Men Returning / Lost / Newcomer ..................... 22 / 17 / 6Women Returning / Lost / Newcomer .................. 23 / 6 / 7
Track & Field Media Contact .........................Ashley GauerOffice Phone ..................................................605-626-7748Fax ..................................................................605-626-2238Email .........................................ashley.gauer@northern.eduWebsite ................................................www.nsuwolves.comTwitter ...................................................... @WolvesAthleticsNSU Track & Field Twitter ...................... @nsuwolves_tfccFacebook Page ..................................... /nsuwolvesathleticsInstagram Account ..........................................@nsuwolvesYouTube .............................................. NSUWolvesAthletics
wolves Quick Facts2019 outdoor Schedule3/23 Wildcat Classic Wayne, Neb.3/24 Wildcat Classic Wayne, Neb.3/24 Cal Poly Shareslo San Louis Obispo, Calif.4/6 Dordt Invite Sioux Center, Iowa4/12 Sioux City Relays Sioux City, Iowa4/13 Sioux Ciy Relays Sioux City, Iowa4/13 UNK Loper Invite Kearney, Neb.4/19 NSU TWILIGHT ABERDEEN, S.D.4/25 Drake Relays Des Moines, Iowa4/26 Drake Relays Des Moines, Iowa4/26 Kip Janvrin Invite Indianola, Iowa4/27 Drake Relays Des Moines, Iowa4/29 NSIC Multi Events Aberdeen, S.D.4/30 NSIC Multi Events Aberdeen, S.D.5/11 NSIC Championships Duluth, Minn.5/12 NSIC Championships Duluth, Minn.5/24 NCAA Championships Kingsville, Texas5/25 NCAA Championships Kingsville, Texas5/26 NCAA Championships Kingsville, Texas
Men’s nsic preseason pollRk. School Pts.1. Minnesota State (10) ............................. 1002. University of Mary (1) .............................. 883. Sioux Falls ............................................... 824. Augustana ............................................... 745. Minnesota Duluth .................................... 616. Wayne State ............................................ 517. Concordia-St. Paul .................................. 498. Northern State ......................................... 379. MSU Moorhead ....................................... 3410. Southwest Minnesota State ..................... 1711. Minot State .............................................. 12
woMen’s nsic preseason pollRk. School Pts.1. University of Mary (14) .......................... 1962. Minnesota State .................................... 1803. Augustana ............................................. 1644. Winona State (1) ................................... 1605. Minnesota Duluth .................................. 1446. Sioux Falls ............................................. 1257. Wayne State .......................................... 1078. Northern State ......................................... 969. St. Cloud State ........................................ 9210. Bemidji State ........................................... 8611. MSU Moorhead ....................................... 7012. Concordia-St. Paul .................................. 5913. Upper Iowa .............................................. 5214. Southwest Minnesota State ..................... 2815. Minot State .............................................. 16
2018-19 NORTHERN STATE WOLVES track & field
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Patrick Heckroth was announced as the Wolves head track & field/cross country coach on July 9, 2018. Heckroth joins the Wolves after three seasons at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke where he was the Associate Head Track and Field Coach.
Heckroth holds certifications as an IAAF Level V Elite and USATF Level 3 for sprints/hurdles/relays, and USTFCCCA Specialist (jumps) coach. He is a member of both the USATF and USTFCCCA.
In his three seasons at UNCP, Heckroth ran the day-to-day operations of the track and field program including practice coordination, meet day operations, home meet management, and student-athlete recruitment. Heckroth coached one NCAA All-American, five NCAA Qualifiers, three All-Academic performers, 31 NCAA provisional qualifiers, 26 school record holders, 12 Peach Belt Conference Champions, and 45 All-Conference selections as the primary coach for the sprints, jumps, and hurdles. This past season, Heckroth was named the Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. UNC Pembroke won the 2017 Peach Belt Men’s Track and Field Championship, and finished as the conference runner-up in both 2017 (women) and 2018 (men).
He began his career as a volunteer assistant coach, working with the sprints, jumps, and hurdles, at Fresno State from 2011-13. He helped develop three USA Junior National Qualifiers in the 400 hurdles, seven NCAA Division I Preliminary round qualifiers, two Mountain West Conference champions and numerous all-conference selections.
