University of St. Thomas Athletics
Tommie Men's Cross Country has the school's best conference team finish this school year with a second place
Photo by: Courtney Hafner
Gene's Blog: Summit League schools continue to make news
4/27/2022 12:37:00 PM | Gene's Blog
The 2021-22 Summit League Commissioner's Cup all-sports scoring race is coming down to the wire over the next three weeks. The 10-team conference compiles an overall Cup standings, and also breaks down scoring for men's team's only and women's teams only.
The league's regular-season or tournament winner -- if all 10 teams sponsor the sport -- gets 10 points, the runner-up nine, etc. If only six Summit members participate in a sport like Baseball, the champion gets six points. Affiliate members in sports like men's tennis are dropped, so points there go 4-3-2-1 for Summit schools that sponsor.
With 14 of the 19 sports already completed, South Dakota and South Dakota State are in a close battle for the overall crown with nearly 80 points apiece, separated by only 2.5 points.
First-year Summit and Division I member St. Thomas (34 points with five sports left to score) sits in a four-team battle for seventh place. Kansas City (39.5), North Dakota (34.5) and Western Illinois (31) are in the mix with the Tommies.
Five sports remain to be scored -- Men's Golf, Baseball, Softball and Outdoor Track and Field. Kansas City can only score in two remaining sports (Men's Golf, Softball) since it doesn't compete in Baseball or Track and Field. North Dakota doesn't compete in Baseball. St. Thomas and Western Illinois will score in all five sports.
St. Thomas' best Summit League finishes so far have come in cross country, as the men took second place out of eight teams that sponsor, and the women placed fourth out of nine. The Tommie men's golf team comes into this week with the sixth-best stroke average of the league's 10 teams.
Summit Highlights
Summit League Women's Basketball was well represented during the 2022 postseason.
League co-champion and playoff champ South Dakota reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament with upset wins over Mississippi and No. 2-seed Baylor, before losing to Michigan 52-49. The Coyotes (29-6) closed at No. 24 in the USA Today national top-25 poll.
The other Summit co-champ South Dakota State (29-9) won the Women's NIT tournament with victories over Ohio, Minnesota, Drake, Alabama, UCLA and Seton Hall.
Tommie coach Ruth Sinn and her Tommies will face another learning curve of sorts in the 2022-23 season, with three of the league's 10 programs changing head coaches:
The conference's three longest tenured head coaches are Aaron Johnston at SDSU (22 seasons); Sinn at St. Thomas (17 seasons); and Western Illinois' JD Gravina (11 seasons).
Summit League Men's Basketball
There will be three new head coaches for Summit League men's hoops in 2022-23:
North Dakota State's David Richman has been the Bison head coach eight years, and Oral Roberts' Paul Mills has been with the Eagles five seasons. No other Summit program has a current head coach with a tenure longer than three seasons.
League champion South Dakota State (30-5) was the first men's basketball team in the 40-year history of The Summit League to finish unbeaten in the regular season (18-0). In 21 games against Summit opponents this season, including the postseason, SDSU only trailed at halftime twice, including once against the Tommies.
The Jackrabbits trailed St. Thomas 40-35 at halftime in Schoenecker Arena on Jan. 20, and still trailed by five points with 9:00 to play before it closed out the game on a 30-10 run for a 15-point win. In the rematch in Brookings, S.D., the Purple raced to a 20-10 lead before eventually losing 79-60. SDSU also trailed at halftime on the road at Oral Roberts before eventually winning in overtime, 106-103.
Summit League Volleyball
There will be two new head coaches for Summit League Volleyball in 2022-23:
Pioneer Football League
There were two offseason head coaching changes in the 11-team Pioneer Football League:
Moorhead State's Rob Tenyer (10 seasons) and San Diego's Dale Lindsey (nine seasons) are the other PFL head coaches at their current role for more than five years.
WCHA Women's Hockey
There has been just one head coaching change in the WCHA: The contract was not renewed at St. Cloud State for three-year head coach Steve Macdonald.
Summit League Women's Soccer
Oral Roberts hired Cal-Berkeley assistant Austin Risenhoover as head coach. He replaced Roger Bush, who resigned after nine seasons.
--
The league's regular-season or tournament winner -- if all 10 teams sponsor the sport -- gets 10 points, the runner-up nine, etc. If only six Summit members participate in a sport like Baseball, the champion gets six points. Affiliate members in sports like men's tennis are dropped, so points there go 4-3-2-1 for Summit schools that sponsor.
With 14 of the 19 sports already completed, South Dakota and South Dakota State are in a close battle for the overall crown with nearly 80 points apiece, separated by only 2.5 points.
First-year Summit and Division I member St. Thomas (34 points with five sports left to score) sits in a four-team battle for seventh place. Kansas City (39.5), North Dakota (34.5) and Western Illinois (31) are in the mix with the Tommies.
