January 09, 2012

(Jamestown, ND) -- Jamestown College President Robert S. Badal and Athletic Director Lawrie Paulson on Monday announced Shawn Frank has been named the Jimmies’ head football coach.

“It is truly an honor to serve Jamestown College in this capacity,” Frank says. “I am excited for the opportunity to continue the tradition that has been established with Jimmie football, while, at the same time, creating new trails to embark upon.”

Frank joined the Jimmie staff in 2003 and most recently served as defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. Under his guidance, the Jimmie secondary has become one of the top units in the conference. He has coached 10 All-Conference players and two AFCA first team All-Americans in the last five years. 

“Coach Frank has demonstrated the passion, ability, and leadership that is necessary to be a head football coach at the collegiate level,” Paulson says. “Just as importantly, Shawn has a passion for Jamestown College, our mission, and our students.  He has the support of the staff and the administration, and I believe he will do an excellent job.”

Frank says recruiting is a priority at this time.

“We want to be clear that each recruit we were in contact with before the transition, is as important to us now, now that the transition is complete,” he says. “There are lots of young men who are great fits for us academically and athletically, and our hope is certainly to have some of those signed in the coming weeks. We have two big recruiting weekends coming up and are excited about getting these young men on campus.”

Prior to coming to Jamestown College, Frank spent 10 years coaching high school football in his hometown of Hettinger, N.D., compiling a 49-32 record. Hettinger’s six state playoff berths during that time were highlighted by the 2000 Region IV title and two regional runner-up finishes. Frank coached 17 All-State selections and saw many former players continue their careers in the college ranks. Frank also served as Athletic Director for Hettinger Public Schools in 2000 and has served as an assistant coach for the North Dakota Shrine Bowl.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education at the University of Mary, where he began his coaching career as the running back coach in 1992. He was a two-time All-NDCAC first-team selection as a defensive back. He and his wife, Lori, have two daughters.

Frank succeeds Bud Etzold, who resigned after serving as head coach from 2008 to 2011 and previously from 1995 to 1999.

December 16, 2011

(Dickinson, ND) -- Valley City State University's LeTheo Proctor has been named the Association of Independent Institution Conference Offensive MVP, while teammate Jordan Maher has been named the conference Defensive MVP.  Proctor and Maher were among the 35 players honored this week with the release of the A.I.I. All-Conference Football Team.

Proctor, a senior wide receiver from Anchorage, Alaska, paced the 9-2 Vikings with 58 receptions for 892 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. He also finished the season with 15 carries for 41 yards and three touchdowns and returned 11 kickoffs for 200 yards.

Maher anchored the Vikings' defensive unit where he recorded a team-high 11.5 sacks along with 16 tackles for losses. He finished the season with 80 tackles.

Valley City State coach Dennis McCulloch was named the A.I.I. coach of the Year.

Joining Proctor and Maher from the DAC on the A.I.I. All Conference Team are quarterbacck Tommy Zinke of Valley City State; quarterback Jake McLain of Mayville State; running back A.J. Pfeifer of Valley City State; running back Dominque Bradley of Mayville State; wide receiver Taylor Kunkel of Mayville State; tight end Ken Eliacin of Valey City State; offensive lineman Major Hopp of Valley City State; offensive linemen Tim Seeley and Brandon Sahn of Mayville State; linebackers Drew Baier and Robert Nelson of Jamestown College; linebackers Jacob Grosz and Justin Popovich of Mayville State; defensive back Cody Kilthau of Valley City State and Rashad Flanders of Mayville State.

The complete list of the A.I.I. All Conference Team can be found on the A.I.I. website.

November 16, 2011

(Dickinson, ND) -- Jamestown College swept the DAC Post-Season Awards for volleyball.  Outside hitter Katie Zent was voted the DAC Most Valuable Player, setter Jada Meiklejohn was chosen Most Valuable Senior and Jon Hegerle was named Coach of the Year.

Zent and Meiklejohn alse head up the All DAC team and are joined by teammates Sarah Becker (MB) and Katie Lee (DS); Josette Glatt (MH) and Nikki Roholt (MH) of Mayville State; Jill Noeske (OH/RS) and Mardee Lander (L) of Valley City State and Jennfier Hartman (OH) of Dickinson State.

November 14, 2011

(Dickinson, ND) -- Valley City State swept the DAC Post-Season Awards for football.  Wide receiver LeTheo Proctor was voted the DAC Most Valuable Player, defensive lineman Jordan Maher was chosen Most Valuable Senior and Dennis McCulloch was named Coach of the Year. 

