CSC trackster named Indoor Track Athlete of the Year

Chadron State College’s Brodie Roden was named Male Indoor Athlete of the Year and earned two All-RMAC First Team honors for the 2019-20 indoor track season.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting it,” Roden, sophomore of Riverton, Wyoming said about the award, “I woke up in the morning and saw a few Twitter notifications- it was crazy but It’s really cool. It’s the best award I’ve gotten in my life aside from Gatorade Player of the Year in high school, but it’s a cool feeling.”

Roden, a sophomore of Riverton, Wyoming, capped his sophomore campaign by setting the RMAC 400-meter record at 47.93 seconds at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Championship, Feb. 28, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He finished his race in 21.81 seconds. Roden also took first in the 200-meters, earning him two gold medals, one bronze, and the distinction of Men’s Athlete of the Meet.

“He had the talent coming out of high school and matched it with a really good work ethic,”  Head Track and Field Coach Riley Northrup said. “He pretty much does everything you ask him. Our coaching assistant Julia Hammerschmidt, she’s in her first year as a coaching assistant and worked earlier with that 400 group. Pretty much everyone that trained with her got better this year. So, a pretty good combination of him being talented and a hard worker and having a good coach, it was the perfect storm for some good things to come together and happen.”

Prior to the RMAC Indoor Championship, Roden broke CSC’s 200-meter record with a time of 21.59 seconds at the South Dakota State Indoor Classic, Feb.  15, in Brookings, South Dakota.

“I was in the second-fastest heat, I should’ve been in the fastest. I was kind of bummed out because I thought not being with those faster guys, I wouldn’t run a good time,” Roden said. “I was trying to break the 200 record that day.”

Roden said he was nervous because it’s a large meet. “There are usually 20 heats on the 200 and I was on the second one, and just being on that bigger stage added more pressure,” Roden said. “I was nervous, but I was ready for it.”

Roden entered CSC as a dual-sport-athlete in 2018, playing wide-receiver in football along with running track, but decided to solely focus on running his sophomore year. Gaining 15-pounds for football his freshman year caused difficulties in running the 200 and 400-meter dashes during track season, he said.

With outdoor track and field’s season being cancelled due to COVID-19, Roden is heading into an early offseason preparing for next season. Northrup said he views the circumstance as an extended opportunity for the younger athletes to train and get better for the next season.

 “It’s unfortunate for the upperclassmen knowing they put in all this work all-year long,” Northrup said.