Are You A Pole Vaulter? Have You Heard Of South Dakota.

Feb 14, 2020

This content requires a MileSplit Pro plan.
Join Now and select any plan for instant access!

MileSplit Pro Join Now

Photo Credit: University of South Dakota athletics

By Garrett Zatlin -- MileSplit Recruiting Correspondent

- - -

Every NCAA program has its own hallmark. Some have even built traditions on them, from distance running powerhouses (Colorado), to speed (Houston), leap (Florida) and throwing (UCLA) meccas.

All those programs are synonymous with historic NCAA success in those respective areas.

There's a few reasons for the rising trend of event specialization, but ultimately it's allowed some of those teams to build brands out of their success. Just think of Houston's "Speed City," or Penn State's self-proclaimed title of "800U." The more you build the the idea, the further you can promote yourself.

In recent years, there's been others -- teams such as Furman (distance running), North Carolina A&T (sprints) and North Dakota (throws) -- which have found traction, too. Each of these teams are gaining significant national relevance thanks to their recent surge in those specific events.

And then the...