Track and Field Coaching Staff
Head Coach Buzz Stevenson
Dakota State University Men's Track & Field Head Coach and Assistant Cross Country Coach, Buzz Stevenson, has been involved in sports since his high school days in Ipswich, S.D. and has been a coach and teacher for 45 years.
A 1961 graduate of Ipswich High School, Buzz was an All-State running back, track & field athlete and basketball player. He placed in the 100 yard and 220 yard events at the state track meet his junior and senior years.
Buzz started his college career at Yankton College. He was an all-conference wide receiver and a member of a track & field team that won two conference championships from 1964-65.
After graduating from Yankton in 1965, Buzz received his Master of Education degree from South Dakota State University in 1973. He coached at the high school level for 14 years, including 10 at Huron High School. While there he led the boys track and field team to their first ever ESD Conference championship in 1976. He then guided them to two more conference championships in 1977 and 1978. In 1977 his boy’s team was the state runner up, and his girl’s cross-country team finished as state champions. In 1978 he was named South Dakota boys track coach of the year.
Before coming to Dakota State, Buzz coached at his alma mater for two years and has spent the past 26 years as head coach at DSU. While at Dakota State Buzz’s teams have accumulated 14 South Dakota Iowa Conference championships and his athletes have produced 52 All-American honors.
While at DSU, Buzz has garnered 14 SDIC coach of the year titles and two NAIA Great Plains regional cross-country coach of the year awards.
Buzz lives in Madison with his wife Diane of 23 years.
E-mail: buzz.stevenson@dsu.edu
Head Coach Michael Nekuda
Dakota State University's Athletic Director Gene Wockenfuss announces the hiring of Michael Nekuda as the head men's and women's cross country and the head women's track coach.
Nekuda was an assistant coach for the DSU cross country team when they earned their first Dakota Athletic Conference title in 2009. He left to become the distance track and field coach at Laramie County School District in Cheyenne, Wyo. He returns to DSU following a successful year at Laramie where he coached the women to the state indoor track championship and accumulated seven all-state performances and four state individual champions.
Wockenfuss says Nekuda's past experience with the DSU team is an asset. "Mike was part of the recruitment process for the current team, and has a similar philosophy to former Coach Trent Mack." Nekuda replaces Mack, who left earlier this month to take a position in Ohio.
Nekuda has a masters in human performance and physical education from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo. He earned an undergraduate degree in physical education from Black Hills State, where he ran cross country and track.
"I am excited to start the cross country season, and am honored to coach such dedicated student athletes. I fully accept the responsibility to lead this program and continue the winning ways fo DSU," states Nekuda.
