The Genz

Derek Miles, an assistant track coach at The University of South Dakota and two-time Olympian, cleared 18-6 3/4 to win the men's pole vault at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/25-1.asp Derek Miles, 2011 USA Outdoors Men's Pole Vault Champion Miles, a 1996 USD graduate, finished ahead Jeremy Scott, originally of Norfolk, Neb., who placed second at 18-4 1/2. Scott's sisters include Terri, who both coached and ran for the Coyotes, and Diana, who also was a track athlete at USD. Jeremy Scott has also jumped at Miles's pole vault competitions at the DakotaDome. Now competing with Team Nike, Miles recorded the winning jump ( http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=090fb11a-dadb-4d3f-bf09-15899c5622f6.html ) on his second attempt at 18-6 1/4. He will compete in the IAAF World Track and Field Championships August 27 to Sept. 4 in Daeg...

Fanfare rarely follows a young athlete like Valerie Robinson, a Vermillion junior who won the second flight consolation championship at the 2011 South Dakota Girls State Tennis Tournament. Tennis athletes like Robinson have the passion, desire and dedication for their sport at the same level of others in track and field, football, basketball or any number of sports. They won't play at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, but they will at state tournaments and other event venues as they provide thrills for their families and fulfill their competitive and personal goals in a sport they love to play. Every year Vermillion competes in tennis against the biggest schools in South Dakota without complaint. They go out and work hard, trying to do what they can to win and help their team succeed. Yet, it is has been since the mid 1970s that a Vermillion team has won a tennis championship. Still, they go on and with extraordinary dedication. Due to budgetary constraints, the Vermillio...

As North Carolina and Vanderbilt (Vandy won, 7-3) met in the opener on Saturday at the 2011 College World Series at its new digs at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., one of America's greatest college sports competitions began on a sun- and hope-filled Saturday. The days ahead will determine which team basks in the sun while others feel just sunburned. Games will be a little different this year than in the past when the venerable old Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, provided the venue for scores of memories. The new $131 million TD Ameritrade Park is 3.17 miles from the old baseball haunt in downtown Omaha (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-world-series-fans-adjust-to-sleek-new-stadium-in-omaha/2011/06/08/AGhk0PZH_story_1.html ), and becomes the new place for dreams to be fulfilled. Some of the tradition powers like Texas,  and North Carolina ( http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=6667417 ) are back to rekindle past glory, upset-minded teams...

When you're young and the entire world seems to spinning like a top, catching a baseball or football game on the radio is how you invest yourself in your favorite sport. You dream that someday the scene will include you at Tiger Stadium, Target Field, the Rose Bowl, at an NCAA "Road to the Final Four" game, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Lambeau Field, Pittsburgh's Heinz Field, the Olympics or some other major venue. As you move on with your life, things slow down yet still move swiftly. Those childhood dreams stick with you so when you get the chance to go to one of these events, you don't hesitate. I have had the fortune of attending and working at some major events. From a week in Tiger Stadium to DII football playoffs at Grand Valley State to DII national championship events to the Drake Relays and attending NCAA Division I tournament games, I have had the opportunity to not only watch the games but interact with participants. As a former Sports Information ...

She's the first. Bethany Buell of The University of South Dakota women's track and field team finished 13th in the women's pole vault at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. As a result, Buell earns second team All-American honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association USTFCCA). USD's Bethany Buell Buell was successful at two heights at the meet, including 13'1 1/2, which placed her 13th.  Surrounded by competitors from across the nation, Buell is the first Coyote to step onto this stage and she fared well. She was joined by a group of Coyote supporters in red and white in the stands near where she was competing, which I am sure provided some comfort. She cleared the opening height of 12'9 1/2 on her second try, after barely missing her opening jump. As the bar moved to 13-1 1'2, Buell cruised over the bar without problem. Then the rain came and competition shutdown for 30 minutes. Just...

Sometimes I find myself wandering aimlessly. Sometimes it is about whether mind over matter has substance or it is the physical wandering without direction. When I adventure into mind space, I find freedom in my thought. I like to lose myself in my subconscious, thinking of what might be, what could be and how to get there. Or, I think of what has been and why. These mind adventures relax me. They help me produce in my work and my play. I know some of my friends may wonder if maybe I am always lost in some far away world. Obviously with my sad sack sense of humor, there are reasons for that perception. Those times I am just wandering around the city, there are fewer rewards and perhaps more questions, especially by myself. No, I am not a lost soul, lost wanderer, or ancient mariner. Just a writer or communicator of some sort. Wandering and observing is what makes some of us tick (or so I think). I really don't know how it happens. Take the other day, I was headed to Wa...

In the past few weeks, we have been presented with a vivid picture of South Dakota athletic pride. We have witnessed the splendor in achievement that young men and women representing our high schools and colleges have provided us through dedicated and relentless efforts. One such example is women's pole vaulter Bethany Buell of The University of South Dakota, who on Friday will be the first USD athlete to compete at the NCAA DI Track and Field Championships.  Another example was the inspired and energetic play of Ritchie Price's South Dakota State University men's baseball team. The Jacks pushed Oral Roberts to the brink in the Summit League Baseball Championships http://www.gojacks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=15000&ATCLID=205155970 . While ORU won the league championships for the 14th straight year it was not without a few tense moments at Sioux Falls Stadium last week, created by the spirited bunch from Brookings. Today, ...

The University of South Dakota has become a Midwestern pole vault mecca. Over the past 20 years, Coyote track and field has developed a tradition of success in pole vaulting, ranging from conference and national (DII) titles to an Olympic games participant - coach and two-time Olympian Derek Miles.  Now, redshirt freshman pole vaulting sensation  Bethany Buell of USD (St. Louis, Mo.) has become the first Coyote to qualify for the NCAA Championships and is the only athlete from a South Dakota school who will compete at the national meet on June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa. Buell is ranked 12th in the country and qualified 10th in the NCAA West Preliminaries at 13'3 1/2. She had a PR, school record, and state of South Dakota all-time best of 13-9 1/4 at the Howard Wood Relays on May 6. "This is a huge first step for our program and for her personally," said Lucky Huber, USD's head women's track and field coach. "It helps put us on the same foo...