Jeff Wettach leads to success: Luther's track-and-field very good.

The Luther indoor track season finished on a positive note with both the men’s 4x400 meter relay team and shot putter Jess Jewell (‘08) posting outstanding performances at the NCAA Division III National Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The relay team, consisting of Lucas Reidenbach (‘08), Mike Tangen (‘08), Ryan Potter (‘07) and Tyler Sherden (‘07), finished eighth with a time of 3:20.26 to earn All-America honors. All-America honors eluded the team last year after injuries derailed what had been a successful season.

“This achievement has been a dream of mine and my teammates for all of our years running track,” said Reidenbach. “It is crazy that it has actually come true.”

Although the team ran fast enough to qualify as All-America, the runners know they can perform even better.

“Going into nationals as the final seed we knew we had nothing to lose,” said Sherden. “Making it to the meet was an accomplishment in itself but none of us were going to be satisfied with that.” (...)
“Things just came together that day,” said Sherden. “We improved our season’s best time by almost four seconds, set a new school record and earned ourselves the 10th and final spot at the national meet.”

Perhaps the most impressive characteristic of the team is their aspiration to build upon what already are incredible careers.

“They have a great desire to improve,” said head coach Jeff Wettach. “I was so pleased with the way they prepared.” (...)

Wettach also stressed the divide between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“We definitely point towards the outdoor season,” he said. “Success in the indoor season is really just a bonus, but it shows we are capable of running faster outdoors.”

“If we do not make it to nationals this outdoor season I know that I will be very disappointed,” said Reidenbach. “We are ready and Coach Wettach has prepared us extremely well for the outdoor season.” (...)
[ Read all at: CHIPS ]

Jeff Wettach is all for Co-Ed Housing

For anyone who has ever complained about being trapped in the Luther bubble, President Rick Torgerson has recently endorsed a Co-ed Housing Proposal that plans to bring the real world a little closer to campus.

The decision to support the proposal was made by Torgerson after meeting with the Board of Regents this past weekend. Community Assembly also endorsed the proposal Feb. 14 by a vote of 25-3.

The new housing proposal gives students the option of having a co-ed by room living arrangement. According to the proposal, the co-ed by room policy will place male and female rooms on the same dormitory floors.

Individual rooms will remain same-gender. Currently, only same-gender students live on any given floor in the dorms.

“I think it is a great idea,” said Jeff Wettach, head track and field coach. “Times have changed. It is a logical next step for students.”

“As a parent of a Luther student as well as a faculty member, I would have no problem if my daughter wanted to live in a co-ed dorm,” Wettach added.

[ Source: CHIPS, Newspaper for Luther College ]

“Improve one percent every day.” Coach Jeff Wettach right on Track

“Improve one percent every day.”

That’s the motto of the men’s track and field team. After placing third at the Augustana Viking Olympics behind Augustana (IL) and UW-Eau Claire, that one percent per day could mean a conference championship down the road for the men.

The Norse had six different first place finishes — three individual and three in the relay events.

Head Coach Jeff Wettach expressed excitement about the performance.

“It’s a great start to the outdoor season,” he said. “It was perfect for team development which is really important this time of year.

“Going into the meet, we talked about being confident, competing tough and having fun and we did all that.”

[ Read the full article: CHIPS ]

Head Coach in College Sports: Jeff Wettach at Luther now for Men and Women

TRACK AND FIELD: Luther College women's cross country and track and field coach Betsy Emerson will resign effective at the end of the school year.

Jeff Wettach , who has been men's head track coach for 18 years and men's cross country coach for eight, will assume head coaching duties for the men's and women's programs at Luther.
[ Read more at: Des Moines Register ]

Jeff Wettach in Sports: IIAC Indoor Track and Field Championship

In Chips, the weekly newspaper of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, USA, there's a full-length article about the IIAC Indoor Track and Field Championship last weekend, where Head Coach Jeff Wettach gets interviewed.
[ Read it at: CHIPS ]