North Dakota State University-Main Campus Women's Track & Field

Stevie Keller enters his 26th season at North Dakota State and his sixth season as NDSU's director of track & field and cross country in 2026. He was promoted to oversee all four programs -- women's track & field, men's track & field, women's cross country, and men's cross country -- following the retirement of Hall of Fame men's coach Don Larson in the summer of 2020. Keller has been with the Bison for more than two decades, coaching school records in 28 different events between men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, with events ranging from the 60m to 1000m, 4x400m relay, hurdles, long jump, pole vault, javelin, pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon. In the Division I era, Keller has coached 15 athletes to 27 All-America honors. Under Keller's guidance, the Bison women have won 19 Summit League team titles, and the Bison men have claimed seven team conference championships. Keller has been named the Summit League Coach of the Year 25 times -- eight indoor and 11 outdoor on the women’s side, and two indoor and four outdoor on the men's side. Keller spent six seasons as the head women’s track & field and cross country coach at NDSU from 2014-20, winning all 11 Summit League team championships in that timeframe and directing the Bison women to national recognition. He also directed the Bison men's long sprinters during that time. In 2023-24, Keller coached Nell Graham to school records in the 300m (37.63), 400m (53.09) and 600m (1:29.91) indoors, and the 400m (52.5

Assistant coach Clayton Pritchard has revitalized the Bison jumps and sprints programs since joining the NDSU track & field coaching staff in July 2016. He enters his 10th year as an assistant coach for the Bison in the 2025-26 season. In his first four seasons, he coached the Bison women to 18 new performances that rank among the school’s all-time Top 10 in the jumps, headlined by Piper Jensen standing in the top five in NDSU history in the indoor & outdoor triple jump and indoor & outdoor long jump. Jensen reached 42 feet in the triple jump, broke the 20-foot barrier in the long jump, and won a pair of Summit League titles. Four of the top 10 women’s triple jumpers in NDSU indoor history have come in the past three seasons under Pritchard’s direction. On the men’s side, he has coached athletes into NDSU’s all-time Top 5 in the long jump, triple jump and high jump in the past three years. In 2016 – the season before Pritchard’s arrival at NDSU – the Bison women and men combined to score 42 team points in the long jump and triple jump at the Summit League Championships. In 2019, the Bison racked up a remarkable 145 points in the long jump and triple jump at the conference meets – multiplying their output by nearly 3 1/2 times. In the men’s short sprints, Pritchard coached J.T. Butler into NDSU’s all-time Top 5 in the 60m dash (6.84), indoor 200m (21.63), and outdoor 200m (20.94) in the 2019 season, earning a qualifying spot at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds. Pritchard took

Dennis Newell enters his fifth season at North Dakota State University as the Head Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach for middle distance and lo...

Drew Jones joined the North Dakota State men’s and women’s track & field programs as assistant coach for the throwing events in August 2023. Jones came to NDSU following two seasons in the same role at Idaho State University from 2021-23. He served as the throws coach at the University of North Dakota from 2014-21. At Idaho State, Jones’ throwers captured eight Big Sky Conference titles and broke four school records in two seasons. His Bengals earned two Big Sky Outstanding Performers of the Championship honors and one Big Sky Championship MVP. Jones coached three NCAA All-Americans in his time at UND, and helped his throwers to nine new school records and 10 individual conference titles. Between Idaho State and North Dakota, his athletes earned more than 30 qualifying bids to the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds. “We’re excited to add Drew to our Bison Track & Field family, and to see him continue the growth and development of our throws crew,” head coach Stevie Keller said upon his hire. “He has shown a good track record of success, he knows our region, and he knows what it takes to get the most out of his athletes and be successful at this level.” “I want to thank Coach Keller and his staff for this opportunity to join the Bison Track & Field family,” said Jones. “I am excited to get to work helping student-athletes create their legacy at NDSU. Go Bison!” Jones spent five years as an assistant track & field coach at his alma mater, Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., from 2

Jackson Schepp joined the North Dakota State men’s and women’s track & field programs in August 2022 as the assistant coach for multi-events and pole vault. Schepp came to NDSU after coaching at the University of St. Thomas in the 2021-22 season, guiding UST sophomore Nate Raddatz to the Summit League title in the decathlon. Schepp coached the Tommies to a 1-3-8 finish in the decathlon at their first Summit League Outdoor Championships in 2022, with all three athletes being underclassmen. Prior to his tenure at St. Thomas, Schepp served as a volunteer assistant coach at Nebraska for the multi-events and pole vault. “We are excited to have Jackson as part of the Bison Family and are looking forward to his leadership of our combined events and pole vault,” Keller said. “In his young coaching career, he has done an excellent job of developing his athletes to reach their potential.” Schepp was as an assistant coach at the University of Mary from 2017-19 working with the Marauders’ multis, high jump and pole vault, coaching multiple all-conference athletes, two conference champions and four All-Americans. Schepp competed in track & field at Concordia-Moorhead from 2013-17, where he was a two-time national qualifier (2017 indoor heptathlon, 2017 outdoor decathlon) and a two-time Academic All-American. He earned three MIAC individual conference titles, 13 MIAC all-conference honors, and holds the Cobbers’ school record in the heptathlon. Schepp was also crowned Concordia College Ath

Coach Vega enters his sixth season coaching at NDSU and his 21st college coaching season in total. Vega primarily coaches the short sprinters and hurdlers. In his first three years at NDSU, Vega’s student-athletes have compiled an impressive list of accomplishments: four school records, five regional qualifiers, 18 indoor Top-10 NDSU performances, and 20 outdoor Top-10 NDSU marks. His women hurdlers were ranked as high as 10th in the nation in the 100m hurdles event squad rankings, 11th in the 60m hurdles, and 14th in the 400m hurdles during 2023. On the men’s side, the Bison 60m hurdles crew had the highest ranking at 15th in the country for the event group. In 2023, Vega coached Terezia Bolibruch to the Summit League 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles championships, sprinter Kendra Kelley to new NDSU school records in the 60m dash and 200m dash, and freshman Blake Nyenati to the 60m hurdles school record. As it stands entering 2024, Vega has coached six of the top 10 marks in NDSU history for the women’s 60 hurdles, as well as four of the top 10 performers in the women’s 60m dash and men’s 60m hurdles. Vega came to NDSU in August 2020 from the University of Mary, where he was named the 2019 and 2020 NSIC Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, as well as claiming Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors from the USTFCCCA in 2018. Prior to NDSU, Vega had coaching stints at UMary, St. Rose, Graceland, and Minot State. At the University of Mary, Vega coached 21 NCAA Division II