For most people, 2015 feels like a lifetime ago.
For Rod DeHaven '89, South Dakota State University's Brent Bargmann Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, 2015 is a painful reminder of his team's last loss.
"We went 1-2-3 and still didn't win," DeHaven said, referring to the 2015 Summit League Cross Country Championships. "There were some coaching errors on my part."
But the 2015 loss may have sparked something in both DeHaven and his program. Since then, the men's cross-country team has reeled off the last 10 straight Summit League Championships and have more or less put the rest of the league in a complete stranglehold — winning most of its championships in dominant fashion. In fact, SDSU is the only current member in the conference to have won the men's championship. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis — the last school not named SDSU to win a Summit League men's cross-country title — has moved conferences (Horizon League) and changed its name (IU Indianapolis).
This fall, SDSU completed the "decade of dominance" by defeating the University of North Dakota (second) and the rest of the Summit League foes at Ashland, Nebraska's Mahoney State Park.
Cody Larson '25, a senior from Warner, captured the individual title over Oral Roberts' Abraham Chelangam to complete the Jackrabbits’ sweep. DeHaven was named the conference's "Coach of the Year" for the 10th straight time.
"The 10-year streak is not just representative of the last 10 years, but it is the result of the amazing tradition that dates back to the early 1950s," DeHaven said. "The current group understands that they sit atop the shoulders of so many giants that came before them."
Since joining the Summit League in 2007, the men's program has captured 14 of 19 possible titles, a continuation of a long history of dominant cross-country teams at the university. At the Division II level, SDSU won six national titles and countless conference titles. DeHaven himself helped lift the Jacks to the 1985 title as a student-athlete.
"I am fortunate to have experienced it both as a student-athlete and a coach," DeHaven added. "The tradition continues."
SDSU's decade-long streak is currently the third longest in Division I men's cross-country. Iona University currently has the NCAA record with 35 straight conference championships while Furman University is in the midst of 13 straight titles.
Written by University Marketing & Communications
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