University of South Dakota Women's Track

Fitzsimmons took over as the head coach of the South Dakota cross country teams on July 9, 2008. He also serves as an assistant coach for the Coyote men's and women's track and field teams, working with the distance runners. South Dakota captured back to back Summit League cross country titles in 2014 and 2015 on the women's side. Amber Eichkorn also became the first Coyote to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in 2014 and made a repeat performance in 2015. Seniors Katie Wetzstein and Kelsey Barrett then qualified for the 2016 NCAA West Preliminaries in the 1,500 meters and 10,000 meters, respectively. Eichkorn became the first distance runner to reach the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2015, advancing to the finals in the 10,000 meters. Under the guidance of Fitzsimmons, the Coyotes have seen a lot of success in transitioning to the Division I level. The Coyote women won Summit League titles in 2014 and 2015, there have been three runner-up team finishes (women's team in 2012, men's team in 2012 and 2013), four individual Summit League runner-ups (Jeff Mettler in 2012, Mubarik Musa in 2013, and Amber Eichkorn in 2014 and 2015), three league newcomers of the year (Amber Eichkorn and Mubarik Musa in 2012, Bethany Kozak in 2014), and 28 all-Summit League honorees. During three seasons in the Great West Conference, the Coyotes recorded two runner-up team finishes (women's team in 2008 and 2009), one individual champion (Ramsey Fitzsimmons in 2008), one Great West runner-up (Kelsey Maloney in 2008), one conference freshman of the year (Jeff Mettler in 2010) and 11 all-Great West Conference selections. Since Fitzsimmons began as an assistant coach on the track team during the 2008-09 season, the distance squad has helped the track program to 10 conference championships and 18 runner-up finishes. The distance program has earned 38 conference individual conference titles. During the seasons spent in the Great West, the Coyotes had three GWC Most Valuable Performers in Ramsey Fitzsimmons (2009, 2010) and Rob Gregoire (2010). In the Summit League, Jeff Mettler was named Track Championship MVP three times (indoor 2013, indoor 2014, outdoor 2014) and Mach Dojiok earned the honor outdoors in 2015. Prior to coming to South Dakota, Fitzsimmons built the Yankton cross country and track and field programs into state and regional powers. In 1997, Fitzsimmons was named head coach of the Yankton High School cross country team and then in 2002 he was named the track and field head coach. He began working with the cross country team in 1989 and the track and field team in 1990 as an assistant coach. Fitzsimmons also was the head coach of the Yankton gymnastics team since 1986. In his time with the cross country team, Fitzsimmons led five teams that were ranked in the top 20 in the nation. He guided four teams to the South Dakota AA combined boys and girls state championship. He also coached eight South Dakota AA championship teams, three-straight boys championships (2005-07) and five-straight girls titles (2003-07). Fitzsimmons was named South Dakota Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2003 (girls), 2004 (girls), 2005 (boys) and 2006 (boys and girls). The South Dakota NHSACA Gatorade Circle of Champions named him coach of the year for four-straight years (2004-07). He was also the South Dakota Sportswriters Prep Girls Coach of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Fitzsimmons was also successful with the Yankton track and field team. He guided the team to five state championships and six relay team championships while also coaching 20 individual champions. Two of his athletes were named South Dakota Gatorade Track and Field Performers of the Year. Fitzsimmons was named the South Dakota NHSACA Gatorade Circle of Champions Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005. During his four-year career at South Dakota, Fitzsimmons was a three-time NCC place winner in the 3,000m steeplechase, setting the USD record in the 3,000m steeplechase which stood from 1985 to 2000. He graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and earned a master's degree from USD in exercise science in 1999. His wife, Cecilia, was a seven-time NCC track and field champion and former record holder in the long and triple jump. She was inducted into the USD Hall of Fame in 2000. Dan and Cecilia are the parents of Sean, Shannon, Connor and Brenna. Sean, Shannon and Connor are Coyote track and field alums. Brenna currently attends school at the University of South Dakota.

