Maggie Ewen and Three Gophers selected by NCAA, USTFCCCA as DI Regional Award winners; MSU's Chris Parno and U-Mary's, Lexi Zeis and Reece Vega for DII

Maggie Ewen and Three Gophers selected by NCAA, USTFCCCA as DI Indoor Track Regional Award winners.
Kaitlyn Long Midwest Region women's field event winner.
Maggie Ewen West Region women's field event recipient
Matt Bingle Midwest Region Head coach
Peter Miller Midwest Region Assistant coach

NCAA DII
Mankato State's Chris Parno named Central Region Women's Region Assistant Coach
Lexi Zeis earned the title of Women's Central Region AOY.
U-Mary's Assistant Coach Reece Vega also gets Central Region honors.

NCAA DII Indoor All Region Selections

NCAA DII Indoor All Region Selections HERE

Central Region Award winners:
MSU Mankato's Jim Dilling(coach), Chris Parno(Assistant coach), Mike Sandle(field)
UMD's Emi Trost(track)
Winona State's Kaitlyn Long(field)

NSIC Weekly Summary and Athletes of the Week

                                      NSIC Men's Summary and Athletes of the Week HERE
                           
                                 NSIC women's summary and Athletes of the Week HERE

Shell Shocker Results

Shell Shocker Results HERE

Winona State summary HERE

Kaitlyn Long Selected as NSIC Preseason Indoor Track AOY

Kaitlyn Long Selected as  Preseason Indoor Track NSIC Field AOY HERE

Kaitlyn Long

Viking Olympics Results

Viking Olympics results HERE.

Winona State summary is HERE.

Viking Olympics Day 1 Results

Viking Olympics Day 1 Results HERE.

Winona State summary is HERE.

NCAA DII Championships Day 1 Results

NCAA DII Championships Day 1 Results for men HERE.  Women HERE

Pentathlon results HERE.  Heptathlon Day 1 results HERE.

MSU Mankato women's summary HERE. Men HERE.
U-Mary women's summary HERE.
Winona State summary is HERE.

Winona State's Kaitlyn Long defended her Weight Throw title with a record-setting toss of 22.70m/74'5.75".  Teammate Megan Seidl was 17th with a throw of 16.31m/53'6.25". Sprinter Abbey Ristow was 16th in the 400 prelims in 55.41 and 15th in the 200 on 24.94.
UMD's Emi Trost had double duty finishing third in mile qualifying in 4:52.24. Her next mile was the anchor leg of the Distance Medley relay where her 4:37 anchor leg took the team from 7th to 2nd at the finish.  Teammate Hannah Olson also qualified for the women's mile final in 9th in qualifying with a time of 4:54.62.  UMD's DMR time was 11:26.86.
MSU Moorhead's Molly Montonye was 11th in the mile qualifying in 4:56.35.  In the men's mile qualifying her teammate Brady Speicher was 2nd in 4:05.18.  Their teammate Brian Huber finished 6th in the long jump with a leap of 7.47m/24'6.25".

Kaitlyn Long defends her national title with a new D2 meet and all time record of 74-5.75. pic.twitter.com/bQG1yri7cE

— Winona State Throws (@WinonaStateThro) March 12, 2016

Kaitlyn Long of @WSUWarriors wins the women's weight throw with a record at the @NCAADII Championships. #MakeItYours pic.twitter.com/MZ9gDQLPIx

— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) March 12, 2016

NCAA II Indoor Meet Update: @UMDTFCC's DMR places 2nd in school-record time. Trost, Olson qualify for mile finals. pic.twitter.com/dXe7WjpKTR

— UMD Athletics (@UMDBulldogs) March 12, 2016

2nd place. All-Americans. pic.twitter.com/6AjSmvz9Cx

— UMD T&F/CC (@UMDTFCC) March 12, 2016

WKBT TV Feature on Winona State's Kaitlyn Long

WKBT TV Feature on Kaitlyn Long HERE

Kaitlyn Long Named USATF MN Female AOM for January

Kaitlyn Long named USATF MN female athlete of the month for January HERE.

Kaitlyn Long NCAA DII/USTFCCCA AOW; NSIC Spotlight Guest

Winona State's Kaitlyn Long awarded her second AOW honor HERE.

