Indoor Championships

[trackrabbit]

This weekend (Sunday the 28th and Monday the first oddly enough) the Summit League Indoor Championships will be held in Fargo. There has been very little buzz on the forum regarding this years team. What are everyone's thoughts about our chances this weekend?

[THEjackrabbit]

Re: Indoor Championships

I think that it looks like the Men's Team will have their work cut out for them. Here is what the Argus Leader has to say

http://www.argusleader.com/article/2...25/1002/sports

As far as the women go, it looks like they have a good shot at placing in the top 3 for sure.

[jacksdistance]

Re: Indoor Championships

http://www.gojacks.com/ViewArticle.d...CLID=204894300

What gojacks has to say. It will be an interesting weekend to say the least.

[master_rabbit]

Re: Indoor Championships

I have a feeling that both the men's and women's teams will represent SDSU fairly well. As the article on gojacks.com and argus website talks about, its tough to put the best season together with so many people taking redshirts

[zooropa]

Re: Indoor Championships

You can host the indoor T&F championships even if you've got an oddball track setup?

Shoot. When will Frost get to host?

[JackJD]

Re: Indoor Championships

I'm not sure what you mean by "oddball" setup. The BSA facility is still better than many...it is a 220-yard track (rather than 200-meters) which makes it a little difficult for fans to figure out lap starts and stops. I think the BSA track opened in about 1971 and it has been a good training facility for a lot of years.

[zooropa]

Re: Indoor Championships

I'm not sure what you mean by "oddball" setup. The BSA facility is still better than many...it is a 220-yard track (rather than 200-meters) which makes it a little difficult for fans to figure out lap starts and stops. I think the BSA track opened in about 1971 and it has been a good training facility for a lot of years.

Most tracks, per the article (and SDSU's proposed facility includes) are banked 300M tracks.

Since the BSA track isn't one of those, I'm curious whether the odd track nestled into Frost would meet the Summit League's standards.

Of course, since the Summit has apparently adopted the policy of allowing champions to opt to host the tournament the next year, SDSU might not even have the chance....

[jacksdistance]

Re: Indoor Championships

The article was slightly wrong and a bit confusing. The reason the BSA is different is due to it being a yards (220) track instead of meters (200). Of the tracks we run on Mankato, and USD are 200 meters flat, Iowa State is 300 meters flat, and Nebraska is 200 meters banked. Both Banked and oversize tracks are easier to run because they have less turns or turns that are easier to use. However, I don't know of a track that is larger than 200 meters and banked. The BSA isn't the best track but where else can the summit league be? The BSA might be the best facility unless we host it at a non-conference campus. Lastly, Frost will never host a meet and definitely not the summit league!

[zooropa]

Re: Indoor Championships

Frost used to host meets, as recently as a few years ago, also, last year's indoor championships were hosted by WIU and held some distance away in Sterling, Illinois.

But thanks for the clarification on track sizes and banking.

[jacksdistance]

Re: Indoor Championships

I should re-phrase: Frost will never AGAIN host a meet and never conference. There were many complaints about WIU's track and the BSA this year. Nobody wants to run in the Frost. The only event it is good for is the 60m dash. SDSU also has poor indoor field event areas. Long and Triple Jumps are impossible because we have no pits. Think about how good Jared Vlastuin could be if he could actually practice long jump. The jacks need a new indoor track!!

[zooropa]

Re: Indoor Championships

I should re-phrase: Frost will never AGAIN host a meet and never conference. There were many complaints about WIU's track and the BSA this year. Nobody wants to run in the Frost. The only event it is good for is the 60m dash. SDSU also has poor indoor field event areas. Long and Triple Jumps are impossible because we have no pits. Think about how good Jared Vlastuin could be if he could actually practice long jump. The jacks need a new indoor track!!

Agreed.

I can't imagine what it would be like to run a track event at Frost...... You could place an order for nachos on one lap and pay for them on the second lap, and pick them up on the third.

I think Jeff Kolpack summed up part USD's attraction to the Summit pretty well thus:

"Try finding a decent indoor track facility in the midwest"

[JackJD]

Re: Indoor Championships

The "track" in Frost Arena should not be called a "track". It is adequate for jogging and some training but not for competitive events. When the HPER Center opened mid-way through the 72-73 class year, we held meets there and meets were held for several years after that time. But, the NE and NW "corners" are 90-degree turns which were dangerous as runners would swing wide before entering the corner, cut across and swing out again exiting the corner (with the risk of hitting a wall-mounted drinking fountain as one went through the NW corner at high speed). There was a true home-track advantage as runners from other schools tried to stay in the inner-most lanes.

When Frost opened, the BSA at NDSU was the top facility around. U of MN's facility (same building today) had a clay running surface back then. Carleton or St. Olaf, can't remember which one, had a sharply banked indoor track that was in like a basement...maybe 12 laps to the mile. U of Nebraska's track was under one end of the football stadium and was shaped -- you guessed it -- like a kidney bean. The Nebraska guys knew when to cut the corners while those of us running there for the first time stayed in our lanes. Mankato State had a hard-surfaced, lightly banked indoor track that was about 11 laps to the mile. Today Mankato has a very nice 200-meter Mondo-surfaced indoor track. UNI's UNI-Dome opened about two or three years after NDSU's BSA and that was a nice improvement in track venues.

