Doug Berg signs to run at Simpson

In early January, Nodaway Valley senior Doug Berg signed a national letter of intent to run track and field and cross country at Simpson College beginning this fall. He will study something in the business realm, he said.

There were several factors that led Berg to choose Simpson over the other two choices he had, which were Luther College and Wayne State. Aside from a quality coach and quality potential teammates, Simpson is also somewhat close to home. The Storm have a strong program that he sees himself fitting into. It is a place where he feels he can reach his full potential moving forward.

Not every kid has the opportunity to play collegiate sports and Berg is grateful to be one with that opportunity. He said it really never crossed his mind that he would ever not run in college.

“Coach [Darrell Burmeister] B really helped me develop my love for the sport, then I guess I just got better and better at it,” Berg said. “It just made me want to do it more.”

Berg has many accomplishments from his high school career. Some of his achievements that are top of mind as his prep career nears a close are being a part of the state runner-up cross country team his freshman season (2019) and all of the 12 running events he’s qualified for state-level competition in across both track and cross country.

In his last three years alone at state cross country, his average placement was 20th out of an average of 154 runners. His senior year, Berg was the conference champ in all three distance running events: the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters in track and the 5K in cross country.

Burmeister, NV’s head cross country coach and its longtime head track coach, currently serving as an assistant, said he’s extremely proud of Berg’s accomplishments.

“Doug has taken his time in making his final decision. He has a promising career ahead of him both academically and athletically,” Burmeister said. “In the past four years, he has always given his best in practices and in the meets. That commitment, dedication and work ethic will serve him well in the coming years. More important, he has grown into a fine young man.”

Berg is one of three Wolverines who has signed recently for the next level. Boston DeVault committed to play baseball at Central College and Avery Phillippi to play basketball at Clark University. See coverage of their signings in a future edition.