NIL Opportunities: Merga Gemeda
Career Bests
2022-23
Cross Country
Earned all-Summit League second-team honors … placed eighth at the Summit League Championships with a season-best time of 23:28.9 for 8,000 meters … was the Coyotes’ lead runner at all six meets during the fall … one of two athletes to finish in USD’s scoring five at all six meets … crossed the finish line in 65th at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a 10,000-meter time of 30:46.7 … posted a faster 8,000-meter time progressively at each meet throughout the fall … placed fifth at the Platte River Rumble in 23.59.0 … garnered Summit League Athlete of the Week honors (10/18) after breaking 24 minutes for the first time at the Platte River Rumble … took 16th at the Gans Creek Classic in 24:05.5 … picked up Summit League weekly honors (10/4) following the performance at Mizzou … garnered the Summit’s weekly honor (9/20) after a 17th place finish at the Coaching Tree Invitational in 24:19.4 … took 10th at the Augustana Twilight … named a Summit League Preseason Runner to Watch … finished the fall with 10 career Summit weekly awards, the second-most by a cross country athlete in league history.
Indoor Track & Field
Garnered all-Summit League honors in the mile and 5,000 meters … finished runner-up in the 5,000 meters (14:28.20), third in the mile (4:10.71) and sixth in the 3,000 meters (8:16.11) at the Summit League Championships … member of the Coyotes’ Summit League Championship title-winning team … moved to third in South Dakota program history in the 3,000 meters (8:16.11) after clocking a personal best at the Summit meet … won the mile at the Nebraska Tune-Up with a personal best time of 4:08.24 … moved to third in South Dakota program history in the mile (4:08.24) … moved to fourth in South Dakota program history in the 5,000 meters (14:28.20) with the time at the league championship … recorded times of 4:11.61 for the mile and 8:16.29 for 3,000 meters at Washington’s Husky Classic … finished runner-up in the mile in 4:11.35 at Minnesota’s Jack Johnson Classic … tallied six top-10 finishes during the season.
Outdoor Track & Field
Garnered all-Summit League honors in the 10,000 meters … finished runner-up in the 10,000 meters at the Summit League Championships with a time of 31:13.55 … also placed seventh in the 5,000 meters (14:40.73) and eighth in the 1,500 meters (3:52.07) at the Summit meet … qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary in the 10,000 meters … broke a 23-year-old South Dakota school record in the 5,000 meters (14:00.86) … recorded the time at the Drake Relays, finishing eighth in the race … clocked a personal best 28:58.12 for 10,000 meters at the Raleigh Relays … the time broke the South Dakota school record in the 10,000 meters (28:58.12) … named Summit League Track Athlete of the Week on March 28 following the performance in Raleigh … posted a personal best time of 3:52.07 in the 1,500 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational … moved to ninth in South Dakota program history in the 1,500 meters (3:52.07) … moved to sixth in South Dakota program history in the distance medley relay (10:04.61) at the Drake Relays … won the 1,500 meters at the USD Early Bird in 3:54.18 … also captured the 1,500 meters at the USD Tune-Up … finished 24th in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary in 29:06.67 … tallied six top-10 finishes during the season.
2021-22
Cross Country
Led the Coyotes at the first five meets of the regular season prior to a season-ending injury … one of three athletes to finish among the Coyotes’ scoring five at all five regular season meets … named the Summit League Cross Country Runner of the Week five times during the season to tie the league record for the most cross country weekly honors in a single season … clocked a season-best 24:23.7 for 8,000 meters at Nebraska’s Woody Greeno Invitational, placing third in the field … named the Summit Athlete of the Week (9/21) following the performance … won the Briar Cliff Invitational, racing in front of his hometown crowd in Sioux City, with a winning time of 24:56.84 … named the Summit Athlete of the Week (10/5) following the win … finished runner-up in the season-opener at the Augustana Twilight, going on to be named the Summit Athlete of the Week (9/7) … placed 20th at the Bradley Pink Classic with a time of 24:34.8 for 8,000 meters … named the Summit Athlete of the Week (10/19) following the performance … took 37th overall and was the top Summit League finisher at Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational… went on to be named the Summit League Athlete of the Week (9/28) … owned the fastest time in the Summit League for 8,000 meters this fall with a clocking of 24:23.7.
Indoor Track & Field
Placed sixth in the 5,000 meters and seventh in the 3,000 meters at the Summit League Championships … clocked a season-best 8:18.98 at the league meet in the 3,000 meters … that time moved him to fourth on the Coyote Top 10 in the 3,000 meters … won the 3,000 meters at the Nebraska Adidas Classic … posted a season-best mile time of 4:10.95 at the Ichabod Mid-Week Challenge … notched seven top-10 finishes during the season.
Outdoor Track & Field
Earned all-Summit League honors in the 5,000 meters … placed second in the 5,000 meters and fifth in the 10,000 meters at the Summit League Championships … broke South Dakota’s 22-year-old school record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:18.51 at the Mt. SAC Relays … named Summit League Track Athlete of the Week (4/19) following the performance … posted a season-best time of 14:24.04 in the 5,000 meters at the Drake Relays … moved to fifth on the Coyote Top 10 in the 5,000 meters with that clocking of 14:24.04 … crossed the finish line in first at the 5,000 meters at the Texas State Bobcat Invitational … won the 1,500 meters at the USD Twilight in a season-best time of 3:53.83 … tallied seven top-10 finishes during the spring.