Worst things about those days: old-guy meet officials smoking cigars. Can you imagine running your guts out and with 100 meters to go in a 400-meter race, you go through a cloud of blue cigar smoke!

Into the late 60s, SDSU had something called the Hippodrome. It was "indoors" (I think it was not heated) and was a "track". I only saw pictures. It was a dirt surface.

Nebraska's 200-meter facility is hydraulically operated: they can make it flat or adjust the amount of banking. Iowa State's 300-meter track is flat (and noted by another poster, I've never heard of a 300-meter banked track and if there is one, probably does not count for qualifying times for nationals). There are accepted "adjustments" to times run on 300-meter and some banked tracks, to make them "equivalent" to running on a flat-200-meter track for purposes of qualifying events.

Flat, 200-meter tracks are the norm. 300-meter tracks are uncommon but they're great if the money for the facility is available. The corners on a 300 are very much like corners on an outdoor, 400-meter track (the long-legged runners really suffer on the shorter tracks).

USD's Dakota Dome track is a very good indoor-track venue.

My first college meet was an indoor meet in Winnipeg, Canada, running on an 11- or 12-lap to the mile (can't recall which one), steeply banked track made of plywood. You had to have a working knowledge of physics to stay on the track (had to throw your arms just right; catch the bounce of the boards etc.).

[zooropa]

Re: Indoor Championships

The UNIdome is that old?

I had no idea.

BTW: 'the good old days of officials smoking cigars' and the reek of those old AMF gym mats, mildew and the funk of old gyms...... Can't help thinking of Mick's gym in Rocky---and the smell of the old gym in my junior high.

[KarmaKid]

Re: Indoor Championships

Frost used to host meets, as recently as a few years ago, also, last year's indoor championships were hosted by WIU and held some distance away in Sterling, Illinois.

But thanks for the clarification on track sizes and banking.

I don't know what constitutes "a few years ago," but I am pretty sure there hasn't been a meet in there in the last 10 years. I am positive there hasn't been one in the past 6 years. The BSA is by no means a nice facility but I believe NDSU is the only school in the Summit that has their own facility. Western Illinois has hosted it the past two years and they use a facility in Sterling, IL which is about 130 miles north/northwest of Macomb. It's a 200 meter flat track with the tightest turns imaginable. Impossible to race without getting blisters and no room for spectators except for the middle of the track. It's a pretty poor facility but actually it's a pretty intense environment when everyone is screaming and cheering. When Southern Utah hosts it, they use Northern Arizona's indoor facility. When other Summit schools host it, they are also borrowing facilities from another school.

SDSU desperately needs an indoor facility. Workouts on the Blue D (referring to the two 90 degree angles) put us at a competitive disadvantage during the indoor season. It was worse before the wellness center was built because the Frost track was used by any and all students for recreational purposes. Students ignored the signs posted stating the track is closed from 3:30 - 5:00 PM and would walk/jog anyway. Sometimes they would actually go the opposite direction from the workouts we were running. They would eventually get yelled at but it seemed they never learned because they'd be back two days later. And that's just from a runner's perspective. As someone pointed out previously, imagine trying to practice for long or triple jump when you have no pit to jump in to. Or trying to throw a heavy object when the middle of your facility is open to the ground floor basketball court full of men or women trying to run their own practice.

I remember one incident when we were running repeat 400's up there and I was leading this particular rep. I came around one of the 90 degree blind corners, swung wide like one has to do when running that fast on that track and collided with some meathead weightlifter (non-athlete) that probably weighed about 225 lbs. Despite weighing only 145 lbs, I had the momentum, and I actually won that battle and laid him out pretty easily. I proceeded to give him a piece of my mind and "politely" reminded him of the signs stating the track is closed. I finished the workout and was not injured, but I was pretty sore the next day.

That kind of stuff happened way too often up there but I suppose it's better now that students have to use the wellness center jogging track.

Anyway, back to the indoor championships. I'm interested to see how the teams do this weekend with so many athletes redshirted. The weather has also played a role this indoor season as the Jacks weren't able to get to one of the meets they wanted to go to. With such a short season, you need every opportunity possible to get a good mark or time.

Looking at the performance lists, it appears the men may struggle a little to get some points, but that is similar to past years to some extent. I am confident the Jacks will compete well and score some unexpected points. I wanted to go up and watch but will be unable because of the Sunday/Monday schedule. I don't know if that's poor planning on NDSU's behalf or the Summit League's but you'd think they could have worked something out to give the Bison bball teams a couple away games that weekend so the meet could be Friday/Saturday like usual.

Go Jacks!

[trackrabbit]

Re: Indoor Championships

Yeah I also think that having so many red-shirted athletes will hurt the standings this indoor season but it will help the team in future seasons. Hopefully the kids competing can make some noise regardless.]