Kruger III took over responsibilities as South Dakota's throws coach on Aug. 21, 2015. He enters his second year with the team in 2016-17. Kruger qualified for the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, and 2012 London Olympic Games in the hammer throw. He competed on a total of five World Championship teams and qualified for 15 U.S. National Championships.   Kruger came to South Dakota after spending 13 years training, coaching and teaching at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He holds Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification, Functional Movement Screening (FMS) certification and is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).   In 2014, Kruger broke American records in the 35-pound weight throw and 56-pound ultra weight throw. He also holds the 35-39 age group World record for the throws pentathlon, a combined event consisting of the hammer throw, shot put, discus throw, javelin throw and weight throw.   Kruger, a native of Sheldon, Iowa, is no stranger to the DakotaDome. He set the DakotaDome weight throw record with a mark of 77 feet, 7 ½ inches in 2006.   A 2001 graduate of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, Kruger earned a bachelors degree in mathematics education. He was a NCAA Division II national champion in the hammer throw as a senior. He was also named the 2001 NCAA DII National Outdoor Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year.   Kruger was inducted into Morningsides Hall of Fame in 2008 and the NCAA DII Hall of Fame in 2010.   Kruger and his wife, Laura, have two children: Geo (age 4) and Marina (age 2). A.G. Kruger Assistant Coach/Throws Three-time Olympian A.G. Kruger III took over responsibilities as South Dakota's throws coach on Aug. 21, 2015. He enters his second year with the team in 2016-17. Kruger qualified for the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, and 2012 London Olympic Games in the hammer throw. He competed on a total of five World Championship teams and qualified for 15 U.S. National Championships.   Kruger came to South Dakota after spending 13 years training, coaching and teaching at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He holds Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification, Functional Movement Screening (FMS) certification and is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).   In 2014, Kruger broke American records in the 35-pound weight throw and 56-pound ultra weight throw. He also holds the 35-39 age group World record for the throws pentathlon, a combined event consisting of the hammer throw, shot put, discus throw, javelin throw and weight throw.   Kruger, a native of Sheldon, Iowa, is no stranger to the DakotaDome. He set the DakotaDome weight throw record with a mark of 77 feet, 7 ½ inches in 2006.   A 2001 graduate of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, Kruger earned a bachelors degree in mathematics education. He was a NCAA Division II national champion in the hammer throw as a senior. He was also named the 2001 NCAA DII National Outdoor Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year.   Kruger was inducted into Morningsides Hall of Fame in 2008 and the NCAA DII Hall of Fame in 2010.   Kruger and his wife, Laura, have two children: Geo (age 4) and Marina (age 2).

Hoyt took on his role as an assistant coach for the track and field and cross country programs ahead of the 2002-03 season as a graduate assistant. He is currently a volunteer assistant coach and also serves as a physical therapist at Sioux Valley-Vermillion Hospital. One of the best cross country and track and field performers in USD history, Hoyt was a 2000 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. An eight-time All-American, he was named the NCAA Division II Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 2000 and the NCAA Division II Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 1998. At the 2000 track and field nationals, Hoyt had one of the most brilliant and gutsy performances ever in South Dakota school history. Hoyt finished in the top five of three of the most grueling events in track and field (second, 10,000m; third, 5,000m; and fourth, 3000m steeplechase). He also finished second in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Meet in 1998 and was a member of the 1997 national champion cross country squad at USD. He was the NCC and North Central Region cross country champion in both 1997 and 1998, the only time that has been accomplished in school history. Hoyt's sixth-place finish at the national cross country meet in 1998 is the second-best finish ever by a South Dakota runner. He is also the only student-athlete in school history to be an All-American in cross country, indoor and outdoor track in the same calendar year. The NCC Athlete of the Year in 2000, Hoyt held six distance records at South Dakota, before 2014 Coyote graduate Jeff Mettler broke three of them. He was inducted into the Coyote Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, which was his first year of eligibility. Hoyt is a native of Burlington, Wyo. Coyote Sports Hall of Famer  took on his role as an assistant coach for the track and field and cross country programs ahead of the 2002-03 season as a graduate assistant. He is currently a volunteer assistant coach and also serves as a physical therapist at Sioux Valley-Vermillion Hospital.

Wolter is in her second season working with the jumps as a graduate assistant and her third on the South Dakota track and field staff. A Santa Maria, Calif., native Wolter received her AA Liberal Arts degree from Allan Hancock College before transferring to South Dakota for the 2009-10 season. Wolter had an immediate impact on the jump squad, capturing six conference titles and advancing to two NCAA preliminary rounds in her three years in the program. Her personal best triple jump mark came as a senior at the 2012 Summit League Indoor Championships when she won in 41-9.25. Wolters is pursuing a masters degree in exercise science South Dakota, while continuing to compete post-collegiately. She qualified for the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships in 2013. Wolters completed her bachelor's degree from South Dakota in the spring of 2013.  is in her second season working with the jumps as a graduate assistant and her third on the South Dakota track and field staff. A Santa Maria, Calif., native Wolter received her AA Liberal Arts degree from Allan Hancock College before transferring to South Dakota for the 2009-10 season. Wolter had an immediate impact on the jump squad, capturing six conference titles and advancing to two NCAA preliminary rounds in her three years in the program. Her personal best triple jump mark came as a senior at the 2012 Summit League Indoor Championships when she won in 41-9.25. Wolters is pursuing a masters degree in exercise science South Dakota, while continuing to compete post-collegiately. She qualified for the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships in 2013. Wolters completed her bachelor's degree from South Dakota in the spring of 2013.

