BSC Athletics Sprinting to Add New Track Programs

The Mystics can already be found on the field and on the court, but soon, they will also be found on the track.

Starting in fall 2022, Bismarck State College will be adding four new athletic programs on campus. These include indoor and outdoor track and field, cross-country and half-marathon. These programs will compete in NJCAA Division I in the Mon-Dak Conference, except for cross-country, which will be competing in Division II. All of these programs will feature women’s and men’s teams and will run in both the fall and the spring.

While the half-marathon will be brand new, BSC has featured track and field and cross-country in the past. The last time that a Mystic competed in track and field was back in 1985. Since then, BSC has become home to the MDU Community Bowl, which features one of the best track venues in the state. The Community Bowl has manifested a prominent track and field culture in western North Dakota according to the BSC Athletic Director Myron Shultz. The Bowl hosts the state track competition for both Class A and Class B high schools in the state annually.

“We have a huge track culture [in western North Dakota],” Shultz said. “We have a facility and our city cares about it.”

Shultz is confident that people in the area will support the new programs. Already, student athletes have been embracing theM. Schultz has had students reach out to him asking to join the new teams. These new sports can also add a few new faces here on campus, and there is potential for future growth.

Another factor that was considered when advocating for these new programs was how they would compete against other schools. Unlike with team sports that require another team to be present to actually compete, track and field allows a similar opportunity to what eSports has been doing already.

“We can compete locally and go national,” Schultz said. Track and field can do this by competing in more local events, such as in Dickinson or Jamestown, and submitting those times and scores to qualify for national events.

One of the new events has been demanding more creativity with its planning–that event is indoor track. BSC does not currently have an indoor track facility, and facilities are limited in the area.

“Indoor is where we have to get imaginative right now,” Schultz said. Currently, Schultz is looking at spaces on campus that can be used, along with indoor tracks at the YMCA and at local high schools.

Overall, Schultz recognizes the opportunities adding new sports will add. Sports allow the campus to be more visible and vibrant, and allow for connections to be made. Students get to reap the benefits from these programs. Just like other athletics programs, scholarship opportunities will be available.

Schultz said that there will never be a perfect time to start, and he is excited to get rolling next fall.

(Find on Page 12 of Mystician 83.7)

MDU Resource Community Bowl is empty on an April afternoon in 2022. In the coming fall and spring, the stadium located on the campus of Bismarck State College in Bismarck, N.D. will be the home of BSC Track and Field.

(Credit: Zachary Weiand)