Featured on NSIC Spotlight radio interview HERE

WSU's Kaitlyn Long Throws Long

.@WinonaStateThro Kaitlyn Long sets @NCAADII NATIONAL RECORD in weight throw, official toss of 22.25 meters (73') pic.twitter.com/WAgn2jrxhD

— Winona St. Warriors (@WSUWarriors) January 16, 2016

Video of Sophomore Kaitlyn Long D2 National Record in the weight throw! 73-0 feet (22.25m) pic.twitter.com/Hxi7t6tsFP

— Winona State Throws (@WinonaStateThro) January 17, 2016

Winona State summary HERE

Kaitlyn Long Working on Mastering the Ball and Chain

Hammer throw winner Kaitlyn Long with three teammates on the podium at the NSIC
Championships. Photo by Winona State

She's only a freshman at Winona State, but already Kaitlyn Long is having an impact with a ball and chain.  A triple sport athlete in high school, Long is now focused on the weight throw indoors and the hammer outdoors, and she's already won one national championship.  This week she triesto add a second.

"I'm really competitive," she says in something of an understatement.  In an interview after her indoor weight throw win Long declared that ultimately she was hoping to break records in her events not only in DII, but go after DI marks as well.  If she can accomplish that, she says: "I have a big picture goal. I think it would be great to make the Olympics."  All this from someone who hadn't thrown the implements until she arrived in Winona.

Despite the lofty goals, she is also realistic.  While success has come rapidly in her events she doesn't go into her events thinking about records or titles.  She concentrates on getting the best out of herself on the day, hoping that will take care of how well she finishes.  Going into the NCAA indoor nationals, Long says, she wasn't particularly nervous.  "I felt really calm," she said, noting that one reason for her improvement has been sessions with a sports psychologist.  "He helped me think of more positive things,"  Long said.  "I've always been, like, strong.  Adding the mental part has been really important.  Before I felt like I only had part of the package.  Now I feel more confident."

"All my coches in the past have told me that I adapt very well.  My basketball coach(in high school where she also played volleyball, as well as competing in track) would always tell us not to get too high, not to get too low."  Stay on an even keel, control your emotions.

"I took a psychcology class my senior year(of high school) and I really enjoyed it,"  Long said.  Psychology is now her major at Winona State.  She's able to meld the cerebral with the physical in her quest for athletic excellence.  It allows her to break down what she's done, absorb what is needed to improve, and then implement it in the throwing ring.

She's understands her strengths and weaknesses and, like anyone struggles, to find the right balance.  "I'm like a control freak," she says, and can get upset if things aren't going her way, but she's learning to control that.  After winning the NCAA indoors, she was bothered for a time that she had come close to a record throw, but didn't quite make it.  She didn't let the disappointment linger, however. She quickly put it aside and began to think about the positive things that happened, filing the missed record as an incentive for the next competition, a goal for the future.

Kaitlyn Long. Photo by Winona State

She also knows how to decompress.  "I like being around people,'  says Long.  "I'm hardly ever by myself."  During the summer, she adds, she and a friend take a big trip somewhere.  While she got around the Midwest a bit through participation in AAU basketball during the summers in high school, she hasn't been abroad.  Maybe Paris, as she has studied French as a second language. Before that though she'd like to visit San Diego.

Her coach, Mike Turgeon says they have been building slowly on the raw talent he observed when he saw Long perform in high school.  What he noted about her was her physical potential for the weight and hammer events.  While she is over 6 feet tall, her "wingspan," reach from finger tips to finger tips with the arms spread is 6'5".  That wingspan is an advantage in weight/hammer throwing as it allows more speed and power to be generated on each spin.  More momentum built to launch the ball and chain.

Like indoor NCAAs, the outdoor championships will be, first and foremost, a learning experience.  No grand expectations, just compete well and get the most out of yourself on the day.  Whatever the result, take what you've learned and build on it for the next time.  It's a formula that's already brought success. "I try not to overthink it," says Long.  Just execute what she's learned the best that she can, and learn from what she's accomplished to continue to improve. It's the long journey attempting to go from novice to master one throw at a time.