While residents of the upper Midwest are looking for elusive signs of spring, track and field teams are searching for signs of improvement.
Aberdeen Central, Jamestown, Harrisburg, Mitchell, Brookings, Huron, Watertown and Pierre competed in the Al Sahli Invitational Indoor Meet on Thursday at the Barnett Center on the Northern State campus.
It marked the second indoor competition of the young season for the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles and the coaching staff found several areas of improvement.
"I thought last week we ran races. I thought this week we raced. That's a big thing," said Central boys' head coach Greg Murley. "We're young. We have a lot of sophomores that ran our relays last year and are juniors now. Our distance runners are a lot of sophomores. I thought on the track I saw a lot more competitive nature. A lot of guys were finding someone to go out and race and compete against."
Josh Hilgemann won the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 7.8 seconds and turned in a time of :24.6 for third in the 200-meter dash. Grayson Phillips placed in the 55- and 200-meter dashes. Tanner Peltier crossed the finish line second in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:05.9. Patrick Woods took home a fourth place in the 3,000 and a sixth in the 1,500-meter run.
Mitchell Guthmiller ended up third in the long jump, second in the triple jump and third in the high jump.
In addition to six Eastern South Dakota Conference schools and Jamestown, Harrisburg journeyed north for the meet.
"Harrisburg was a great addition to the meet. They have some quality people and their staff is certainly quality. In our field events, Mitchell Guthmiller had a good day. Brenden Miller made finals in the shot put and he's been hurt. Josh Hilgemann had a great day on the track. We sometimes forget about him because we expect him to do well every week."
Pierre's Trevor DeSchepper topped the field in the 200- and 55-meter dashes and received the Matt Harvey Award as the most valuable male athlete. He set a new meet record in the 55-meter dash at :06.5 and ran a leg on the winning 3,200-meter relay. Cody Kuehl won the long jump and triple jump for Pierre.
The Central girls turned in a good day in the field events.
"We got two places in the long jump and triple jump," said Central girls' coach Jim Appl. "Alexis Clark had another stellar day for us as well, winning the vault and high jump. Our field events are going to be one of our strengths all year. On the track, our relays ran well. Our distance runners had a pretty good day led by Morghan Waage. Larissa Swanson and Madison Russman improved in the sprints. On the track, overall, we did some nice things."
Clark continued her fast start by winning the pole vault (10-6) and the high jump (5-6). The high jump mark was a new meet record. Last week, the junior gymnast cleared 5-11 in the high jump in a non-sanctioned indoor meet.
The Golden Eagles finished fifth and sixth in the 1,500-meter run and Hannah Kastigar took second in the 2,840-meter run, which was accidently run one lap short of 3,000-meters.
"The biggest form of improvement, without a doubt, was I thought we competed harder this week than last week. That's the goal of indoors is to compete. It might not show up in the places but I saw kids really get after it and push themselves early in races. They may have run out of gas at the end but that's all right. Last week with fewer teams I don't think our shot putters got a place. We got third, fourth and fifth with more teams here this week," said Appl.
Cortney Dowling of Pierre set new meet records in the 55-meter and 200-meter dash and was named the most valuable female athlete.
The Golden Eagles hope to debut the outdoor season next Thursday at the Huron Invitational.
"We need to take care of ourselves," said Murley. "Hopefully we can head outside and keep improving and keep working hard in practice."
The girls' team is also looking forward to the great outdoors.
"It's time to get outside and get on the track and get something done," Appl said. "We had a nice day and we'll continue to improve. I can't wait to see the sun instead of the lights of the Barnett Center."
Participating Teams: Aberdeen Central, Brookings, Watertown, Pierre, Mitchell, Huron, Harrisburg, Jamestown, N.D.
|Girls' Division|
55-Meter Dash: 1, Cortney Dowling, :07.1 (meet record); 2, Macy Denzer, Watertown, :07.2; 3, Madison Barnes, Jamestown, :07.6; 4, Marissa Swanson, Aberdeen Central, :07.6; 5, Madison Russman, :07.6; 6, Shelby Weier, :07.7.
200-Meter Dash: 1, Cortney Dowling, :26.10 (meet record); 2, Macy Denzer, :27.10; 3, Madison Barnes, Jamestown, :27.40; 4, Nikki Farnsworth, :28.20; 5, Kelsey Schmitz, Pierre, :28.20; 6, Madison Russman, Aberdeen Central, :28.40.
400-Meter Dash: 1, Cailyn Schreurs, Harrisburg, 1:03.8; 2, Molly Despiegler, Watertown, 1:03.9; 3, Eileen Long, Pierre, 1:04.1; 4, Jani Moran, Watertown, 1:04.5; 5, Kylie Voight, Jamestown, 1:05.0; 6, Elizabeth Raecke, Pierre, 1:06.5
800-Meter Run: 1, Megan Schenk, Harrisburg, 2:31.9; 2, Alison Allmer, Jamestown, 2:26.1; 3, Morgan Waage, Aberdeen Central, 2:36.6; 4, Berkley Rietveld, Mitchell, 2:38.7; 5, Rachel Morin, Jamestown, 2:39.6; 6, Courtney Brandt, Pierre, 2:42.6.