Lane joins the track and field coaching staff as a graduate assistant for the 2015-16 season.   Lane spent the past 4 years competing as a member of the mens track and field team at Tiffin University.  While competing in Division II, he captured Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles in the 100m and 200m dash in 2014. He also received first-team All-America honors in the 4x100m relay in 2015.   Lane served as the head track and field coach at Faith and Dreams Academy in Columbus, Ohio, from 2011 to 2014. He also taught various sport classes including football, soccer, and baseball.   A 2015 graduate of Tiffin University, Lane received a bachelors degree of business administration in sports and recreational management.   

Gottsleben is entering his 33rd season as the Coyote head men's track and field coach in 2016-17. Gottsleben not only built the Coyote men's program into a power at the Division II level, but has guided South Dakota through a successful transition to Division I status. Gottsleben led the Coyotes to three straight Summit League titles indoors from 2013-15 and earned Summit League Indoor Track Coach of the Year honors along the way. The Coyote men also won a Summit League title outdoors in 2014, the first at the Division I level. After establishing the Coyotes as one of the top programs in the North Central Conference, Gottsleben continued that success when USD joined NCAA Division I and the Great West Conference. He guided the men's squad to three straight indoor titles while earning GWC Coach of the Year three times. The Coyotes finished second all three years at the outdoor conference meet. The Coyote men have qualified 33 individuals and one relay to the NCAA preliminary round. Cody Snyder became the first male to reach the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2013 prior to returning in 2015 when he earned All-America honors in the discus. Teivaskie Lewin became an All-American in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships. Lewin also made the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2016. Gottsleben was named the NCC Men's Indoor Coach of the Year (tri-NCC Coach of the Year) in 2007 after directing the Coyotes to its seventh indoor title. Overall, he led USD to 14 men's NCC titles. Named the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association National Outdoor Coach of the Year in May 2006, he was selected from eight regional finalists. It was the second national coach of the year honor for Gottsleben, who was named in 1997 as the USTFCCCA National Indoor Coach of the Year. At USD he has coached student-athletes that have earned 152 All-America honors, as well as six national champions. At the 2006 Outdoor Nationals, he had five All-Americans, including four that finished first or second. He led his squads to eight top-10 finishes, including third at the NCAA Division II finish at the 1997 indoor meet, a fourth-place finish at the 2006 Outdoor and the 2001 Indoor Nationals and third-place result at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Originally of Brookings, S.D., he received 11 North Central Conference Coach of the Year honors (combined indoor and outdoor honors). He was also selected the North Central Region Coach of the Year for the sixth time in 2006. In 1994, he received the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Track and Field Coaches Association Award for his distinguished service to Division II track. With the leadership of Gottsleben, the Coyotes have enjoyed a rich tradition, placing fourth or better in 36 of the last 41 NCC indoor and outdoor meets. USD won 14 NCC titles under Gottsleben's direction, including seven indoor and seven outdoor titles. With Gottsleben's direction, USD was one of the most consistent NCC teams with 15 second-place finishes, two-third place efforts and six NCC championships in the last 24 NCC meets. In 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002, he was named NCAA Division II Central Region Coach of the Year. In 1997, he was named the Division II Men's National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. In 1994, Gottsleben received the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Track and Field Coaches Association Award for his distinguished service to Division II track. He currently serves on the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Committee. Gottsleben received his undergraduate (1975) and master's degree (1980) from South Dakota State. He was the head coach at Menno (SD) High School from 1975-1979, and the head men's and women's track coach at Dakota State from 1979-1983. Gottsleben and his wife, Helen, live in Yankton. He has one daughter, Kendra. Dave Gottsleben  is entering his 33rd season as the Coyote head men's track and field coach in 2016-17.

