Northern State University Athletics

Kevin Bjerke enters his tenth year with the Wolves in 2017-18. He spent his first four seasons as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach before assuming head coaching duties for both programs in the fall of 2012.

The fall of 2017 brought continued success for Bjerke and the cross country Wolves, as two women qualified for the NCAA Championships. Sasha Hovind and Dakotah Bullen each notched All-American performances in the final season of their cross country careers. The pair was also named to the NSIC All-Conference team as well as the USTFCCCA All-Region squad. 
 
Bjerke again had a solid season in 2016-17 with five student-athletes qualifying for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, including four All-American performances from Hanneke Oosterwegel, Dakotah Bullen, Sasha Hovind, and Deshonn Brown. Oosterwegel also won two NSIC Championships in the indoor 400m dash and outdoor 400m hurdles. Michaela Schlecht was also crowned the NSIC Champion in the javelin. In total the Wolves captured 18 school records under Bjerke's direction.

The 2015-16 season was highlighted by NCAA DII cross country national qualifying performances from juniors Sasha Hovind and Dakotah Bullen. Bjerke guided Hovind to her second straight national meet, top 15, and All-American finish, while Bullen became the second athlete in NSU’s history in the NCAA to qualify for the national cross country championships. These two ladies helped Bjerke lead the Wolves to their first ever cross country regional top-10 ranking, and highest NSIC finish in ten seasons.
 
Moving over to the track, the Wolves found tremendous success from both the men’s and women’s squads, at both the NSIC conference and NCAA DII national level.  The Wolves achieved a total of 12 All-NSIC performances throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons, while a total of six student-athletes hit 12 NCAA DII national qualifying marks.  This success was led by Hovind, who added three additional All-American awards on the track in the indoor 5,000m run and outdoor 5k and 10k runs.  Meanwhile, Breann Jackson earned her second straight All-American award in the weight throw, and qualified for her first outdoor championship in the hammer throw.  Overall, the school record book has been rewritten 23 times over the course of the last three seasons under Bjerke's tutelage, including a total of ten distance school records. 
 
In addition to Bjerke’s athletic success, his athletes have shined in the classroom.  The women’s track and field and cross country teams have earned NSIC All-Academic team honors (3.0 GPA or higher) in all eight years that Bjerke has been in the program, while the men’s track team have earned the distinction the last five years in a row, and cross country six of the last seven (including the highest GPA in the nation among NCAA Division II men’s cross country programs in 2009).  Additionally in 2015-16, Hovind earned CoSIDA Academic All-American first team honors, joining Lincoln Smith (2011) as the only first teamers in school history.
 
Before Northern, Bjerke served as graduate assistant for the cross country and track & field teams at South Dakota State from 2006-2008. With Bjerke's assistance, the Jackrabbit women's cross country team was one point away from winning the Summit League in 2007 and won the independent national title in 2006.
 
Bjerke competed in both cross country and track at SDSU and was a member of the three-time NCC championship cross country team and a NCAA II National 4th place finishing cross country squad. On the track Bjerke competed in the mile, 3,000m and 5,000m runs for SDSU.
 
Bjerke is a native of Fargo, N.D. and is a graduate of Fargo High School, where he was a conference champion in the mile run and a key contributor to a nationally ranked cross country team. He received a degree in exercise physiology from SDSU in 2006 and a Master's Degree in Sport Science in 2008. Bjerke is also a certified instructor of CPR/First Aid along with being a USA Track and Field Level 1 certified coach, and holds both USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning and Endurance Event Specialist certifications since 2016.