SIOUX FALLS – Opening the 2017 outdoor season, University of Sioux Falls Track & Field will host crosstown rival Augustana in the inaugural Rich Greeno/Vance Butler Dual on Friday, April 7. The dual is the first competition of the season for both teams and will begin at 3 p.m. at the Lillibridge Track & Field Complex at 69th & Cliff in Sioux Falls.
A full meet schedule can be found here.
Cougar men picked third, women ninth in NSIC preseason poll
Coming off a special indoor season, USF Track & Field men's team heads in as one of the top teams to contend for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title. USF was picked third by the league coaches in the NSIC Preseason Poll, collecting 82 points and a first-place vote. Minnesota State was named the league favorite with nine first place votes and 97 points, while Augustana edged out USF for the No. 2 spot with 84 points and a first-place vote.
In the women's poll, the USF women were slotted ninth, one spot higher than their finish at the NSIC Outdoor Championships last year. The Cougars tallied 98 points to place them ninth in the 15-team poll. Minnesota State was picked as the favorite with 192 points and 13 first-place votes, while University of Mary followed with 173, and Winona State (162) and Augustana (153) each earned a first-place vote and were third and fourth, respectively, in the poll.
Crandall named preseason field athlete of the year
Just weeks after earning NSIC Indoor Women's Field Athlete of the Year and capturing the women's indoor pole vault national title, senior
Courtney Crandall was named the NSIC Preseason Women's Field Athlete of the Year. Crandall captured her third career All-American honor with her indoor national title and she is looking for her second outdoor honor. A native of Rapid City, S.D., Crandall holds both NSIC Indoor and Outdoor Championship meet records as well as the USF indoor record and No. 2 outdoor mark. Crandall cleared 4.20 meters (13 feet-9.25 inches) for an outdoor season best last year, which ranks as the No. 6 individual all-time in Division II women's pole vault history. Her indoor PR of 4.32 meters (14-2.00), which she cleared at both the NSIC and NCAA Championships, was a meet record for each and the fourth-highest women's vault in Division II history.
Greenman, Kraft and Troescher cited as athletes to watch
Joining their teammate,
Scott Greenman,
Jase Kraft and
Sarah Troescher were noted in the NSIC preseason release as USF's athletes to watch. Greenman is coming off the indoor men's pole vault national title while breaking the USF record multiple times. The Clovis, Calif. senior is a two-time NSIC outdoor champion and All-American and three-time outdoor national qualifier. Kraft, the NSIC reigning indoor men's mile champion is looking to capture the NSIC outdoor crown after being edged by less than a tenth of a second in last year's NSIC 1500-meter final. A redshirt sophomore from Wessington Springs, S.D., Kraft holds two USF indoor records and four more all-time top-10 times. A freshman from Arcadia, Calif.,
Sarah Troescher already etched her name in the USF record books, taking down the women's 60-meter indoor record multiple times. Entering her first collegiate outdoor season, Troescher brings in prep personal bests of 12.15 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 25.07 seconds in the 200-meter, which would both rank in the top three of USF history.