2020-21
Cross Country
Fall cross country season canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Indoor Track & Field
Earned all-Summit League honors in the 5,000 meters … also placed seventh in the mile and seventh in the 3,000 meters at the Summit League Championships … clocked a season-best 14:33.81 to place third in the 5,000 meters at the league meet … also posted season-bests of 4:13.23 in the mile and 8:30.71 in the 3,000 meters at the Summit meet … ranks sixth in USD program history for the 5,000 meters and 10th in program history for the 3,000 meters … swept the mile and 3,000 meters at the Dakota Realty Invitational … captured the 5,000 meters at the Division I Challenge in 14:35.24 … victorious in the mile at the Dakota Quad Classic with a 4:16.02 clocking … topped the field in 8:44.59 for 3,000 meters at the USD Invitational … captured six event titles and tallied 11 top-10 finishes during the indoor season.
Outdoor Track & Field
Placed fourth in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters at the Summit League Championships … clocked 30:41.62 for 10,000 meters and 14:42.80 for 5,000 meters at the league meet … posted a personal best time of 29:59.75 for 10,000 meters at the Drake Relays, placing seventh in the field … the time ranks fourth in USD program history for 10,000 meters … clocked 14:27.65 for a season best in the 5,000 meters and ninth-place finish at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays … moved to sixth in USD program history for 5,000 meters … won the 5,000 meters at the Sioux City Relays in 14:52.20 … ran on USD’s fifth-place 4xone mile relay at the Drake Relays, clocking 17:06.13 for the fourth-fastest relay time in school history … finished runner-up in the 1,500 meters at the Bobcat Invitational in 3:54.89 … notched a season-best time of 3:54.65 for 1,500 meters at the USD Early Bird meet … tallied nine top-10 finishes during the spring.
2019-20
Cross Country
Earned all-Summit League second-team honors … placed eighth at the Summit League Championships in 25:12.9 … received Coyote Character Award at The Charlies … one of six men to race in all seven meets … scored for USD in all seven races … after finishing as the Coyotes’ second runner in the first two meets of the season, led South Dakota across the finish line at the last five … posted a season-best 8,000-meter time of 24:50.1 at the Bradley Pink Classic with a 17th-place finish … it marked the fifth-fastest time in the league this season … led South Dakota at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a 49th place finish, completing the 10,000-meter course in 32:01.6 … clocked 25:15.3 for 8,000 meters to lead USD at the Chile Pepper Festival … placed 11th at the NDSU Bison Open and 19th at the Augustana Twilight … finished 21st at Nebraska’s Woody Greeno Invitational with an 8,000-meter clocking of 25:30.6.
Indoor Track & Field
Earned all-Summit League honors with a third-place finish in the 5,000-meters in 14:41.97 at the Summit League Championships … also finished ninth in the 3,000 meters in 8:33.98 at the league meet … clocked an indoor best of 14:35.82 for 5,000 meters at the Iowa State Classic … moved to sixth on the Coyote top-10 list for the 5,000-meter run the time … notched an indoor best time of 8:32.88 for 3,000 meters with a third-place finish in the race at the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet … took fourth in the 3,000 meters at the Jim Emmerich Invitational … recorded a season-best mile time of 4:18.38 at the Nebraska Tune-Up … tallied six top-10 finishes during the season.
Outdoor Track & Field
Season cancelled by NCAA and The Summit League due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2018-19
Cross Country
Earned all-Summit League second-team honors … placed 10th at the Summit League Championships with a time of 25:53.54 … the time was one second off his season best of 25:52.4 from the Bradley Pink Classic two weeks prior … finished as the Coyotes’ second runner at all five meets he competed in … finished 125th at the NCAA Midwest Regional, completing the 10,000-meter course in 33:21.4.
Indoor Track & Field
Finished 10th in the 5,000 meters at the Summit League Championships in 15:22.56 … notched a season-best of 8:53.32 for 3,000 meters at the Jack Johnson Classic … finished the mile in a season-best 4:27.56 at the Jim Emmerich Alumni Invitational … placed third in the 5,000 meters at the Nebraska Tune-Up in 15:23.38 … tallied three top-10 finishes during the indoor season.
Outdoor Track & Field
Took 10th in the 10,000 meters and 11th in the 5,000 meters at the Summit League Championships … recorded a season-best of 15:05.18 for 5,000 meters at the league meet … notched a 10,000-meter personal best of 32:12.38 at the Red Raider Open … ran on the Coyotes’ ninth-place 4x1600-meter relay at the Drake Relays with a clocking of 17:31.33 … posted the ninth-best time in USD program history for the 4x1600-meter relay … won the 5,000 meters at the USD Twilight … also ran a season-best of 4:05.86 for 1,500 meters at the USD Twilight … finished runner-up in the 5,000 meters at the South Dakota Challenge … tallied six top-10 finishes outdoors.
Prep
The 2017 individual champion at the Missouri River Athletic Conference and the Sioux City meets ... went on to place fifth at the 2017 Iowa Class 4A Cross Country Championships ... clocked a time of 15:47.2 at the state meet ... posted his personal best of 15:25.26 at the 2017 Nike Heartland Regional with a 17th-place finish ... also holds bests of 4:22.24 for 1,600 meters and 9:28.83 for 3,200 meters ... played soccer for the North Stars and was a member of student council.
Personal
Son of Fereda Gemeda and Geneme Shufo ... sport marketing & media major.