1,500-Meter Run: 1, Alison Allmer, Jamestown, 5:15.2; 2, Watertown, Taylor Redlin, 5:21.0; 3, Sarah Polak, Pierre, 5:22.4; 4, Kaylee Kappes, Aberdeen Central, 5:26.5; 5, Kaitlyn Volk, Aberdeen Central, 5:29.7; 6, Haley Kindvall, Brookings, 5:36.5.
2,840-Meter Run: 1, Rachel Propst, Pierre, 10:04.2; 2, Hannah Kastigar, 10:09.2; 3, Karen Mayfield, Watertown, 10:46.4; 4, Madison Waage, Aberdeen Central, 10:51.2; 5, Karlie Brown, 12:26.4; 6, D.D. Janis, Watertown, 13:11.7.
55-Meter Hurdles: 1, Tess Johnson, Pierre, :08.70; 2, Cailyn Schreurs, Harrisburg, :08.80; 3, Logan Kludt, Watertown, :08.90; 4, Ellie Rew, Mitchell, :09.30; 5, Devien Peolstra, Harrisburg, :09.30; 6, Sami Zell, Huron, :09.90.
960-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Farnsworth, Snyder, Berg, Schmitz), 2:19.6; 2, Brookings, 2:21.1; 3, Aberdeen Central, 2:22.4; 4, Watertown, 2:24.9; 5, Jamestown, 2:25.1; 6, Mitchell, 2:25.4.
1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Leong, Schmitz, Raecke, Dowling), 4:17.3; 2, Aberdeen Central, 4:22.4; 3, Watertown, 4:25.6; 4, Mitchell, 4:35.0; 5, Jamestown, 4:36.3; 6, Watertown, 4:42.1.
3,200-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central (Waage, Volk, Kappes, Kastigar), 10:18; 2, Mitchell, 10:32; 3, Harrisburg, 10:44; 4, Watertown, 11:07; 5, Pierre, 11:22; 6, Jamestown, 11:48.
High Jump: 1, Alexis Clark, Aberdeen Central, 5-6 (meet record); 2, Anna Boudy, Pierre, 5-2; 3, Catlyn Schevers, Harrisburg, 5-0; 4, Hannah Bohling, Aberdeen Central, 5-0; 5, Danielle Gottsleben, Watertown, 4-10; 6, Sami Swedlund, Brookings, 4-8.
Long Jump: 1, Alexis Gannon, Brookings, 18--1/4; 2, Larissa Swanson, 17-0; 3, Kelsey Hannigan, Aberdeen Central, 15-6; 4, Katie Berg, Pierre, 15-5-3/4; 5, Margaret Chell, Brookings, 15-4; 6, Brooke Braun, Aberdeen Central, 15-1.
Triple Jump: 1, Margaret Chell, Brookings, 33-1; 2, Lily Sanderson, Brookings, 31-7; 3, Brianna Kusler, Aberdeen Central, 30-11-1/2; 4, Jordan Beiswanger, Harrisburg, 29-4; 5, Whitney King, Pierre, 29-6-1/4; 6, Sarah Rohrbach, Aberdeen Central, 27-11-1/2.
Shot Put: 1, Sydney Palmer, Pierre, 38-4-1/2; 2, Abby Sudbeck, Mitchell, 36-7-1/2; 3, Sam Scepaniak, Aberdeen Central, 33-1; 4, Emily Miller, Aberdeen Central, 32-10; 5, Paige Hoffman, Aberdeen Central, 32-3; 6, McKenzie Werner, Watertown, 32-2.
Pole Vault: 1, Alexis Clark, Aberdeen Central, 10-6; 2, Tessa Musil, Huron, 10-0; 3, Lexi Chase, Huron, 9-6; 4, Larissa Swanson, Aberdeen Central, 9-6; 5, Brittni Gustafson, Brookings, 8-6; 6, Whitney Scott, Watertown, 8-0.
|Boys' Division|
55-Meter Dash: 1, Trevor DeSchepper, Harrisburg, :06.5 (tied record); 2, Joe Foely, Watertown, :06.6; 3, Bo Arnold, Watertown, :06.6; 4, Alex Wiemann, Brookings, :06.7; 5, Greyson Phillips, ;06.7; 6, Michael Hust, Jamestown, :06.8.
200-Meter Dash: 1, Trevor DeSchepper, Harrisburg, :23.9; 2, Michael Hust, Jamestown, :24.0; 3, Josh Hilgemann, Aberdeen Central, :24.6; 4, Greyson Phillips, Aberdeen Central, :24.7; 5, Brady Carlson, Jamestown, :24.8; 6, Reagon Francom, Huron, :24.9.
