In the annuals of heroic efforts at North Dakota State, it will be hard to top Nick Schauer's track legacy. It will probably be a story head coach Don Larson will tell forever.
Schauer, competing in the North Central Conference decathlon two years ago, tripped over a hurdle -- a wipeout of major proportions.
"Nasty," Larson said. "Real nasty."
Schauer said he heard something "pop" in his knee. He knew the problem.
"I knew it was gone," he said.
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Yet, he got up and finished the race. He wasn't through. He also finished the pole vault, discuss, javelin and 1,500-meter run. All, as it turned out, on a torn ACL.
"We needed the team points," Schauer said.
Last week, the senior from Wishek, N.D., gave NDSU some more much-needed team points with his third-place finish in the decathlon. The Bison will need every source this weekend in the NCC Outdoor Championships in Sioux Falls
"The fact that he came back was amazing in itself," said NDSU sophomore Nate Schmidt, who won the decathlon. "He's a good role model. He practiced hard every day."
Schauer, who is already in graduate school in statistics, carried a 3.8 undergraduate GPA. He's one of the team leaders.
He excels in the research aspect of statistics. Give him a problem and he'll find the solution.
The problem this weekend, as usual, will probably be the University of South Dakota. The teams battle every year. The answer?
"Like we usually do," Schauer said. "Leave it all on the track. No excuses."
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The Bison appear balanced in most events. They return three champions: Chris Raabe in the 5,000, Schmidt in the 400 hurdles and the 1,600 relay team.
"We need to scratch the surface in just about every event," Larson said. "We have bodies in enough places to definitely get the job done."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546
