Hi-Line Sports: An AD's Perspective: Christian Oberquell, MSU-Northern

It's pretty easy to see, and easy to say, there are good things happening in the athletic department at Montana State University-Northern. And while the Lights and Skylights have always been strong athletically, things seem to just get better and better - and the horizon looks good too.

Of course, good things happen in an athletic department in no small part because of a good man in charge. And Northern certainly has one of those in athletic director Christian Oberquell. He's spent more than 15 years at Northern, first, serving as the school's Certified Athletic Trainer, before becoming an associate AD in 2007.

Oberquell took over as the full-time athletic director in 2010, and as he nears embarking on his sixth school year in that position, he has not only overseen some great times at Northern, but he is overseeing a future that involves more good things ahead, along with uncertainty and change in the world of Northern, Frontier Conference, NAIA and collegiate athletics.

"I feel that our programs are in a good place right now," Oberquell said. "I think a huge part of that is because we have such great coaches in our department. They work hard at what they do, they all get along, they help each other out, and I know they are going to do things the right way. And because we have such a great staff, that allows me to be able to concentrate on, and do the things I need to do. They all really help me in doing my job, so where we are in athletics right now, it starts with all of our coaches."

And where Northern is at present time is really an athletic department that's recognized on a national level. In the last five years, both the men's and women's basketball teams have spent countless weeks ranked in their respective NAIA Coaches Poll, and, the Northern wrestling team has done the same. Add in several tremendous volleyball seasons in a row, as well as a Northern football program quickly rebuilding, and you have a core of top NAIA athletic programs.

"One of the goals in our department is to continue to get Northern sports on the map nationally," Oberquell said. "And we're doing that right now. Especially with how successful our basketball and wrestling programs are on a national level right now, and how well they've done in the postseason recently, we're attracting more and more student-athletes. And the more we can get our name out there nationally, the better off we'll be, and I think we're doing that, in those three sports especially. And we've had great things happen to our volleyball program in recent years, and when you look at where our football team is at right now, I think they're in a really good place. We're looking at a 95-man to a 115-man roster in the next couple of years, and we've never had that here before, so, things are really going in the right direction."

Of course, recruiting at Northern has always been not just a top priority, but also a big challenge for coaches of all Northern sports. Competing for student-athletes with institutions like Carroll College, Montana Tech and Rocky Mountain College, three highly accredited schools that also happen to be in three of Montana's few metropolitan areas, has never been easy for coaches at MSU-N, no matter the sport.

However, for a myriad of reasons, Oberquell continues to see strides made in the recruiting area, and that is paramount to continuing Northern's upward trend in sports, and of course, funding for athletics - another big challenge Oberquell has to oversee in his department.

"From a university standpoint, one of the biggest things that's happened recently is realizing we needed to bring back the secondary education and health and PE programs," Oberquell noted. "Outside of the diesel program, we attract a lot of student-athletes that are interested in a future in health and wellness, and in education, so those programs are big for our recruiting. I also think the university has done a great job of creating an environment on campus, outside of sports, that these kids want to be a part of and enjoy being a part of. Kim Watson and so many other people were really good at getting kids involved in things outside of their sports, and that environment has been instrumental in our recruiting new student-athletes to Northern. That, and bringing programs back that were in moratorium have been big for us lately.

"The second thing about getting more student-athletes to come here is just the great job all of our coaches do with recruiting," he continued. "They are all veteran coaches, and they do such a great job on selling, not only their program, but the campus, the community and the support they get from this community once they're here. All of our coaches are doing a phenomenal job with recruiting and we're seeing those benefits now."

Oberquell certainly recognizes just how big a part that community support plays in Northern athletics. For some time, there has been no denying that inside the Armory Gymnasium is where the best fan base in the Frontier Conference is located. Large crowds for basketball, wrestling and volleyball are routine at Northern, and football isn't far off either - and that is one aspect of Oberquell's job that comes easy. It's also one reason why opposing Frontier schools are trying to change Northern in one key way.

"Everybody else in the state knows how great our fan base is," Oberquell said. "And while everyone else in the conference has switched their women's basketball games to 5:30 p.m., we keep ours at 6. Why? Because our fans want to come watch the women play. At other places, it's all about the men's games, but our fans support both basketball teams, so, it comes up all the time, the fact they want us to change our times. Because they know we're going to have big crowds for the women's games too. And we're not going to change it if we don't have to, because we have great fans and they come out to support these teams. That's kind of an example how everybody knows we have the best fan base in the conference.

