8404285

Jeff Mettler (Track & Field)

Eureka High School, Eureka, SD

2013 (current as of 2/13/13):

Named Indoor Track Athlete of the Week by the Summit League on Jan. 22…Placed second in the 3000-meters at Jack Johnson Invitational, finishing with a league-best time of 8:20.82….Set a new USD record while winning the men’s 5,000-meter in 14:08.74 during day one of the Frank Sevigne Invitational on Feb. 1… Ranked in the top-15 on the national performance list after performance at the Frank Sevigne-Nebraska Invitational…Won his second Indoor Track Athlete of the Week award in three weeks by setting a school indoor record in the 5,000-meters in 14:08.74 breaking the previous record of 14:18.37…Won the men’s 3,000-meters in 8:09.82, which cut five seconds off the previous USD record of 8:15:06 that he set at the Jack Johnson Invitational on Jan. 19…Earned the Indoor Track Athlete of the Week honor for the second straight week and third time this season by winning the 3,000-meters in a school record time of 8:09.82.  He broke the record he set earlier this year at the Jack Johnson Classic by five seconds (8:15.06).

2012:

Qualified for NCAA West Preliminaries in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, capping off outstanding season…won Summit League Outdoor Championship in steeplechase at 9:01.85…set school outdoor record in steeplechase at 8:58.95 at Sioux City Relays…won the mile at the John Dalton indoor meet (4:12.95)…added a win in the 3,000 meters at Graphic Edge meet…ran a personal-best of 14:50.35 in 5,000 meters at Kansas Relays…also added personal-best of 1:54.47 in 800 at Mount Marty Twilight meet…named to Academic All-Summit League team, earning Distinguished Scholar status…named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.

2011:

Earned one All-Great West honor with victory in 3,000-meter steeplechase at the GWC Outdoor Championships with a time of 9:42.91…also placed eighth at the outdoor championships in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:05.02…ran an outdoor season-best time of 9:14.41 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the SDSU/UND Double Dual…earned a sixth place finish at the indoor conference championships in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15:15.91.

Prep:

He helped Eureka’s medlay relay win the state title in 2009 while finishing third in the 1,600 meters and 3,2000 meters as an individual…at the 2010 state championships he won the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:31 and finished second in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10:06..had personal bests of 2:01 in the 800 meters, 4:31 in the 1,600 and 9:52 in the 3,200.

8118833

Alexis Yackley (Basketball)

Sully Buttes High School, Onida, SD

2012-13 (current as of 2/15/13):

Has started all 25 games…Leads team in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.32)…averaging 5.3 assists per game…has third most rebounds on team (4.8 per game)…has 41 steals on the year (1.7 per game).

2011-12:

Solidified point guard position at both ends of the floor…led the Summit League in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.35), a mark that tied for seventh in the nation…led the Summit League in assists (4.8), which tied for 37th nationally…tied for eighth in the Summit League with 1.9 steals per game as well and led team with 58 steals…her 148 assists were seventh-best in a single season in school history…set a career-high with 12 assists in opening-win over Northern Arizona (11/18/11)…had 11 assists in home win over Northern Colorado (12/10/11)…had season-high 16 points against Oral Roberts (12/29/11)…started 30 of 31 games…played 40 minutes or more in six games (two overtime contests)…third on the team with 32 three-pointers…named to Academic All-Summit League team, earning Distinguished Scholar status…also named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.

2010-11:

All-Great West Conference honorable mention selection…averaged 6.9 points, 3.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game…added 10 double-figure scoring games…scored a career-high 19 points in win over Northern Arizona (12/09/10)…had a career-high nine assists in win over NJIT (02/24/11)…had 17 games of four assists or more…her 3.4 assists per game ranked eighth in the Great West Conference and first on the team…also hit 48 three-pointers, shooting 33.6 percent from behind the arc…also had a career-high nine rebounds in WBI win over Idaho (03/17/11)…also had 28 steals…named to the Great West Academic All-Conference team. 2009-10 Sat out as a redshirt.

2008-09:

Appeared in 26 games for Iowa State team that finished 27-9 and made appearance in NCAA Elite Eight…average two points per contest and also averaged 6.4 minutes per game…also had 13 rebounds, 19 assists and seven steals…converted 21-of-26 free-throw attempts (80.8 percent).