Huber has been a Coyote nearly his entire life. He grew up less than 20 minutes away in Elk Point, graduated from USD in 1989, worked 17 years in the Academic Advising Center and, in 2008, was named Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. As such, Huber has set the tone for a department that has sprinted into a new era. Under Hubers influence, the Coyotes have accomplished three program goals within the transition to Division I. For six consecutive years since 2010, both the Coyote men and women have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors to accomplish goal one. Another goal has been to win conference titles and the departments six programs have won 12 conference titles since 2008. Finishing in the top 10 nationally is goal three. The Coyote women accomplished that feat in 2014. Huber has been the womens track and field coach since 1994. The Coyotes have 16 conference titles since then including nine indoor and seven outdoor. The team also has 15 national top-10 finishes at either indoor or outdoor championships. Those include a second-place indoor finish in 1998, a fifth-place outdoor finish in 1999, and a 10 th -place indoor finish at the Division I championship meet in 2014. South Dakota boasts 12 national champions, including three two-time winners, during the Huber era. Those 12 athletes represent nine different events including three pole vault champions and two 800-meter runners. Bethany (Buell) Firsick won South Dakotas first Division I NCAA Championship when she cleared 14-feet-7.5-inches to win the pole vault at the 2013 outdoor championship meet in Eugene, Ore. Hubers experience as a student advisor has paid off big time for the Coyotes. Of South Dakotas 32 NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients, 20 are track and field athletes who had Huber on staff. Then theres Alexa Duling, an All-American 400-meter hurdler who in 2013 earned a Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship, the most prestigious scholarship awarded by the NCAA with a renewable value of $24,000. Duling is one of 10 USD track and field Academic All-Americans since 2005. Most recently, Huber has taken the lead in designing USDs first outdoor track facility since 1979. The facility opened ahead of the 2016 Summit League Outdoor Championship Meet held in Vermillion. The Lillibridge Track Complex features a nine-lane, 400-meter, NCAA-certified BSS 2000 track surface and competition areas for field events all viewable from the 1,000-seat grandstands. Opposite of the grandstand is a 120-meter incline and decline training lane. Huber is married to the former Stacy Kracht of Mitchell, S.D. They have two daughters, Mackenzie and Josie. Stacy is a member of the Coyotes Sports Hall of Fame and formerly a four-year starter on the Coyotes womens basketball team (1987-91).   Huber File: - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country since 2008 - Head Womens Track and Field Coach since 1994 - Spent 17 years working as USDs Director of Academic Advising - B.S. in elementary education from USD in 1990 - M.A. in education from USD in 1992 - Two-time National Coach of the Year (2008, 2004) - Six-time Regional Coach of the Year (1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008) - 16-time Conference Coach of the Year (1997 [2x], 1998 [2x], 1999 [indoor], 2004 [2x], 2005 [2x], 2006 [2x], 2008 [2x], 2009 [indoor], 2010 [indoor], 2011 [indoor]) - 11 Conference Championships (as coach of the womens teams) - 15 top-10 national finishes* - 12 National Champions (who won 15 titles) - 16 National Runner-Up Finishes - 33 All-Americans (who combined for 111 All-America honors) - 16 All-American Relay Teams * Indoor Team Finishes (7 top 10):  2 nd in 1998; 6 th in 1999; 7 th in 2001; 9 th in 2003; 7 th in 2004; 10 th in 2006; 6 th in 2008; 10 th in 2014 * Outdoor Team Finishes (8 top 10):  5 th in 1998; 7 th in 1999; 6 th in2000; 6 th in 2001; 7 th in 2003; 10 th in 2004; 6 th in 2008 Lucky Huber Director of Track and Field & Cross Country/Head Women's Coach Two-time national coach of the year Lucky Huber has been a Coyote nearly his entire life. He grew up less than 20 minutes away in Elk Point, graduated from USD in 1989, worked 17 years in the Academic Advising Center and, in 2008, was named Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. As such, Huber has set the tone for a department that has sprinted into a new era. Under Hubers influence, the Coyotes have accomplished three program goals within the transition to Division I. For six consecutive years since 2010, both the Coyote men and women have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors to accomplish goal one. Another goal has been to win conference titles and the departments six programs have won 12 conference titles since 2008. Finishing in the top 10 nationally is goal three. The Coyote women accomplished that feat in 2014. Huber has been the womens track and field coach since 1994. The Coyotes have 16 conference titles since then including nine indoor and seven outdoor. The team also has 15 national top-10 finishes at either indoor or outdoor championships. Those include a second-place indoor finish in 1998, a fifth-place outdoor finish in 1999, and a 10 th -place indoor finish at the Division I championship meet in 2014. South Dakota boasts 12 national champions, including three two-time winners, during the Huber era. Those 12 athletes represent nine different events including three pole vault champions and two 800-meter runners. Bethany (Buell) Firsick won South Dakotas first Division I NCAA Championship when she cleared 14-feet-7.5-inches to win the pole vault at the 2013 outdoor championship meet in Eugene, Ore. Hubers experience as a student advisor has paid off big time for the Coyotes. Of South Dakotas 32 NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients, 20 are track and field athletes who had Huber on staff. Then theres Alexa Duling, an All-American 400-meter hurdler who in 2013 earned a Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship, the most prestigious scholarship awarded by the NCAA with a renewable value of $24,000. Duling is one of 10 USD track and field Academic All-Americans since 2005. Most recently, Huber has taken the lead in designing USDs first outdoor track facility since 1979. The facility opened ahead of the 2016 Summit League Outdoor Championship Meet held in Vermillion. The Lillibridge Track Complex features a nine-lane, 400-meter, NCAA-certified BSS 2000 track surface and competition areas for field events all viewable from the 1,000-seat grandstands. Opposite of the grandstand is a 120-meter incline and decline training lane. Huber is married to the former Stacy Kracht of Mitchell, S.D. They have two daughters, Mackenzie and Josie. Stacy is a member of the Coyotes Sports Hall of Fame and formerly a four-year starter on the Coyotes womens basketball team (1987-91).   Huber File: - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country since 2008 - Head Womens Track and Field Coach since 1994 - Spent 17 years working as USDs Director of Academic Advising - B.S. in elementary education from USD in 1990 - M.A. in education from USD in 1992 - Two-time National Coach of the Year (2008, 2004) - Six-time Regional Coach of the Year (1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008) - 16-time Conference Coach of the Year (1997 [2x], 1998 [2x], 1999 [indoor], 2004 [2x], 2005 [2x], 2006 [2x], 2008 [2x], 2009 [indoor], 2010 [indoor], 2011 [indoor]) - 11 Conference Championships (as coach of the womens teams) - 15 top-10 national finishes* - 12 National Champions (who won 15 titles) - 16 National Runner-Up Finishes - 33 All-Americans (who combined for 111 All-America honors) - 16 All-American Relay Teams * Indoor Team Finishes (7 top 10):  2 nd in 1998; 6 th in 1999; 7 th in 2001; 9 th in 2003; 7 th in 2004; 10 th in 2006; 6 th in 2008; 10 th in 2014 * Outdoor Team Finishes (8 top 10):  5 th in 1998; 7 th in 1999; 6 th in2000; 6 th in 2001; 7 th in 2003; 10 th in 2004; 6 th in 2008