"And in my opinion, we absolutely do," he continued. "When I go to volleyball games away from Havre, no one gets very good crowds, but we do here. We have always had huge crowds for wrestling and basketball, but we do for volleyball too, and our football fan base is so great. We might not be able to compete with Carroll and Tech for sheer numbers, but, first, I think our football fan base travels better than anybody else in the league, and so do our basketball fans. And the other thing I always notice is, how much higher our 50/50 drawings are for all of our sports. It's often times double what I see at other places. So there's no denying how great our fan base is. We are very fortunate in that aspect, and it's something all of our student-athletes appreciate and love about playing sports at Northern."

Great teams and great fans are a commonality at Northern, and things just seem to get better as Oberquell's tenure continues. Just this last spring, the Skylight basketball team went back to the NAIA national tournament for the third year in a row, one year removed from making an Elite 8 appearance. And, the wrestling team finished second at the 2016 NAIA national tournament. Those are just two of the many examples of how strong things are in Oberquell's department right now.

But, running that department doesn't come without challenge and change either.

"Membership in our conference is a concern right now," Oberquell said. "For basketball and volleyball, we're down to seven teams and that's been a scheduling nightmare, and honestly, I think it's hurting our entire conference a little on the national level. So, that's kind of been a big struggle right now.

"As far as the NAIA is concerned, things are getting better," he added. "We did go through a period there when we saw a lot of NAIA schools making the jump up to (NCAA) Division II, but, presently, we're starting to see growth again. We have 16 new schools coming in this next year, and the NAIA has a target of getting to something like 254 members in five years. We're also going to see the NAIA implement testing for (performance enhancing drugs) at all national competitions, which I think is a great thing, and there's some other really exciting changes happening, or in the works for the NAIA, so that's something that seems to be going well right now."

And Northern certainly isn't immune to change. This fall will mark the second year of competition for the MSU-N men's and women's cross country teams, and moving forward to track is something MSU-N is currently looking at. Oberquell said there is the idea of also adding women's fastpitch softball to the slate of sports Northern offers in the future, and of course, momentum is starting to build for MSU-N to construct its own, on-campus football stadium. Those are just some of the many possible changes that might be on the horizon for Oberquell's budding athletic department.

"As far as adding anything goes, right now, the natural transition would be to add a men's and women's track program (no field events)," Oberquell said. "UM-Western is looking at doing something similar after adding cross country. And in talking with Chad (Spangler, MSU-N X-country coach), he's very much in favor of that.

"As far as adding a brand new sport, women's fastpitch softball would be a natural fit I think, but when you talk about adding sports, there's more to it than just cost. You have to look at things like, can we house them? Do we have enough room for their locker rooms, their equipment, space for them to practice, facilities? So it's not just about scholarships and funding, and that goes for whether we would transition to track, or add a brand new sport. So, in that regard, there's a lot to talk about, and when it comes to adding a brand new sport, we really need to wait to see where we're at after the 2018 fiscal year. We'll know a lot more about what we can do at that point. But definitely, we want to continue to look towards the future and continue to build on what we already have which is a great department (men's and women's basketball, wrestling, volleyball, football, men's and women's golf, rodeo and men's and women's cross country). And we're very fortunate to have a chancellor right now (Greg Kegel) that 100 percent supports athletics here. And we have a bunch of great people all over campus that see the benefits, here on campus, and in the community, of the importance of sports programs at this university. We're fortunate to have so many people who understand that here."

And those people are lucky to have Oberquell, flanked by a group of tremendous head coaches and staff in the driver's seat of the Northern athletic department. And with all of them in place, Northern's growth and stability should continue to shine, not just in the athletic department, but campuswide, for years to come.

"I really do feel like we're in a good place right now," Oberquell, who was recently named Frontier AD of the Year, said. "We have strong team GPAs across the board, we have a really good graduation rate in our athletic department. We have really good coaches who are recruiting the right kind of kids, kids who want to be here at Northern, and who want to not just play sports, but get an education, be active on campus and in our community. That's what we have right now, and we want to continue that, and continue to grow and succeed, in sports, academically and in the community. That's our objective, and I think, we're in a really good spot to continue achieving that right now."