400-Meter Dash: 1, Shay Reinke, Pierre, :55.1; 2, Tyler Kleinsasser, Huron, :55.5; 3, Chris Rumrill, Pierre, :56.1; 4, Matt Blaseg, Pierre, :57.4; 5, Mason Hericks, Watertown, :57.4; 6, Justin Andrews, Watertown, :57.6.
800-Meter Run: 1, Jack Wollman, Pierre, 2:20.6; 2, Christian Fossum, Mitchell, 2:20.9; 3, Conner Bollweg, Harrisburg, 2:23.3; 4, Calob McKinley, Pierre, 2:24.0; 5, Joseph Schoeller, Pierre, 2:25.8; 6, Sean Curley, Watertown, 2:27.3.
1,500-Meter Run: 1, Steven Gordon, Pierre, 4:22.5; 2, Brant Gilbertson, Watertown, 4:26.7; 3, Justice Lamer, Brookings, 4:30.6; 4, Nick Reittenberger, Watertown, 4:38.8; 5, Conner Bollweg, Harrisburg, 4:39.6; 6, Patrick Woods, Aberdeen Central, 4:42.2.
3,000-Meter Run: 1, Weston Christiansen, Pierre, 10:04.0; 2, Tanner Peltier, Aberdeen Central, 10:05.9; 3, Pierre runner, 10:22.0; 4, Patrick Woods, Aberdeen Central, 10:24.9; 5, Layne Diaz, Watertown, 11:13.3; 6, Harrison Coombs, 13:19.4.
55-Meter Hurdles: 1, Josh Hilgemann, Aberdeen Central, :07.8; 2, Shay Reinke, Pierre, :08.1; 3, Brady Timmer, Harrisburg, :08.7; 4, Taylor Orr, Jamestown, :08.7; 5, Sam Hanson, Harrisburg, :08.9; 6, Daniel Mastick, :09.0.
960-Meter Relay: 1, Harrisburg (DeSchepper, Kabumbi, Mastick, Timmer), 2:00.5; 2, Brookings, 2:00.6; 3, Watertown, 2:01.1; 4, Jamestown, 2:02.4; 5, Aberdeen, 2:05.3; 6, Watertown, 2:05.6.
1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Blaseg, Rumrill, Gordon, Reinke), 3:44.0; 2, Watertown, 3:45.7; 3, Watertown, 3:51.2; 4, Brookings, 3:51.3; 5, Aberdeen Central, 3:54.3; 6, Mitchell, time not reported.
3,200-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Gorden, Weston, Jebben, Whyatt), 9:04.3; 2, Mitchell, 9:31.8; 3, Brookings, 9:33.4; 4, Aberdeen Central, 9:45.1; 5, Harrisburg, 9:52.3; 6, Watertown, 10:01.9.
High Jump: 1, Justus St. Sauver, Watertown, 6-2; 2, Riley Sears, Pierre, 6-0; 3, Mitchell Guthmiller, Aberdeen Central, 6-0; 4, Hunter Irvine, Brookings, 5-8; 5, John Jamison, 5-6; 6, (tie) Bailey Schriever, Harrisburg, and Brevin Kaiser, Pierre, 5-6.
Long Jump: 1, Cody Kuehl, Pierre, 19-9; 2, Nick Jensen, Watertown, 19-1; 3, Mitch Guthmiller, Aberdeen Central, 18-10; 4, Taylor Orr, Jamestown, 18-7; 5, Mike Stotz, Aberdeen Central, 18-7; 6, Anthony Buechler, Aberdeen Central, 18-6.
Triple Jump: 1, Cody Kuehl, Pierre, 40-8-1/2; 2, Mitchell Guthmiller, Aberdeen Central, 38-8-3/4; 3, Nick Jensen, Watertown, 38-0; 4, John Johnson, Harrisburg, 30-10-1/4; 5, Travis Barton, 36-9-1/2; 6, Layne Tiesen, Aberdeen Central, 36-7.
Shot Put: 1, Graham Protexter, Pierre, 47-8; 2, Michael Keegan, Watertown, 45-3; 3, Nate Johnson, 45-1; 4, Brenden Miller, Aberdeen Central, 44-6; 5, Dylan Pierson, Mitchell, 44-1-1/2; 6, Tyler Kleinsasser, Huron, 44-0.
Pole Vault: 1, Reagon Francom, Huron, 14-6; 2, Colton Jordan, Watertown, 13-0; 3, Austin Lemiux, Pierre, 12-6; 4, Brian Anderson, Watertown, 12-6; 5, Marc Seiz, Aberdeen Central, 12-9; 6, Payton Reynolds, Watertown, 11-0.