Heckroth then moved on to spend two seasons as the assistant coach at Valparaiso University as the primary sprints and hurdles coach and recruiting coordinator. He mentored one student-athlete (Nicole Zehel) to the Horizon League title in the steeplechase, while his sprinters and hurdlers also shattered four school records and establish 26 top-5 marks in program annals.
Heckroth is a 2011 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Movement and Exercise Science. He was a member of the Panther track and field program, specializing in the 400 hurdles. Heckroth also holds a Master of Arts in Sport Psychology from California State University, Fresno and Master of Science in Sport Administration from Valparaiso University.
Patrick and his wife, Amanda were married earlier this spring and will reside in Aberdeen.
Patrick Heckroth • head coach • 1st season
The heckroth File• IAAF Level V Elite and USATF Level 3 for sprints/hurdles/relays
• USTFCCCA Specialist (jumps) coach
• University of Northern Iowa, California State University - Fresno, and Valparaiso University graduate
Jon Evenson enters his seventh season with the NSU Track and Field teams in 2017-18.
In his five years coaching at Northern, Evenson has made five trips to the NCAA DII national meet and come home with four All American awards; Yvonne Freeze twice in the discus (’12, ’13), who also owns the school record in that event, and Breann Jackson twice in the weight throw (’15, ’16).
He has also has coached four conference champions in the javelin; two-time NSIC champion Alex Webster who, qualified for the NCAA DII national meet in 2014 and owns the current school record, 2016 graduate Devin Olson, who also owns two individual NSIC titles in the javelin, David Murphy, who took home his first conference title in 2016, and Michaela Schlecht who earned in honor as a senior in 2017. Murphy capped off a great year of performances by Evenson’s throwing crew in 2016, as he had two other javelin throwers join him on the men’s podium at the NSIC Championships, along with two women ranked in the top four of the final NSIC season standings. In addition to the javelin, Breann Jackson added two All-NSIC performances (runner-up in the indoor weight throw and outdoor shot put), an All-American award in the indoor weight throw, and her first national meet appearance in the hammer throw to her resume. Other conference podium finishes from the 2016 campaign came from RS freshmen Jake Olson in the discus, and junior Lucas Osowski (hammer throw, indoor and outdoor shot put), who broke the school record in the hammer throw.
A Lisbon N.D. native, Evenson was a three time All-State performer in the discus and javelin. He then threw collegiately at Northern State. During his four years throwing for the Wolves, Evenson racked up three individual conference titles and two NCAA DII national provisional qualifying marks in the javelin. He was also a conference place winner in the discus and the shop put for NSU.
Jon evenson • assistant coach • 7th season
2018-19 NORTHERN STATE WOLVES track & field
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Livia Mahaffie enters her first year with the cross country and track and field programs in the fall of 2018. She joins the Wolves after two seasons as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Loyola University New Orleans, and will work primarily with the cross country and distance student-athletes.
In her two seasons at LUNO, Mahaffie coached three NAIA national cross country qualifiers, one NAIA national qualifier in track and field, one NAIA All-American, 12 school record holders, and the SSAC Female Cross Country Freshman Athlete of the Year. The women’s track and field team recorded podium finishes at the SSAC Outdoor Championships taking second in 2017 and third in 2018. Mahaffie began her career as a graduate assistant at Wingate University in North Carolina. She worked primarily with the cross country programs in the fall of 2013. . The women’s cross country team won the South Atlantic Conference Championship, the NCAA Southeast Region Cross Country Championship, for the first time in school history, and earned a bid to the NCAA DII Cross Country Championship, finishing 26th overall. In August of 2014, she then moved on to Seattle University as the cross country/track and field administrative assistant. While at Seattle, she also worked as a ticket operations graduate assistant in the department.
In August of 2015, Mahaffie accepted the assistant cross country and track and field position at Holy Names Academy. She led the varsity program to an eighth place finish at the WIAA 3A State Championship, with three top-10 finishers and one individual champion. On the track, two student-athletes qualified for the WIAA 3A State Track and Field Championship in the 800m and 1600m distances. Those two individuals tallied third and fifth place finishes in the 800m and 1600m, and two state championships in both events.