Prep:

Led Sully Buttes to back-to-back state championships in junior and senior years…named Argus Leader Player of the Year as a senior, and also was named South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year and South Dakota Miss Basketball…also earned the Spirit of Sue award in 2008, which recognizes the most outstanding senior at the state tournament based on academics, athletics, community involvement and leadership…member of the state all-tournament team her freshman through senior campaigns… set high school career records in assists (739) and steals (557). She has numerous accolades as she was a three-time first-team All-State pick, earned all-conference honors every season since eighth grade, and was a McDonald’s All-America nominee…also was class valedictorian and member of the National Honor Society while also being a five-time academic all-state selection.

 

8102051

Jordan Boots (Basketball)

Vermillion High School, Vermillion, SD

2012-13 (current as of 2/15/13):

Has played in all 25 games played this year…averaging 3.8 points per game…has made 25 three-pointers…also has 33 assists.

2011-12:

Appeared in all 28 games, starting two…averaged 5.0 points per game…finished third on the team with 28 three-pointers…also had 38 assists compared to just 18 turnovers…had a season-high 19 points in win over Peru State (12/21/11)…finished with four games in double figures…had season-high four 3-pointers against Peru State…had career-high five assists against Oakland (02/25/12)…had at least one assist in 20 games.

2010-11:

Appeared in all 33 of USD’s games, starting two, and provided valuable minutes off the bench on the perimeter…Averaged 6.1 points per contest with eight double-figure scoring games, including a career-high of 26 against Midland University (12/28/10)…also recorded a career-high six steals against Midland on way to recording 22 steals on the season…also averaged 1.3 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 78.3 percent from the free-throw line…third on the team with 48 three-pointers, shooting 37.8 percent from behind the arc.

2009-10:

Played in all 32 of USD’s games as a reserve guard during the season, averaging 10 minutes of action…posted two double-figure scoring games…notched a career-high 21 points against Dakota State (12/2/09) thanks to eight field goals, including five three pointers….also posted 12 points at Texas-Pan American (1/30/10)…shot 40 percent (31-of-78) from the field and 34 percent (22-of-65) beyond the arc during the season…had at least three assists in four games. Redshirted his first year (2008-09) in the South Dakota program.

Prep:

Enjoyed stellar season as a senior at Vermillion High School…averaged 26.0 points and 4.0 rebounds as a senior…scored 1,275 points during his Tanager career…named to the second team Class “A” All-State team in South Dakota…also named all-conference and all-region as a senior…three-year starter at guard for Tanagers and coach Jason Huska…also played golf …was a five-year letter winner in golf…two-time Big 8 Conference golf medalist…three times earned All-State honors in golf…member of the 2007 State Golf Championship squad at Vermillion.

Nick Meriggan

Kassie Loe (Softball)

Lennox High School, Lennox, SD

2013 (current as of 2/13/13):

Has hit .357 through the Coyotes’ first five games with two doubles and two runs scored.

2012:

Earned All-Summit League first team honors, becoming first Coyote player to do so…started all 55 games at second base and was one of the Coyotes’ most improved players…hit .259 with six doubles, two triples, one homer and six RBI on the season….had a .347 slugging percentage…had a .971 fielding percentage…was 3-for-3 in win over Western Illinois (04/29/12)…finished with eight multi-hit games on the season…was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI in road win at Southern Utah (03/17/12)…named to Academic All-Summit League team.

2011:

Started all 51 games at second base…committed just five errors on the season with 90 putouts and 72 assists…hit .200 with two homers and nine RBI in 120 at-bats…also had three sacrifices…went 2-for-2 with two homers in win over Jamestown (03/30/11)…also went 2-for-3 in wins over Valparaiso (03/08/11) and Columbia (03/12/11)…finished with six multi-hit games.

2010:

Hit .281 with seven doubles, three triples and 14 RBI for Mount Marty in 2010…had six steals in eight attempts and defensively, led the Lancers with 80 assists…also was second on the team with a .417 slugging percentage…also a member of Mount Marty’s women’s basketball team.

Prep:

Played for the Lennox Lady O’s, where she finished with a career .341 batting average…for her career with Lennox, Loe had 15 doubles, 15 triples, four homers and 58 RBI…her best offensive season was in 2005 when she hit .386 with three doubles, six triples and 11 RBI…was also a two-time all-tournament team selection…also played for the South Dakota Flash team – which was the same squad that USD pitcher Missy Blackburn played for…in 2009, Loe hit .493 with nine doubles, five triples, two homers and a team-high 50 RBI.