NDSU 1,600 relay team broke all common sense laws in reaching national stage

How Adrian Harris, Jacob Levin, Jacob Rodin and Cody Roder found it in themselves to not only break a long-standing school record, but to do it twice in two weeks needs to be bottled and sold for millions. Especially considering where they came from.

Levin’s best high school state track meet finish at West Fargo was a fifth place. He was probably better known when he walked on at NDSU as the younger brother of Bison women’s Summit League champion and NCAA national qualifier Amanda Levin.

“I never saw myself having a school record so it’s insane,” Jacob said.

He started mainly as a long jumper. The Bison coaches switched him to the multi-events, but the decathlon didn’t pan out, either. Not to be discouraged, he kept at it and started running the 200 and 400.

“The coaches know what they’re doing here and I had to put my trust in them,” Levin said, “and they got me to a spot that worked for me.”

Roder is from Bemidji, Minn., who had some success in the Minnesota state track meet. He spent his first year at the University of North Dakota, but decided to walk on at NDSU. Rodin, from Kenmare, N.D., (population 961), was one step better in the unregarded department.

NDSU head coach Stevie Keller relates the story that former head coach Don Larson had an in-home visit with Rodin after the North Dakota Class B state meet and the staff wasn’t sure if Rodin wanted to compete in college.

“But he was a late bloomer in high school,” Keller said.

Harris is from the farthest away, St. Petersburg, Fla., but he still is from a small high school. Together, they’ve found their groove.

The Bison have to be the most unlikely foursome to reach the Division I track and field big stage this week.

“We didn’t come in with quite the hype a lot of these other kids come in with,” Roder said, when asked about recruiting. “We all just worked hard and it finally started coming together. We grind, that’s just what we do. You can’t put a price tag on a group of guys that will just work hard with no excuses.”

Harris, Rodin and Roder were three of the four returning members of a good 1,600 relay team from last year. It takes four pieces, however, so enter Levin. He graduated in May with a degree in business, yet has two years of eligibility remaining because he redshirted his freshman year plus the COVID-19 year in 2020 didn’t count.

He’ll decide after this season whether to continue. That could be a tough call considering the family’s investment in NDSU track and field over the years.

Keller remembers the day when Jacob told him he wanted to give Bison track “a try.”

“Just knowing Jake growing up and coaching his sister Amanda,” Keller said. “We have a lot of kids who walk on and we say, hey, give it the best shot you can. At some point you’re either going to make it or you’re not because of roster limitations. He’s progressed every year. It’s just been a crazy last three months for him.”

The team ran a 3:07.18 at the Summit Championships to break the record of 3:07.75 set in 2004 by Allen Burrell, Jared Essler, Reece Vega and Marques Johnson. All but Vega were also football players and the fact that record held up for so long in the Division I era speaks to their talent.

As if that wasn’t enough, Harris, Levin, Rodin and Roder lowered the bar even farther at the West Preliminaries in Fayetteville, Ark., two weeks ago with a 3:05.57. The automatic qualifying time for nationals was an eye-popper for all involved.

“I knew we had it in us but I thought 3:05 was kind of far out there,” Levin said.

They’ll race in the semifinals Wednesday night scheduled for 9:48 p.m. Central on ESPN2, the last event of the night that will trim 24 teams to the nine fastest for the finals. NDSU is the only non-Power Five school in its semifinal heat. The others are Texas, Iowa, LSU, Kentucky, Alabama, Kansas State and Penn State.

“We’re not really scared of anybody honestly,” Roder said. “We race against these big schools all year … so when it gets to the big stage, we’re not too worried about it.”