Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall senior Sam Deutz (front row, center) signs his letter of intent to commit to the South Dakota State University cross country team, Wednesday in Marshall.

MARSHALL –Sam Deutz signed his letter of intent to continue his cross country career with the South Dakota State University mens team, Wednesday morning at Marshall High School. The Tiger senior is a state individual medalist in cross country and track and field, as well as a cross country team state champion.

As a member of the Marshall cross country team, Deutz ran as fast as 15:15.0 for the 5k as a junior. He finished that season with a boatload of hardware, finishing as the Section 2AA individual runner-up, placing ninth in the Class AA state championships at 15:54.7 and helping Marshall to its first boys cross country team championship in nearly two decades.

While injuries hampered Deutz’s senior cross country season, he still put together a campaign to be remembered, placing fourth in the section meet to return to the state meet for the fifth consecutive season. Deutz finished just shy of all-state honors, placing 27th at 16:14.8.

In the spring season, Deutz was a standout distance runner for the Tiger track and field program. He helped a 4-by-800-meter relay team, including Ethan Bly, Mykel Paulsen and Josh Leibfried, to a runner-up finish in the state meet as a junior with a time of 8:00.87. He also earned a third-place medal in the same event as a sophomore, and he’s qualified as an individual for the state meet in the 1600 meters and the 800 meters.

Deutz will be joining a strong team at South Dakota State University. The Jackrabbits’ mens team won the Summit League Championship in the fall and placed 10th out of 30 qualifying teams at the NCAA Midwest Regionals. South Dakota State has won 10 consecutive conference titles.

Sam is the second member of his family to sign a college commitment this year, after his twin sister Autumn committed to the St. Thomas womens track and field team for the pole vault in December.

Sam Deutz still has one more prep season ahead of him as he prepares to compete for one more track and field season as a Tiger.