Football
Hardrocker football finishes spring strong despite unsettling weather
The Mines football team wasn't quite able to get that spring game experience in with some leftover winter weather cancelling the game, but some situational scrimmaging before the storm enabled the Hardrockers to close on a good note.
Head coach Charlie Flohr said the offense showed flashes against the defense and the defense in turn came up with some big plays.
"Most importantly, we came out injury free, which in these types of games are somewhat challenging just because we want our kids to be competitive," Flohr said. "But I was proud of our kids; we did a lot of good things on each side of the ball. Our young kids got a lot of reps today, which is something we felt that they needed because we will rely on a few of them next fall."
The Mines offense is experienced at the quarterback position, with redshirt sophomore Jayden Johannsen and redshirt seniors Spencer Zur and Toby Smith all getting starts in their career. Johannsen got the bulk of action last season, completing 177-of-295 passes for 2,062 yards and 15 touchdowns, while Zur was 16-of-28 passing for 180 yards one and TD.
 "Both Spencer and Jayden have done a really good job this spring. They are toe-to-toe and neck-to-neck with all of their stats, and we knew that coming into this spring," Flohr said. "We wanted them to compete for the job. We're not in position to name a starter yet or anything. We want those guys to continue to compete all of the way up to Day 1."
In the scrimmage Zur was unofficially 10-of-15 passing for 85 yards and one score – a 5-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Brandon Barrios. He also ran it in from 1-yard out. Johannsen was 4-of-6 passing for 51 yards and had a 21-yard TD run called back because of a penalty. He also led the offense to a 43-yard field goal by sophomore Connor Taylor.
Flohr said his offense did a pretty good job of moving the ball and they were able to get into some situations that they wanted to work on.
"We didn't do very well in the red zone last year. We got down in the red zone a few times and we finished with a couple touchdowns and the other time we ended up kicking a field goal," he said. "We were in third and long a little more than I wanted to be in today, and that was kind of our Achilles heel last year. Other than that we did a lot of good thing. Our tempo was pretty good."
Bridges and sophomore Isaiah Eastman both caught a team-leading 46 passes last season; Bridges for 606 yards and six scores and Eastman 492 yards and two touchdowns. During the scrimmage Eastman had three catches for 67 yards.
Flohr expects good things out of his running backs this season, led by redshirt sophomore Orlando Westbrook-Sanchez III (343 yards, 1 TD) and senior Kaleb Roth (394 yards, 3 touchdowns).
Flohr added that the offensive line, led by seniors Grant Smith, Austin Roth and Connor Smith and redshirt junior Keegan Tandy has some experience back and just needs to gel as they continue to play together.
The Hardrockers return experience at linebacker with seniors Cole Peterson (63 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery) and Gavin Chaddock (39 tackles. 7.5 QB sacks), while senior Amire Jones (28 tackles) and sophomore Jarrett Meyer (39 tackles) lead the way on the line. Returning upperclassmen in the secondary seniors Adrian Eastman (39 tackles) and Tony Monroe Jr. (28 tackles) and junior Casey Knutsen (45 tackles).
Senior defensive end/linebacker Kyante Christian, who led the team at 70 tackles, said their defensive line is deeper than it has been in the past few seasons.
"We have a lot of guys who are coming in next year that can still contribute," he said. "From that perspective we can be really good. We're building from the back-end up and that is really what we need."
The Hardrockers open the 2022 captain on the road Sept. 1 at Missouri S&T.
New look
One of the defensive leaders on the defensive side of the football, Christian will look to play a little outside linebacker along with his normal defensive end position.
"I'm making sure that I am good with the techniques. It is all a learning experience for me right now," Christian said after the final spring practice. "It's new, a new read, being in the right sport. It is different."
It's a challenge that Christian believes he is going to enjoy.
"I love it. It is different and I like new challenges; I welcome them all of the time," he said.
Double duty
Bridges has had a busy spring, to say the least, as he has worked with the football team and track and field squads in the last couple of months.
After the final spring practice, Bridges said he is hyped about his senior season.
"I'm ready to show everybody what I can do," he said. "I not only want to do it for myself, but I want to do it for my teammates, for the people who have supported me all of the way up to this point."
With the Mines track and field squad this spring and going into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor championships this weekend in Pueblo, Colo., Bridges has set the Mines school record in the long jump at 7.24 meters (23 feet, 9 inches) and he leads the team in the 110 hurdles in 14.68 seconds.
To participate in two sports at once has meant more time management and scheduling.
"I love being out here with the guys every single day, putting in the work. I'm enjoying it for sure," he said. "I have to give credit to the coaches, because the coaches are very lenient working with each other. That just shows how willing the coaches are to see our athletes succeed."
Men's soccer
Hardrockers look to bounce back from tough 2021 season
The Mines men's soccer team had an important spring season on tap, and despite some inconsistent weather, the Hardrockers were able to get steered in the right direction.