Mahaffie then moved into a traveling operations internship with the American Junior Golf Association prior to her work at LUNO. She graduate from the University of North Carolina Pembroke with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sport Science in 2013 and from Seattle University with a Master of Art in Sport Administration and Leadership in 2017.
Mahaffie ran collegiately at UNCP, competing in both cross country and track and field. In 2011, she earned Peach Belt Conference Runner of the Year honors, and went on to win the conference championship in 2012, where she also qualified for the NCAA National Championships. She is the former school record holder in both the 5k and 6k distances. On the track, Mahaffie is a 7-time school record holder and USTFCCCA All-Region recipient.
livia mahaffie • assistant coach • 1st season
Wade Royer enters his second season of coaching the pole vault for the Wolves Track and Field programs.
Royer, a 2010 graduate of NSU, still holds the outdoor school record in the vault at 16’1”. He first broke the school record his sophomore season, before breaking it several more times on his way to becoming NSU’s first 16+ foot vaulter. Royer is a two time NSIC All-Conference performer and hit several NCAA national provisional qualifying marks while competing for the Wolves. As a prep for Jones County High School in Murdo, S.D., Royer was a back-to-back class B State Champion in the pole vault. Royer set both region and state meet records while going undefeated his senior season, including a Howard Wood Relays crown.
Wade Royer • assistant coach • 2nd season
Taylor Rolf enters his second season as a graduate assistant for the Wolves working with the multis, jumps, sprints, and pole vault. Originally from Elkton, Rolf is a Northern State track and field alumni who competed in the pole vault and javelin. He finished as high as ninth in the pole vault from the NSIC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Taylor Rolf • Graduate assistant coach • 2nd season
2018-19 NORTHERN STATE WOLVES track & field
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Name Event Yr. Hometown \ Previous SchoolNickolas Baier Mid-Distance Fr. Mankato, Minn. \ Mankato East Tanner Berg Throws So. Watertown, S.D. \ Watertown HS Kelson Brewer Multi Jr. Stanwood, Wash. \ Lakewood HS Zach Burns Pole Vault So. Benson, Minn. \ Benson HS Zach Busch Jumps Sr. Jordan, Minn. \ Jordan HS Zech Culbreath Sprints Sr. Queen Creek, Ariz. \ Chandler HS Riccardo Done Distance Jr. Passarella, Italy Austin Eppard Throws So. Chester, S.D. \ Chester HS Isaiha Fletcher Sprints Jr. Fargo, N.D. \ Fargo South HS Jorge Garcia Distance Jr. Pine Bluffs, Wyo. \ Pine Bluffs HS \ Gillette CCJackson Harrison Distance Fr. Aberdeen, S.D. \ Aberdeen Central HS TJ Hochstetler Multi Sr. Arthur, N.D. \ Northern Cass HS Chaka Kelly Sprints/Throws Sr. Chicago, Ill. \ Palatine HS Jonathon Kremer Throws So. Sartell, Minn. \ Sartell HS Jacob Lackas Hurdles Jr. Davis, S.D. \ Lennox HS Cade Larson Sprints So. Chester, S.D. \ Chester HS Alazae LeFaive Jumps Sr. Owatonna, Minn. \ Owatonna HS Bryce Malsam Multi Jr. Roscoe, S.D. \ Edmunds Central HS JJ Martina Sprints Sr. Willemstad, Curacao \ Nilda Pinto SBO \ Cloud County CCDonovan Miller Distance So. Murrieta, Calif. \ Vista Murrieta HS Jake Olson Throws Sr. Monticello, Minn. \ Monticello HS Tanner Peltier Distance Sr. Aberdeen, S.D. \ Central HS Itoitz Rodriguez Sprints Sr. Usurbil, Spain Jacob Rohrer Distance Fr. Plymouth, Minn. \ Wayzata HS Devin Sheridan Mid-Distance Fr. Iowa Falls, Iowa \ Iowa Falls-Alden HS Logan Swenson Distance Sr. Sioux Falls, S.D. \ Washington HS Trey Tiefenthaler Jumps Jr. Brookings, S.D. \ Brookings HS Jared Tyrrell Sprints Fr. Pender, Neb. \ Pender HS Asher Wahl Distance Jr. Sioux Falls, S.D. \ West Central HS Jacob Wiedrich Pole Vault Sr. Moorhead, Minn. \ Moorhead HS
