South Dakota –Track and field athletes at the University of South Dakota are no strangers to the Sioux City Relays.
Yet, this year, there’s a kicker: The Coyotes will send a full squad — for the first time at the Division I level and first time in recent memory — to the prestigious meet, which begins today (Friday) in Sioux City, Iowa.
There are a variety of reasons why USD will be fully represented, according to men’s head coach Dave Gottsleben and women’s coach Lucky Huber.
First, it just so happened that the schedule worked in USD’s favor.
n previous years, the Sioux City Relays was the same weekend at Mount SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., which the Coyotes routinely take part in. This year, however, the SAC Relays are April 19-20, leaving USD with an open weekend.
“Every year, our schedule shuffles a little bit, but quite honestly, we hope it stays like this,” Huber said this week. “They do a great job with the meet down there, and there are some good athletes for our kids to compete against.”
Among the other schools scheduled to attend are Mount Marty College, Augustana, Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Creighton, Dakota State, Dakota Wesleyan, Dickinson State, Dordt, Iowa Western, Jamestown, Morningside, Northern State, Northwestern, Sioux Falls and Wayne State. Secondly for USD, pole vault coach and 2-time Olympian Derek Miles will be inducted into the Sioux City Relays Hall of the Fame.
“We thought having most of our team there would be a good thing, to support him and all he’s done for our program,” Gottsleben said
