Richardton-Taylor senior Skylar Crow loves to work hard and compete. Especially when it comes to track & field. As a result she will be officially going from a Raider to a Blue Hawk.
Since the seventh grade, Crow has loved to compete at the Biesiot Activities Center and is happy to now call that her home facility. The young elite athlete is looking forward to studying nursing while being a Blue Hawk student athlete under Blue Hawks Head Coach Shayne Wittkopp.
"The one thing that stood out to me the most was the nursing program and then the facility," Crow said. "Being with Coach Wittkopp, he’s a cool guy, and the BAC was always so much fun to compete in during track meets so just a bunch of reasons, and being close to home."
Another big perk to choosing Dickinson State is being able to be close to home with the drive being just under 30 mins away from home.
"I’m a family person so I just love it," she said. "It’s exciting, it’s relieving to get the commitment out of the way and now just look forward to it and just compete I guess. Just keep getting better and keep working."
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Shawn Alder, the head coach of the Raiders' track & field team, was very proud of Crow's decision. The duo have been very close as Alder began his career as a the head coach of the program the same time that Crow began to compete in the sport in seventh-grade. Now, after over five years of being coach and athlete, they will be even closer.
"I love it because I’m a (Dickinson State) alumni as well," Alder said. "I played football there so it’s just awesome seeing your high school athletes going to the same route that you took."
When asked what stood out in Crow as an athlete, Alder said it's in her leadership and constant determination to get better and improve each day.
"Her offseason work ethic ties back to leadership, I mean on Christmas Eve I’m training her, she’s obsessed with working out," Alder said. "She’s playing basketball right now, she doesn’t have practice for four days so she texts me and says ‘Hey, I have four days off, can we work out?’ She is just obsessed with getting better and it is really cool to see how the hard work pays off."
While the young athlete can compete in almost any competition, it is in the 100-yard, the long jump and triple jump that she is best known for.
Currently, her personal record in the 100 is 12.98, long jump is 17-feet-8-inches and the triple jump is 34-feet-4-inches.
"I hope to bring a lot of things but just points across the board I guess in my events. I hope to be a standout athlete pretty much," Crow said.
Dickinson State track & field is best known for winning the 2006 NAIA National Track Championship and producing runners such as Ramon Miller, who eventually won a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics for the Bahamas in track & field.
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"It’s a great feeling, it’s going to be so fun to get to know these kind of people," Crow said. "It’s going to be exciting and I can’t wait."
When asked what advice she would give other athletes that may want to someday be in her shoes, Crow said to always work hard and not be afraid to run towards your goals.
"Definitely put the time in. If you have the chance to work out, or sprint or whatever it is do it. It’s a big thing and just choose where you’re most comfortable being," she said. "Being with great people and somewhere where you’re familiar with."
Crow is currently on the Richardton-Taylor girls basketball team, but says she is most likely going to be compete in track & field in the spring.
