|
Now that the NAIA National Outdoor Track Meet is over, the South Dakota School of Mines thinclads can look back at the past season and know that they had a solid year.
Bringing home the second ever national title in the history of the program and scoring two more All American honorees, the Hardrockers are certainly pointed in the right direction as far as where the program is heading
|
|
|
|
 |
| Title | Now that the NAIA National Outdoor Track Meet is over, the South Dakota School of Mines thinclads can look back at the past season and know that they had a solid year. Bringing home the second ever national title in the history of the program and scoring two more All American honorees, the Hardrockers are certainly pointed in the right direction as far as where the program is heading |
| Identifier | Intercollegiate Athletics Collection\Now that the NAIA National Outdoor Track Meet is over, the South Dakota School of Mines.pdf |
| Digitaization Specification | Master file format: 30760 bytes, application/pdf; Uncompressed, PDF, ; Checksum: 1f95a312ee2cf44976e9cf2a9c13068d; Adobe Photoshop CS3
|
| Transcript | By Brad Blume Sports Information Director South Dakota School of Mines RAPID CITY ---- Now that the NAIA National Outdoor Track Meet is over, the South Dakota School of Mines thinclads can look back at the past season and know that they had a solid year. Bringing home the second ever national title in the history of the program and scoring two more All American honorees, the Hardrockers are certainly pointed in the right direction as far as where the program is heading. "We were very competitive all season long, " said Hardrocker head track coach Jerry Schafer. "Again we don't have a lot of numbers, but the kids competed hard and were competitive at the (Dakota Athletic) Conference level as well as the national level. We got more people to Nationals this year, both indoors and outdoors, than we have in previous years. When we got to Nationals, our people were very competitive and/or reached All American status. "This year was the first time we've ever had multiple athletes reach All American status at one meet, both indoors and outdoors." Much like after the close of the indoor season, Rapid City native Shannon Hellman ended the outdoor season with an NAIA national title --- this time in the 100-meter hurdles. Hellman made her way through the prelims and semifinals at the NAIA National Outdoor Meet May 24-26 in Fresno, Calif. In the finals, Hellman recorded the second fastest time of her hurdling career, clocking 13.73 seconds to win the 2007 title. "She really came on when we needed her to come on. She is just a very, very solid competitor, ��� Schafer said. With the title, Hellman becomes the second ever four-time All American Hardrocker and the only SDM athlete to ever win a national title. She also won the 60 hurdle title during the indoor season. Unfortunately for the Hardrockers, the sophomore will not be attending South Dakota School of Mines next season. "As far as what she's meant to the program, she's had such a great work ethic and attitude, " Schafer said. "She has been a pleasure to coach, work with and be around for the past two years. Obviously the program will miss her, but we understand what's best for her, so we wish her well." Schafer also commented that a lot of the success the program has had this season, came from assistant track coach Beth Honaker. "Coach Honaker did a great job of working with the hurdlers and sprinters this year. A great deal of our success goes back to her efforts working with them and doing such a good job, " Schafer said. The Hardrocker thinclads will also lose senior All American Jake Donnelly. The Elk Point native earned All American status after the national indoor meet and was looking very poised to repeat that feat during the national outdoor meet when he suffered an injury early in the meet. During the first day of the NAIA Meet, Donnelly ran both the 400- and 200-meter dashes. He recorded the third fastest time of the day in the 400 ( 47.36) and had the fifth best mark in the 200 (21.48). His 400 time was a personal best and the 200 was the second fastest ever for Donnelly. "He had a great day that first day (of the meet), " Schafer said. "He shattered his own school record (in the 400)." But during the 200 prelims, Donnelly suffered a painful leg injury, which pretty much ended his national meet. "He sustained this injury somewhere during the 200-meter (prelim) race and it just cost