Miles begins his 14th season as an assistant coach for South Dakota in 2016-17. He coaches the pole vault, jumps and sprints. Miles has turned the South Dakota vault program into one of the premiere programs in the nation. He has coached 11 All-Americans at the Division I level, including 2013 National Champion Bethany Buell. Miles' athletes have dominated USD's all-time charts, with at least seven of his athletes making the top 10 list for men's and women's indoor and outdoor seasons. Miles' collegiate marks remain ranked in the top-10 as well. At the 2016 Summit League Championships, the pole vault crew combined for 39 points indoors and 41 points outdoors of the overall men's and women's team finish. Five-time All-American Emily Grove swept the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles, while Jake David captured the Coyotes' fourth-straight outdoor title on the men's side. Miles, a native of Four Oaks, Calif., was a five-time All-American in the pole vault at USD. He also qualified for the D-II National Championships in the long jump, triple jump and decathlon during his collegiate career. Post-collegiately Miles was one of the best professional pole vaulters in the world for over a decade. A three-time Olympian (finishing 4th in Beijing 2008, 7th in Athens 2004 and qualified for London in 2012) Miles has represented the United States on six world championship teams and been a 3 time US National Champion. Over his lengthy career, he has been ranked number 1 in the US four times and top five in the world six times by Track and Field News Magazine. He also organized the Miles Pole Vault Summit which brought 10 of the top vaulters in the world, including four U.S. Olympians and 2 Olympic medalists to Vermillion in 2007. Miles retired with a personal best of 19-2 1/2. He was inducted into the Henry Heider Memorial Coyote Sports Hall of Fame in the fall of 2006 and the USATFCCCA DII Hall of Fame in May of 2013. Miles earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1996 and a master's degree in athletic administration in 1998 from USD. He met his wife, Tori (Devericks), while in school. Tori was also a track and field All-American for the Coyotes. Coyote alum and three-time Olympian Derek Miles begins his 14th season as an assistant coach for South Dakota in 2016-17. He coaches the pole vault, jumps and sprints.

Cota spent a year and a half as a functional movement specialist at ActiveSpine in Sioux Falls, developing and implementing functional movement-based rehabilitation and exercise programs. Cota earned her bachelor's degree in health promotion at South Dakota State in 2011 with minors in nutrition and sports performance.