Proctor and Maher also head up the All DAC team and are joined by teammates Cody Kilthau (DB), Jake Thurston (LB), Major Hopp (OL), Tommy Zinke (QB), Ken Eliacin (TE) and AJ Pfeifer (RB).  All DAC players from Dickinson State include Tanner Leak (WR), Brennan Haughian (RB), Carl Dynneson (OL), Sean Russell (DB), Jarel Hafner (LB) and Tyler Schmidkunz (LB).  Jamestown College All DAC honorees are Lance Johansen (RB), Max Boe (WR), Scott Thingstad (OL), Drew Baier (LB), AJ Downs (DB) and Robert Nelson (LB).  Mayville State’s All DAC selections are Rashaad Flanders (DB), Justin Popovich (LB), Jacob Grosz (LB), Tim Seeley (OL) and Dominique Bradley (RB).

November 13, 2011

(Valley City, ND) -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics today selected the Valley City State University Viking football team as a qualifier for the NAIA Football Championship Series. In the first round of the playoffs, the Vikings are scheduled to take on the second ranked Carroll College Fighting Saints in Helena, MT at 12:07 Mountain Time.

This is the eighth trip to the national playoffs in Viking history, and first appearance since back-to-back trips in 2000 and 2001 when VCSU faced Carroll College. This year, VCSU is the only NAIA team in North or South Dakota to advance to the playoffs.  The 2011 season has been highlighted by nine straight wins after falling in the season opener.  During that time, VCSU has won an outright DAC championship by going 6-0 with home-and-away sweeps against Dickinson State, Jamestown College, and Mayville State.  Along the way the Vikings earned 15 DAC and Association of Independent Institutions (AII) Player of the Week awards including eight for offense, six for defense, and one for special teams. 

Head Coach Dennis McCulloch said, “One of the biggest things impacting our success this season has been the new synthetic turf at Shelly Ellig Field.  It has allowed us to have quality practices every day no matter what weather conditions we faced. The old practice fields take a pounding and get very hard in cold weather, and the consistent quality of our artificial turf surface has helped our entire team stay healthier.  Our guys have a great attitude every day walking onto the new facility which has been a great help to the coaching staff.”

VCSU is currently ranked #12 in the NAIA, the highest ranking for the team since the 2002 season when it was ranked #10 on two separate occasions.    

Final team pairings and ratings for the entire NAIA Championship Series are available at the NAIA web site www.naia.org.

November 12, 2011

(Phoenix, AZ) -- Jamestown College and Mayville State saw their volleyball seasons come to an end in the semifinals of the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament.  The Jimmies lost to LaSierra, CA, 3-2, to end their season at 24-14.  The Comets were beaten 3-0 by Cal State-San Marcos to see their season end at 23-19.

November 11, 2011

(Phoenix, AZ) -- Top-seeded La Sierra University breezed through pool play undefeated Friday to reach the semifinals of the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Volleyball Championships.

La Sierra won Pool A play with a pair of 3-1 wins over Dakota State University and Mayville State University.

Meanwhile in Pool B, California State University-San Marcos rolled past Jamestown College late Friday 25-17, 25-17, 33-31 to win Pool B as both teams advanced to Saturday's semifinals.  Taylor Degraf and Lindsey Mitchell combined for 33 kills to pace CSUSM.

Shelby Madigon slammed down 20 kills and Maselina Semaia added 10 to lead La Sierra to a 23-19, 15-25, 25-20, 29-27 win over Dakota State in the day's opening match. Madigon and Semaia added seven digs, while Samantha Arriaran tacked on 35 assists.

Jessica Katz led the charge at the net in La Sierra's second game of the day pounding down 16 kills in a 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-15 win over Mayville State.

Mayville State bounced back from the loss to eliminate Dakota State in the final Pool A contest with a 10-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-22 decision.

Cal State-San Marcos reached the semifinals by opening pool play with a 28-26, 25-15, 30-32, 25-19 win over host Arizona Christian. Taylor Degraff and Lindsey Mitchell led the charge at the net with 25 and 21 kills respectively for the Cougars, while Alyssa Foster had 56 assists.

Jamestown also reached the semifinals with a 25-20, 23-22, 25-23 win over Arizona Christian as conference player of the year Sarah Becker tallied eight kills and Katie Zent seven for the Jimmies. Jada Meiklejohn had 12 assists and eight digs.

Semifinal No.1 gets underway at 3:30 p.m. Saturday with CSUSM taking on Mayville, while semifinal No. 2 between La Sierra and Jamestown will follow at 6 p.m. The championship game between the two winners is set for 8 p.m.

