be on the court at all.
 
Practice wasn't going particularly well on the day in question, which is why Linz and her teammates found themselves on the end line waiting to run. The ensuing din of dozens of pounding sneakers was interrupted only by a series of squeaks as each player reversed direction, the same soundtrack heard in every gym in the country in the days before a season. The sprints completed, the coach called attention to the senior short on breath.

If the others wanted the kind of season to which all presumably aspire, they would be wise to follow Linz's lead.

"I really reflect back on that day because then she got up and she actually had tears in her eyes," DeHoff said. "And I didn't really think about it, what was going on, other than, you know -- here's a kid, again, who has gone through what she's gone through and gets to a certain point and can't go any further. Wants to go further but can't.

"So I just kind of felt it was that."

Click here to read the full story.

SDSU's Wolters Proves Hard Work Pays Dividends

SDSU's Nate Wolters

South Dakota State's Nate Wolters has garnered plenty of publicity across The Summit League and even the nation. What is not well known is his path to stardom and the countless hours spent in the gym to get there. 

Terry Vandrovec of the (Sioux Falls) Argus-Leader examines Wolters and his work ethic in his Sunday feature story. Vandrovec's second piece takes note of Wolters and his statistical achievements.

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Previews The Summit League

Oakland's Mike Carson

CollegeBaseballInsider.com released its preview of The Summit League on Thursday. CBI predicts Oakland as the league favorite heading into the 2013 campaign.

Baseball season begins today with three league teams in action highlighted by Western Illinois facing preseason favorite in No. 1 Arkansas. North Dakota State is at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Fort Wayne takes on Indiana State in Huntsville, Ala. Both Arkansas and Indiana State participated in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Wolters Catching NBA Scouts' Attention

SDSU's Nate Wolters

South Dakota State's Nate Wolters continues to receive attention from National Basketball Association scouts as they prepare for the 2013 Draft. Chris Dortch examines Wolters and his ascending stock in this NBA.com feature.

Baseball America's 2013 Summit League Preview

Baseball America released its 2013 Summit League preview on Monday outlining the predicted order of finish, Player and Pitcher of the Year, top prospects and newcomers and quick hitters.

Projected Order of Finish:
1. North Dakota State
2. South Dakota State
3. Western Illinois
4. Oakland
5. Omaha
6. Fort Wayne

Player of the Year: Tim Colwell, North Dakota State
Pitcher of the Year: John Straka, North Dakota State

Top Prospects (2013 and 2014 Drafts):
1. John Straka, North Dakota State
2. Tyler Farrell, Western Illinois (2014)
3. David Ernst, North Dakota State (2014)
4. Layne Somsen, South Dakota State
5. Dan Dispensa, Western Illinois

Top Newcomers:
1. Tanner Schumacher, North Dakota State
2. Tim Koons, Oakland
3. Jake Ratz, South Dakota State

Senior Associate Commissioner Myndee Kay Larsen Inducted into SUU Hall of Fame

Summit League Senior Associate Commissioner Myndee Kay Larsen was among four other former Southern Utah student-athletes that were inducted into SUU’s Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday during a banquet prior to the men’s basketball game against Eastern Washington.

Larsen, who was a four-year letter-winner in women's basketball at SUU, earned first-team CoSIDA GTE Academic All-American honors, was a two-time all-AWC honoree and earned first-team all-Mid-Continent Conference recognition. She set two NCAA records which still stand, for converting 28 consecutive field goal attempts in a row, which helped her to set the NCAA season mark when she connected on 249-of-344 shots, 72.4 percent, as a senior in 1997-98. She is the school's career field goal percentage and blocks leader and ranks second in rebounds and fourth in free throw percentage. Larsen is the only T-Bird to have their number retired and hanging in the rafters of the Centrum Arena.

Benson Signs to Play in Phillipines

Keith Benson

Former two-time Summit League Player of the Year Keith Benson (Oakland, 2007-11), is continuing his professional basketball career overseas. Benson, who has played in the NBA and the D-League, recently signed to play in the Philippines. The "import" is featured on Yahoo! Sports Phillipines as he joins his Talk 'N Text team ahead of the Commissioners Cup.