Five sports remain to be scored -- Men's Golf, Baseball, Softball and Outdoor Track and Field. Kansas City can only score in two remaining sports (Men's Golf, Softball) since it doesn't compete in Baseball or Track and Field. North Dakota doesn't compete in Baseball. St. Thomas and Western Illinois will score in all five sports.
St. Thomas' best Summit League finishes so far have come in cross country, as the men took second place out of eight teams that sponsor, and the women placed fourth out of nine. The Tommie men's golf team comes into this week with the sixth-best stroke average of the league's 10 teams.
Summit Highlights
Summit League Women's Basketball was well represented during the 2022 postseason.
League co-champion and playoff champ South Dakota reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament with upset wins over Mississippi and No. 2-seed Baylor, before losing to Michigan 52-49. The Coyotes (29-6) closed at No. 24 in the USA Today national top-25 poll.
The other Summit co-champ South Dakota State (29-9) won the Women's NIT tournament with victories over Ohio, Minnesota, Drake, Alabama, UCLA and Seton Hall.
Tommie coach Ruth Sinn and her Tommies will face another learning curve of sorts in the 2022-23 season, with three of the league's 10 programs changing head coaches:
- South Dakota's sixth-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit recently was hired as head coach at West Virginia of the Big 12 Conference, with former Wisconsin and Drake assistant Kayla Karius taking over in Vermillion;
- Kansas City's fifth-year head coach Jacie Hoyt has taken a Big 12 head coaching role at Oklahoma State, and will be replaced by Texas associate head coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett;
- Oral Roberts did not renew the contract of 10-year head coach Misti Cussen. Leading the Eagles will be Kelsi Musick, previously the head coach at D-II Southwestern Oklahoma State.
The conference's three longest tenured head coaches are Aaron Johnston at SDSU (22 seasons); Sinn at St. Thomas (17 seasons); and Western Illinois' JD Gravina (11 seasons).
Summit League Men's Basketball
There will be three new head coaches for Summit League men's hoops in 2022-23:
- Omaha hired Oregon assistant Chris Crutchfield as its new head coach, replacing 17-year mentor Derrin Hansen, whose contract was not renewed.
- South Dakota hired Utah assistant Eric Peterson as its MBB head coach. Peterson will replace four-year coach Todd Lee, whose contract was not renewed.
- Kansas City has hired former UNLV head coach Marvin Menzies as its new head coach. He replaces Billy Donlon, who left after three seasons to be an associate head coach at Clemson.
North Dakota State's David Richman has been the Bison head coach eight years, and Oral Roberts' Paul Mills has been with the Eagles five seasons. No other Summit program has a current head coach with a tenure longer than three seasons.
League champion South Dakota State (30-5) was the first men's basketball team in the 40-year history of The Summit League to finish unbeaten in the regular season (18-0). In 21 games against Summit opponents this season, including the postseason, SDSU only trailed at halftime twice, including once against the Tommies.
The Jackrabbits trailed St. Thomas 40-35 at halftime in Schoenecker Arena on Jan. 20, and still trailed by five points with 9:00 to play before it closed out the game on a 30-10 run for a 15-point win. In the rematch in Brookings, S.D., the Purple raced to a 20-10 lead before eventually losing 79-60. SDSU also trailed at halftime on the road at Oral Roberts before eventually winning in overtime, 106-103.
Summit League Volleyball
There will be two new head coaches for Summit League Volleyball in 2022-23:
- North Dakota hired New Mexico assistant Jesse Tupac as its new head coach, replacing three-year mentor Jeremiah Tiffin, whose contract was not renewed.
- Western Illinois hired former Robert Morris head coach Dale Starr. He replaced Ben Staupe, whose contract was not renewed after four seasons.
Pioneer Football League
There were two offseason head coaching changes in the 11-team Pioneer Football League:
- Butler's 16th-year head coach Jeff Voris resigned and was replaced by Temple offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich.
- Presbyterian's first-year coach Kevin Kelley resigned and was replaced by former Florida Tech head coach Steve Engelhart.
Moorhead State's Rob Tenyer (10 seasons) and San Diego's Dale Lindsey (nine seasons) are the other PFL head coaches at their current role for more than five years.
WCHA Women's Hockey
There has been just one head coaching change in the WCHA: The contract was not renewed at St. Cloud State for three-year head coach Steve Macdonald.
Summit League Women's Soccer
Oral Roberts hired Cal-Berkeley assistant Austin Risenhoover as head coach. He replaced Roger Bush, who resigned after nine seasons.
--
Gene's Blog is a sports column penned by Tommie sports information director Gene McGivern. Gene is working his 28th season at St. Thomas and 34th overall working with college athletics teams. He blogs periodically on various topics regarding the Tommies and college sports.
If you have comments or questions, e-mail Gene at ejmcgivern@stthomas.edu
Press Conference: Tommie Football Postgame v Lindenwood 08/28/25
Friday, August 29
Tommie Football Intro Video 2025
Thursday, August 28
Beyond The Buzzer: Schoenecker Arena Setup
Wednesday, July 23
Beyond The Buzzer: Sports Medicine
Wednesday, July 23
