LSSU track and field program makes good on recruiting promise
SAULT STE. MARIE - When Steve Eles took over as head coach of the Lake Superior State cross country and track and field programs three years ago, he confronted his most-immediate challenge in the same manner he attacked the barricade in his specialty event - the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Eles (LSSU '03), a former steeplechase conference champion, returned to his alma mater in 2005 after spending two years as a graduate assistant coach at Tiffin University. He and his wife, Sarah, quickly implemented a fund-raising plan, which included a Million Penny Drive, gift basket raffle and various other projects. With their athletes' help, they also elevated Chuck-a-Puck to an event almost worthy of varsity status. The cross country and track and field teams raised $17,000 that first year.
LSSU cross country and track and field have enjoyed unprecedented athletic success during Eles' tenure, setting 39 track and field school records and honoring three academic all-Americans. Eles is most-proud of the fact that the LSSU women's track and field team has been named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Indoor and Outdoor Scholar Team for three straight years, while the men's team earned the honor in 2007. The LSSU men's cross country team was ranked 12th on the national all-academic list in 2008.
"The other things are good individual things that have happened," Eles said. "But academic all-America team awards are really big. It takes a whole team to do that."
Such a substantial list of achievements over a three-year period aided Eles and Director of Athletics Kris Dunbar when they presented a proposal to LSSU President Rodney L. Lowman last spring. Their plan was to bring in bring in 10 more student-athletes in exchange for one more scholarship and a slight budget increase. Since increasing enrollment is a LSSU priority, Lowman not only supported the idea, but made it possible for Eles to promote graduate assistant coach Marc Small. Previously, Eles was the only full-time coach for 70 student-athletes in three sports. Small is now on contract as a paid assistant coach.
Once the plan was approved, Eles and Small immediately began making phone calls. Eles estimates that he called 80 high school athletes and coaches, while Small called 50 on the first day. After making hundreds of phone calls, they surpassed their recruiting goal by enrolling 15 more student-athletes.
"It took two to three weeks for things to really materialize," Eles said. "A lot of it was talking to high school coaches and presenting the idea to them. They helped us find students who were looking at schools, or had a school in mind and things really didn't work out for them."
LSSU now has 9.2 track and field scholarships that will be disbursed among approximately 80 student-athletes. The Lakers are 36 percent of the way toward being fully-funded at the Division II level. They still have a ways to go, but Eles' goal is to close the gap on the powerhouse teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Grand Valley State, for example, has a projected roster of 180 athletes with 80 incoming freshmen. Tiffin and Saginaw Valley State have rosters that range from 120 to 140 athletes.
"Our team is still very young, and we have a lot of people who work very hard for very little," said Eles, who supplements his own income by teaching classes for the LSSU Department of Mathematics. "We only have seven people graduating this year. If we bring in another 50 students next year, we're up to 120. That's possible. It's going to be much more competitive when trying to earn a roster spot, and that's good for us. Everyone will have to work hard."
While the overall influence of athletics on college enrollment is subjective, Eles' success at bringing more student-athletes clearly illustrates the LSSU Department of Athletics' potential to help the University grow. Currently, 200 athletes account for approximately six percent of the LSSU student population. At Harvard, arguably the nation's most-recognized university, athletes make up 21 percent of the student population. Harvard offers 41 varsity sports programs.
"A lot of private schools take the approach of using athletics to bring in more students," Eles said. "I think the theory works even better for public schools, because they are a more-affordable option....And the more assistant coaches I can get, the more phone calls we can make. I'd like to see what we can do next fall."
"I can't say enough about the overall asset Steve is to the athletics department," Dunbar said. "He's done a great job with the resources he's been given. He fund-raises more than any other program to accommodate for the large size of his squad. If he doesn't have something, he figures out a way to get it. His teams have not only grown in numbers and broken school records, but he has raised the bar in terms of quality of the student. His athletes represent LSSU in a positive way. Steve has made a lasting impression here in a short period of time."
