Hanson's Thailan Hallman uses breakout season to earn Division I opportunity at South Dakota State

Jun. 16—ALEXANDRIA — Thailan Hallman went from unrecruited to signing a national letter of intent in less than three months.

South Dakota State University announced it signed the Hanson middle distance runner Tuesday after a breakout season that saw Hallman win the 800 meters and the 4x400 relay, while taking second in the 400-meter dash and the sprint medley relay as the Beavers captured the Class B state championship.

Without competing last season due to COVID-19, Hallman had a desire to run track in college, but it was not until he began to post stellar times early in the year that it became a realistic option. Hallman was already planning to major in civil engineering at SDSU, so the opportunity to run track as well caps off a whirlwind spring.

"This is definitely new and it's an experience for me," Hallman said. "After not having a season last year, I knew I was going to have to impress this year to get an opportunity like this one, so it's very exciting for me to be able to accomplish this."

Hallman established himself as one of the top runners in the state this year, racing to the top 800 time (1 minute, 57.89 seconds) in any class at the state meet this season, while also setting a school record in the 400 (49.58 seconds).

Those times are two years removed from Hallman competing on a sprint medley relay team that finished 12th and a 4x800 relay team that was 13th. Fast forward to this season and Hallman's 800 time was more than a half a second faster than former Hanson teammate and 2019 Class B champion Reggie Slaba, who just completed his first season with the Jackrabbits.

Hallman says SDSU has not indicated which events he will pursue, but he assumes it will not be much of a change from his high school events.

"I've talked to (Slaba) a little bit and he said I'm going to have a lot of fun up there," Hallman said. "They had him running 400s more often, even though that wasn't his event in high school. Since I have a slightly better time than him, I would assume I'll probably be running 400s, too. But I'm just excited to go up there and get to know the team."

NCAA Division II Sioux Falls and NAIA schools Mount Marty and the University of Mary also had interest in Hallman, but did not offer the academic program he was seeking, although he has not settled on a career path yet.

The Jackrabbits are also building a strong program in the Summit League, which is rapidly rising in Division I. SDSU had 12 all-conference performers this season and the Summit League had 13 competitors qualify for the NCAA Championships.

"It's another reason why I'm excited and blessed to be able to go run with that team," Hallman said. "I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun up there. Track is something I've always enjoyed and I'm thankful I'm able to run at the level I am now."