him the rest of the meet. He set himself up perfectly to advance through the semis to the finals. He had the third seeded 400 time and the fifth seeded 200 time going into the semis. The unfortunate injury kept him from completing his senior year in a manner that he had hoped for." The coach added, "He will be hard to replace." The injury to Donnelly also affected the men's 4x400 relay team. The team, consisting of Colin Royer, Colton Reid, Mark Wager and Donnelly still ran the event, but with Donnelly's injury, the group was not in a position to be competitive or advance to the finals. Schafer said the team still gave it a good try as Royer had his best performance of the season as the first leg (49.8 second split) of the relay team. "He did his best to set us up to run a good time but with Jake's injury, we were unable to run a good 4x400, " Schafer said. Donnelly was the anchor, but again with the injury, the team dropped off six seconds from their best time. "What Jake brings to that relay team is so spectacular, " Schafer added. As a team, the Hardrockers regrouped during the final day of the national meet as junior Chandler Caldwell delivered a fine performance in the men's pole vault. The Thornton, Colo., native earned the second All American honor of the meet for SDM with a sixth-place finish in the pole vault after clearing 15-feet-11-inches. "It wasn't a surprise. We knew he had a shot at it, " Schafer said. "If he vaulted what he is capable of, we figured he could clear 16 feet --- 15-11 is right there." The height was the best ever for Caldwell and set a new record at South Dakota Mines in the process. "He didn't have a particularly great day vaulting. He took a lot of attempts to get to 15-11. It was hot and he may have been a bit fatigued once he got to 16-5, " Schafer added. Caldwell could have finished as high as second if he could have cleared some of the lower heights in fewer attempts (second place through sixth place all cleared15-11). But none the less, Caldwell earned All American status and is set up well to have a stellar senior season. Along with Donnelly and Hellman, the Hardrockers will also lose Eric Voorhees (shot put), Shane Hague (distance) and Beth Hansen (high jump).Schafer added he is encouraged about the future, sighting 15 records that were broken during the indoor/outdoor track season this past year. Records set during the 2006-07 season Event Name Hometown Time Men's Indoor 200 Dash Jake Donnelly Elk Point, S.D. 21.91 Men's Indoor 800 Run Shane Hague New Underwood 1:57.60 Men's Indoor Pole Vault Chandler Caldwell Thornton, Colo. 15-3 Men's Indoor Weight Throw Eric Voorhees Gillette, Wyo. 46-2 Women's Indoor 60 Hurdles Shannon Hellman Rapid City, S.D. 8.63 Women's Indoor 60 Dash Shannon Hellman Rapid City, S.D. 7.36 Women's Indoor 400 Dash Shannon Hellman Rapid City, S.D. 59.22 Women's Indoor Triple Jump Jenny Strong Upton, Wyo. 32.7.75 Women's Indoor 1, 000 Run Samantha Diede Huron, S.D. 3:32.18 Women's Indoor 200 Dash Shannon Hellman Rapid City, S.D. 25.83 Men's Outdoor 400 Dash Jake Donnelly Elk Point, S.D. 47.36 Men's Outdoor Pole Vault Chandler Caldwell Thornton, Colo. 15-11 Women's Outdoor 400 Hurdles Shannon Hellman Rapid City, S.D 1:03.97 Women's Outdoor Steeplechase Samantha Diede Huron, S.D. 13:29.58 Men's Outdoor 4x400 Relay Colin Royer Ft. Pierre, S.D. Jake Donnelly Elk Point, S.D. Colton Reid Colstrip, Mont. Mark Wager Gettysburg, S.D. 3:16.40 |
| Creator | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Intercollegiate Athletics; |
| Subject | Track and field -- South Dakota; Track and field for women -- South Dakota; |
| Local Subject | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
|
| Digital Publisher | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Devereaux Library
|
| Contributors | Blume, Brad |
| Date | 2007-05-30 |
| Type | Text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Intercollegiate Athletics |
| Language | eng |
| Relation | Intercollegiate Athletics Collection |
| Rights | The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U. S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Uses may be allowed with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or within another legal exemption. The user of this work is responsible for compliance with the law. |
| Submitting Institution | Devereaux Library. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. |
| Date Digital | 2009 |
| CONTENTdm number | 5581 |
| CONTENTdm file name | 6561.pdf |
|
|
|