November 11, 2011

(Phoenix, AZ) -- Jamestown College sophomore Sarah Becker has been selected the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Volleyball Player of the Year.

Becker, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Rochester, Minn., recorded 248 kills, with 162 blocks and 77 digs this season for Jamestown. She is ranked No. 4 in the nation in total blocks and 14th in blocks per game.

Fourteen players were selected to the AII All-Conference volleyball team released this week.

Jamestown College led the way with three players selected to the elite team, while La Sierra, California State-San Marcos, Dakota State, Indiana Northwest landed two players on the first team. Mayville, State, Valley City State and Embry-Riddle each had one player selected to the first team.

Other DAC players joining Becker on the All AII team are Josette Glatt of Mayville State; Katie Lee and Katie Zent of Jamestown College and Jill Noeske of Valley City State.

For a complete list of the All AII Volleyball team, go to the AII Sports web-site.

October 24, 2011

(Yankton, SD) - The Dickinson State men and Jamestown College women captured conference championships in cross country.  With all three DAC schools competing at the Mount Marty Invitational on Saturday, the DAC individual results were used to determine the conference champions and the top eight individual finishers earning all-conference honors. 

Dickinson State compiled 22 points in the men’s division with Jamestown College scoring 33 points and Valley City State competing with an incomplete team.  Roberto Quintero was the individual champion and earned the Most Valuable Performer Award.  Jamestown’s Joseph Koerber was named the Outstanding Senior of the Year.  Joining Quintero on the All DAC team are Edwin Cheleshaw of Dickinson State, Joseph Koerber of Jamestown, Dustin Sandbak of Dickinson State; Casey Flick of Valley City State; Richard Wright of Valley City State; Chris Gill of Dickinson State and Nathan Christensen of Jamestown. 

Jamestown won the women’s division with 24 points, Dickinson State had 35 points and Valley City State competed with an incomplete team.  Aleona Reyes won the individual conference title and earned the Most Valuable Performer award.  Madey Hornung was selected the Outstanding Senior of the Year honoree.  Joining Reyes and Hornung on the All DAC team are Brittany Young of Dickinson State, Gladys Rotich of Dickinson State, Anna Fuka of Valley City State; Stormie Sickler of Dickinson State, Andrea Markwart of Jamestown and Cambrya Belter of Jamestown.

October 24, 2011

(Dickinson, ND ) - Jamestown College is ranked 20th in the NAIA Preseason Wrestling Coaches’ Poll, while Dickinson State received votes.  Individuals ranked in the preseason are: Sergio Garcia of Dickinson State, ninth at 125; Brad Steele of Dickinson State, seventh at 149; Samuel Brown of Jamestown, ninth at 157; Pat Nord of Jamestown, sixth at 165, and Jesse Hellinger of Dickinson State, twelfth at 184.

October 13, 2011

(Valley City, ND) -- The 2010-2011 Viking Softball team ranked in the top 20 in the nation for overall team GPA and had ten members listed as NAIA Academic All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

The Vikings team GPA for the 2010-2011 academic year was 3.326, placing them twentieth in the nation among NAIA school across the US.  This marks the third year in a row the Vikings have ranked in the top twenty with an eleventh place ranking in 2009-2010 and their highest rank of fifth in the nation in 2008-2009 with a 3.457 team GPA.

Over half of the 2010-2011 team members were named Academic All-Americans with ten of the eighteen team members making the list.  Departing seniors Krystal Hathaway (Winnipeg, MB) and Margaret Wilson (Breckenridge, MN) led the list.  They were joined by juniors Jane Pettit (Rushford, MN) and Emma Nelson (Grand Rapids, MN); sophomores Hayley Bevan (South Surrey, BC) and  Sara Gullickson (Spiritwood, ND; and freshman Caitlin Giesbrecht (Winnipeg, MB), Stephanie Lahey (Calgary, AB), Brittany Lehner (Watertown, SD) and Courtney Shadlock (Brandon, MB).

The award is given to any player submitted by a member coach who achieved a 3.50 grade point average or higher during the 2010-11 academic year.

September 09, 2011

(Valley City, ND) -- Valley City State University President Steve Shirley has been elected to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Council of Presidents.  Shirley's term begins immediately and runs through 2014.  He is one of three representatives for the Association of Independent Institutions. The Council of Presidents is the chief governing body of the NAIA, which has nearly 300 members with 50,000 student-athletes. Valley City State has been a member since 1949.