Torry Zeller

A record-setting runner and two-time All-American from Pierre, S.D., Torry Zeller performed at a high level individually and as part of numerous talented relay squads at the University of Sioux Falls. Zeller was part of three 4x800 meter relays indoors and outdoors which rank top-three all-time indoors or outdoors at USF. Among the records he set at USF was as a member of the indoor 4x800 meter relay squad (7:51.42) in 1998, which included Matt Van Dyken, Ryan Schmidt and Chris Cox. Zeller was also part of the outdoor 4x800 meter team of Cox, Clint Wagner and Dustin Peterson, who had a 7:47.94 in 2000, which ranks second all-time at USF.

In 1999, he was on a 4x800 relay, which also included Cox, Peterson and Schmidt, that ran 7:48.59 in 1999. In 1999 another 4x800 meter relay clocked 10:17.94 for seventh all-time. He was also on USF’s distance medley relay which ranks fifth all-time at 10:17.94 in 1998 and included Schmidt, Van Dyken and Tracy Hellman. At USF he also set the school record in the indoor mile run (4:21.89) and 3,000 meters (8:53.07). He earned All-American honors at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Cross Country Championships in 2000 by placing 25th. He also was All-American at the NAIA Indoor Nationals when he was eighth (4:20.38) in 2001.

Zeller won the 1998 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) Cross Country men’s title in 27:07, as he led USF to a team title. In 1998-99, he won both the 5,000 meters at the SDIC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Outdoors, he captured the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the GPAC meet. At the GPAC Indoor Championship in 2001, he was third in the 800 meters (1:53.54). Later that year, he qualified for the 2001 outdoor nationals in the 800 meters. He also recorded the two top times in the 1,600 meters while at USF: 4:20.38 in 2001 and 4:23.20 in 2000. His clocking of 9:35.74 in the 3K steeplechase was then the second best all-time at USF and his 1,500 meter run of 3:59.5 also ranked second when he left USF.

A two-time Eastern South Dakota Conference cross country champion, Zeller earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education from USF. He received a track and cross country coaching endorsement. After graduating from USF, Zeller taught fifth grade and was the head coach for the Pierre High School boys and girls teams from 2002-2004. In 2004, he pursued a life-long dream and attempted to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials. Zeller clocked a 2:24.6 at the Grandmas Marathon in Duluth, Minn., and finished just off the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:22. He and his family, including spouse Carrie Ward, and children Ella and Mason, live in Pierre, S.D., where he is the training director for the South Dakota Department of Corrections.