The 2021 fall season was a tough one for Mines, as the 'Rockers opened with a win and a tie against St. Cloud State, but then dropped their final 15 games, including all 10 contests in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
The Hardrockers scored just 10 goals in those final 15 games and were shut out seven times.
Head coach Ryan Thompson said much of the spring was about building their culture, something they struggled with last fall. He said it was 11 players working for themselves and not for the team.
"We had a very talented team last fall, but the culture wasn't there and it made us a very bad team," he said. "We couldn't put anything together and it really dragged the program down. This spring focused on culture and getting the right guys in and getting the right people in our leadership group. Hiring a new assistant (Bill Schaefer) was part of that. Really, it was just pushing the guys and seeing how far they could take it. So far they have bought in. I'm really looking forward to the fall and getting back out there and having a better season than last year."
This spring the Hardrockers were only able to get in three games because of the weather, and only one against a collegiate squad -- Western Nebraska Community College. The other two games were against local men's club teams. Mines finished 2-1 and outscored its opponents 18-2.
"We were able to get in three games, although they were definitely not the three games we wanted to play," Thompson said. "We had to kind of think on the fly because of the weather and people cancelling. Practice-wise it was very sporadic. We were inside one day and outside one day, inside for three days and outside for a game. It was a lot different than what everyone is used to. But we put together a good showing."
Thompson said they also focused a lot on offense this spring with more shooting, more runs and trying to break down a defense by creating more chances for the offense. Seven of the 15 losses last year were by one goal, three by 1-0 scores and three more by 2-1 defeats.
"If we're only scoring 14 goals during the season, we're not going to win many games," he said. "Our offensive production has to go up exponentially for us to even climb to the middle of the standings. It was putting guys through the reps and making sure they were hitting the ball clean, making the right passes and building a soccer IQ to know where to move to at certain times of the game and certain areas of the field."
The Hardrockers return some experience, with six seniors and five graduate students back due to the Covid extra year.
Among the graduate students returning is midfielder George Martinez, a second-team All-RMAC performer in 2021, who scored seven of the team's 14 goals.
"He could possibly break the goal scoring record, eight shy of Justin Barkow's all-time record," Thompson said. "Elias Burgfeld (defender), a graduate student out of Germany, is calm and collective on the ball. He works hard and is a leader. Ransom Hall (senior) is a great athlete and he is learning the position (midfielder) more and more and we look forward to him shooting the ball a little more and putting balls in the back of the net. Garrett Cole (senior midfielder), a Rapid City (Central) kid, has worked to getting his feet under him and getting used to the Division II game, and I'm looking for him to have a breakout year.
"We're returning a lot of good offensive players. The defense is kind of young, but they are experienced and they work hard. This spring they shut everything down. I'm looking forward to what they can do."
Thompson said that some of the team will keep busy this summer in recreational leagues, while some will be out of town with internships. The biggest thing, he said, is keeping fit.
"If they come in at a 90 percent fitness level, then we can start doing things that we want to do a lot quicker because we don't have to focus so much on the fitness," he said.
The Hardrockers open the season with two straight games at St. Cloud State (Minn.).
Track and Field
Haakenson takes over as interim head coach
South Dakota Mines throws coach Dan Haakenson went into the 2022 outdoor track and field season with a bit of added responsibility, taking over the program on an interim basis when then head coach Steve Johnson resigned in early March.
It has been a transition he said that has been a little different and difficult at times and a challenge, to say the least. Haakenson, in his fifth season in the Mines program, is now in charge of approximately 60 athletes instead of 20.
The Hardrocker men's and women's teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships Friday through Sunday in Pueblo, Colo., hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo. The championships from moved from Spearfish to Pueblo because of the possibility of stormy weather in the Black Hills.
"I have been around track and field for a long time, but there are things that I have to do, that I am learning about," he said earlier this month. "The hardest thing is managing more people. I have 20 throwers, and out of those 20, there are 15 with strong personalities. So now managing that and trying to provide the best opportunity for every person, trying to provide the greatest good for the greatest number, is the ethical compromise. You basically expand that to 60 people. A greater number of people will be getting less. The hardest thing to say is no. Almost never in my career did I have to say no."
Haakenson said there is a lot of uncertainty for the future, so by taking this job in the interim position he doesn't know what his future holds. If offered the head coaching position on a full-time basis, he said he would be excited for the challenge, albeit a big challenge in one of the top track and field conferences in the Division II.
"There is an opportunity for this program to get a lot better in a variety of ways," he said. "Our path to becoming a better team, getting better at track in a real quantifiable way is going to be long. It is not going to happen in six months or a year. There are some things I do think we can improve on and that will eventually make a bottom line difference."
Editor's note: Spring season wrap-ups for volleyball, men's and women's track and field and men's and women's golf will be featured in Richard Anderson's May blog.
