Catching up with former area athletes: USF's Alm finishes as Northern Sun leader in blocked shots
Mar. 22—SIOUX FALLS — University of Sioux Falls center Zane Alm had a strong redshirt freshman season for the Cougars, leading the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in blocked shots.
Alm finished the season with 56 blocked shots in 30 games, with Alm starting in 28 contests. The figure not only led the conference but ranked No. 18 nationally for total blocks and No. 19 for blocks per game at 1.87 per game.
The 6-foot-10 Alm had a pair of four-block games coming against Dakota State on Nov. 17 and against Minnesota-Duluth on Jan. 20. Alm finished averaging 4.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, with two games where he had a season-best 11 points, with the latter being Feb. 10 against Winona State. Alm finished as a 44% shooter from the field and was 26-for-39 on free throws.
USF finished the season at 19-11 overall and 13-9 in NSIC play.
WEST FARGO, N.D. — Augustana University's Cailey Scott, a native of Mitchell, was among the members of the Vikings' women's swimming and diving that earned the school's first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Hulbert Aquatic Center in West Fargo, North Dakota, hosted by Minnesota State Moorhead.
Augsutana earned 979.5 points, finishing just ahead of second-place Minnesota State Mankato, which had 969 points.
Scott, a senior from Mitchell, finished fourth in the 200-yard backstroke at the NSIC meet, finishing just behind teammate Ella Ward-Zellar, narrowly missing out on all-NSIC honors. Scott's time was 2 minutes and 5 seconds. Scott also finished 11th in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 18:13.63 and 13th in the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:46.13.
In January, Scott was named one of 33 Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award winners for Augustana, an award that goes to senior NSIC student-athletes who have a grade-point average of 3.75 or better, will exhaust their eligibility and are on track to graduate. Scott is studying English at Augustana.
MADISON, S.D. — Corsica-Stickney product Jacob Joachim had a strong indoor track and field season for Dakota State as the Trojans were a weight throw power in the indoor season.
Joachim finished 14th at the NAIA indoor national meet on March 2-4 in Brookings with a throw of 56 feet, 3.25 inches.
Joachim was third at the North Star conference meet, finishing behind teammate Connor Tordsen, who won his third consecutive conference title. Tordsen finished sixth at the national meet for All-America honors.
Joachim raised his personal best weight three times in the last month of the season. He had a throw of 53 feet, 9 inches to earn second place at the Mount Marty Opener meet on January, which was the fourth-best throw in school history. He followed that up with a throw of 54 feet, 6.5 inches at the DWU Alumni Meet on Feb. 4, a 54-foot, 7.5-inch throw at the North Star meet on Feb. 19 and the 56-foot throw at the NAIA national meet.
The national meet was won by Doane's Matthew Campbell, who won a state shot put title at Colome in high school. Campbell won with a throw of 67 feet, 9 inches, and the Tigers had three of the top-four finishers at the national meet.
Dakota State opens the outdoor season on March 24-25 in Wayne, Nebraska at the Wildcat Classic.
