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University of South Dakota Athletics

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Track and Field

2023-24 Track and Field Roster

Aaron Mercado
Aaron Mercado
Molly Sheppard

McKenna Herrmann

  • Class Junior
  • Hometown Belle Plaine, Minn.
  • Highschool Belle Plaine HS
  • Major Kinesiology & Sport Management

Biography

Career Awards & Honors
  • All-Summit League Indoor (2020-21)
  • All-Summit League Outdoor (2020-21)
  • Summit League Honor Roll (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24)
  • Summit League Commissioner’s List (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24)
Career Bests

2023-24
Cross Country
Placed third at the Lancer Cross Country Invitational with a season's best time of 23:53.6...competed in five meets...had a 5k best time of 20:28 at the Augustana Twilight.

Indoor Track & Field
Set a collegiate best time of 10:27.76 in the 3,000-meters at the USD Alumni Meet to win the event…also took sixth in the mile at 5:19.75 at the meet…had a season’s best 5:10.03 time in the mile at the SDSU Indoor Classic…recorded two top eight finishes for the season.

Outdoor Track & Field
Placed 10th at the Summit League Championships in the steeplechase, running 11:14.15…also competed in the 5,000-meters at the championships…started the season out strong, taking second place in the steeple in her first race of the season…added a season place finish with her fastest time of the season at the Mt. SAC Relays, clocking 11:06.26…added a second place finish in the 1,500 at the USD Challenge with a time of 4:48.7…recorded four top five finishes.

2022-23
Cross Country
Did not compete.
 
Indoor Track & Field
Did not compete.
 
Outdoor Track & Field
Raced at three meets during the season … finished seventh in the 1,500 meters at the USD Tune-Up with a season-best time of 5:09.19… made the Summit League honor roll … named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.

2021-22
Cross Country
Placed 18th at the Summit League Championships, four places outside of all-Summit accolades, with a season-best time of 22:29.95 … finished among the Coyotes’ scoring five at five of seven meets during the season … placed in the top-seven at every meet … placed sixth at the Briar Cliff Invitational with a season-best 5,000-meter time of 18:00.43 … crossed the finish line at the NCAA Midwest Regional in 162nd place with a time of 23:09.32 … took 24th at Nebraska’s Woody Greeno Invitational by clocking 18:19.9 … made the Summit League honor roll … named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.

Indoor Track & Field
Did not compete due to injury.
 
Outdoor Track & Field
Did not compete due to injury … named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.

2020-21
Cross Country
Fall cross country season canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Indoor Track & Field
Earned all-Summit League honors as a member of the Coyotes’ third-place distance medley relay at the Summit League Championships with a clocking of 12:06.80 … also finished 10th in the 800 meters in 2:18.01 and the 5,000 meters in 18:32.89 at the Summit meet … clocked a season-best 800-meter time of 2:17.64 with a runner-up finish at the Dakota Realty Invitational … took third in the mile at the USD Invitational … notched a season-best mile time of 5:04.55 at the Division I Challenge … tallied 15 top-10 finishes during the season.
 
Outdoor Track & Field
Earned all-Summit League honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase … clocked a season-best 10:44.48 to place third in the steeple at the Summit League Championships … the time ranks fourth in USD program history for the steeplechase … also clocked a season-best of 18:01.92 with a 12th-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the Summit meet … won the steeplechase at the South Dakota Challenge in 11:15.75 … ran on USD’s sixth-place 4x800-meter relay at the Drake Relays, clocking 9:11.04 for the fifth-fastest relay time in school history … finished runner-up in the steeple at the USD Early Bird … clocked a season-best 4:41.45 for the 1,500 meters at the Sioux City Relays … recorded seven top-10 finishes in the spring … made the Summit League honor roll.

Prep
A four-time all-Minnesota River Conference honoree in cross country ... led the Tigers to four state meets and a pair of section meet titles ... won the conference meet as a junior in 19:26 ... holds Belle Plaine High School records in cross country (19:24), the 800 meters on the track (2:17) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:58) ... placed fourth in the 800 meters at the Minnesota state meet as a junior after qualifying the previous two springs ... her senior track and field season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic ... a four-time all-Minnesota River Conference honoree on the track ... was also a member of Belle Plaine's basketball team and student council ... a member of the National Honor Society.

Personal
Daughter of Jeremy and Jennifer Herrmann ... kinesiology and sport management major.

Historical Player Information

  • 2020-21Freshman

    Distance
  • 2021-22Sophomore

    Distance
  • 2022-23Redshirt Sophomore

    Distance
  • 2023-24Junior

    Distance