Stevie Keller (2019) - Hall of Fame - Montana State University Athletics

Stevie Keller

Induction:
2019
Class:
1999

By the time he arrived at Montana State, Stevie Keller had already enjoyed a successful college track and field career.

Keller won the 1996 North Central Conference javelin championship outdoors and the 1997 NCC Pentathlon crown indoors competing for North Dakota State, and in 1995 was an NCAA Division II All-America in the decathlon. But the roots of his success lie much deeper. “Stevie Keller was a three-sport athlete in high school, and his mom (Beckee Keller) was a track coach at Harvey (High School in North Dakota),” said long-time Bobcat jumps and multi-events coach Tom Eitel. “He’s been doing track since he was a kid, his whole family went up to the Devil’s Lake Camp (in North Dakota), which is a big track camp in the summertime.”

Fortuitously, then-Bobcat head coach Dale Kennedy was a regular at the Devil’s Lake camp, where he and Keller made a connection. Keller ended up attending North Dakota State, an NCAA Division II power at the time after a brilliant high school career, where the achievements came early. But there was a yearning.

“He did well at NDSU, which was Division II at the time, but because they weren’t DI yet he wanted to see if he could compete (at the) higher (level),” Eitel said. “He had a strong connection with Dale, and I think he really wanted to come here.”

Once in Bozeman, Keller’s impact was immediate. He formed a one-two combination with fellow multi-event athlete Danny Groux, and Keller finished second in the decathlon at the Big Sky Championships in 1998, when he also finished eighth in the high jump. The next year, as a senior, Keller won the Big Sky Championship in the decathlon, and along the way qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Kennedy cited Keller’s work ethic as the fueling his ability to rise to the occasion in Division I, as he had in Division II. “Almost every decathlete has a great work ethic,” he said, “and Stevie really had that. He was a young guy that could endure a lot of training and was full of enthusiasm as he fulfilled his vision of reaching the NCAAs. Ultimately he strived to be an All-America, and when that was on the line he won the 1,500 (meters).”

Keller entered the 10^thevent of the 1999 NCAA Championships decathlon outside of the top eight, but he poured himself into the pursuit of All-America status. “Nobody was even close to him,” Eitel said. “He ran 4:21 and won the event, and that’s how he moved up to eighth.”

Even then Eitel could see that Keller “had a really good eye” for coaching, and after leaving MSU he joined returned to North Dakota State eventually rising to his current role as head women’s track and field and cross country coach.