Reid Ehrisman enters his fifth year as Director of USF Track & Field and Cross Country and 10th year as a member of the USF coaching staff in the 2016-17 seasons.
Ehrisman took over as director of the program as USF transitioned to NCAA Division II, and under his direction, the Cougars have excelled at the conference and national level. Ehrisman has directed two national champions in his tenure as director, 27 All-Americans, 27 NSIC individual champions and three Elite 89 Award winners (top GPA for athletes competing at national championship site).
With Ehrisman as director, Brigitte Gross earned Sioux Falls’ first NCAA Division II national title, winning the 2014 women’s indoor pole vault title, and Jagger Gran followed one year later with the men’s indoor pole vault national championship in 2015. Athletes under Ehrisman’s guidance have broken 55 school records and recorded more than 500 times/marks that rank in the top 10 all-time at USF.
Proof that Ehrisman continues to build an all-around team, the Cougars have finished top-three at the NSIC Championships twice, including a runner-up finish in 2015. In four years under Ehrisman, USF has accrued more than 80 all-conference honorees, placing top three at the NSIC Championships.
A former pole vaulter himself, Ehrisman has guided the athletes in the discipline to unprecedented heights since he joined the staff in 2009. In total, he has coached four national champions (two NAIA and two NCAA D2), seven national runner-ups, 36 All-Americans and 75 total national qualifiers. USF reached the pinnacle of both peak performance and depth in their program in 2016 when they qualified seven (four men, three women) pole vaulters for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, tying a near-10 year old record.
Since joining NCAA Division II, USF has been the benchmark program for pole vault success, and Ehrisman has been the catalyst. The Cougars have the most national qualifiers (40) and 21 All-Americans in eight national championship meets and one of three program with two different national champions in that four-year span. The USF women own the 4th-, 6th-, and 10th-highest marks in Division II women’s outdoor pole vault history and the 5ht- and 9th-highest marks in Division II women’s indoor pole vault history.
The USF Cross Country program has taken big steps forward with Ehrisman as the director. In 2014, the Cougars advanced to the NCAA Championships for the second straight season and placed eighth, a program-best. In four year as a Division II member, USF qualified for two NCAA Championships and had five All-American finishes as well as an NSIC athlete of the year and conference champion.
Under Ehrisman, the Cougars have performed at an even higher level in the classroom. The Sioux Falls men’s and women’s cross country and track & field teams have earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic team honor all four years in Division II. The men’s track & field team has owned the top GPA in Division II in 2014, 2015, and 2016 and the men’s cross country team posted the top GPA in all NCAA divisions in 2014.
Prior to joining the Cougar coaching staff, Ehrisman served as the graduate assistant jumps coach at his alma mater, Concordia University (Neb.) from 2005-2007, where he completed his Master's degree in Education in 2007.
Before hanging up his spikes, Ehrisman was a national contender on the runway himself. Highlighted by six NAIA National Championship qualifications and one conference crown, Ehrisman celebrated a solid pole vault collegiate career at Concordia where he received his Bachelor's of Science in Secondary Education.
Ehrisman resides in Sioux Falls with his wife Lisa, daughter Jeanelle, and son Grayson.
