Brent Clouser

The Jackrabbit track and field team is off to a strong start under first year coach Rod DeHaven, with many individuals finishing on top in the first four meets of the season.The men’s and women’s teams started off the indoor season at the MSU Alumni Open on Jan. 15 in Mankato, Minn. For the men, seniors Ben Johnson, Brad Lowery and Scott Roby claimed individual titles. Brad Lowery, the 2004 South Dakota Collegiate Athlete of the Year, just missed setting a school record in the 1,000 meters, but still won the event by over five seconds. On the women’s side, Michelle Carter claimed the shot put title. The distance medley relay team of Shannon Hattervig, Kari Shaefer, Cortney Costello and Sheena Dauer also took home a first-place finish.In the second meet of the season, the Wisconsin Elite Classic held on Jan. 22 in Madison, Wis., the men were led by Lowery, who finished third in the mile run. Johnson finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles and sophomore Craig Hill finished sixth in the 60-meter dash. In field events, Matt Olsen finished fifth in the triple jump and Jared Schwader finished fifth in the shot put.On the women’s side, Erin Zempel led the effort with a third place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Freshman Cameryn Christion placed fifth in the 60-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash. Hattervig finished fourth in the 800-meters.For the third meet of the season the team traveled to USD for the John Dalton Open on Jan. 29. Michelle Carter, who took first place in the shot put, and Jona Kulesza, who finished first in the triple jump, led the women. Christion continued her strong freshman season with second place finishes in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meters. Krystie Ratzlaff finished second in the mile run, Erin Zempel second in the 60-meter hurdles, and Ashley Adams finished third in the 800-meter run.For the men, Shwader won the shot put and Olsen took first in the triple jump and second in the long jump. Johnson, Nick Schanaman and Jacob Steenholdt took first, third, and fourth, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles.At the team’s most recent meet in Lincoln, Neb. Feb. 4-5 at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, the women’s distance medley relay team of Becka Mansheim, Adams, Hattervig and Dauer set a new school record in the event with a time of 12 minutes 5.33 seconds.Shwader led the men as he took fifth in the shot put. As the indoor season nears the end, the team turns its focus to the upcoming outdoor season. Dehaven said that the focus will be the Division I Independent Championships in Davis, CA.”It is the season ending meet and the only team scored meet of the year,” he said. “The other focus for the outdoor season is for Brad Lowery to become the first South Dakota collegiate athlete to break four minutes for the mile and the first person ever to break four minutes within the state of South Dakota. His attempt will come at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays on May 6 in Sioux Falls.”This is SDSU’s first season in Division I. Right now the Jackrabbits won’t have an indoor conference championship like in past seasons. But, their biggest change is not being able to qualify for the NCAA regionals and possibly the Division I National Championships, because they are under a transitional status until 2009.

#1.885365:904468144.jpg:Track practice.jpg:SDSU´s men´s track team runs some laps on the HPER track during practice.: