Area athletes eyeing state titles in Class A

HURON — Several area athletes will head into the Class A State Track and Field Championships, which will be held today at Tea Area and conclude Saturday at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, looking for a strong finish to the season.
Junior Jarek Kindle of Miller has qualified in three events, while senior teammate Cole Sargent will compete in a pair of individual events.
Kindle is seeded eight for both the long jump and triple jump events and has the 12th fastest time in the boys’ 100-meter dash.
Sargent is a distance specialist for the Rustlers. He qualified fifth in the 3,200 and seventh in the 1,600.
The only other individual qualifier for the Miller boys is sophomore Karst Hunter, who is seeded 24th in the high jump.
The Rustlers will also compete in the boys’ 400, 800, 1,600, and 3,200 relays.
Junior Cooper Baloun of Redfield-Doland will be eyeing state titles in the boys’ 110 and 300 hurdle events. He has the top qualifying time in the 110 hurdles and is just outside of the top 10 in the 300 hurdles.
Senior Trey Cosato will be representing the Pheasants in both the 1,600 and 3,200 races. He is seeded No. 23 and 22, respectively, in those events.
The other state qualifiers for the Redfield-Doland boys are sophomore Joe Woodring and junior Alex Cruz. Woodring is seeded 21st in the 800, while Cruz is seeded 17th.
Junior Bradyn Rusher and sophomore Jacob Prouty each qualified in a pair events for Clark-Willow Lake. Rusher will compete in the 100 and 200 races, while Prouty will run in the 800 and 1,600 races.

Sophomore Jeff Paulson and junior Ntai Stevens qualified in the boys’ long jump for the Cyclones.
Clark-Willow Lake will also compete in the boys’ medley relay.
Girls
Senior Nicolette Schmidt will be leading the Redfield-Doland girls into the state meet.
Schmidt is seeded third and ninth, respectively, in the 3,200 and 1,600 races.
Other individual qualifiers for the Redfield-Doland girls, include junior Autumn Turck (100); junior Rylie Gall (400, triple jump); freshman Kailee Clausen (300 hurdles).
The Lady Pheasants have also qualified in the 400, 800, 1,600 and medley relay events.
Senior Shaly Werdel of Miller has qualified for the state meet in the triple jump and long jump. She is seeded sixth for the triple jump and will be joined by freshman teammate VonnaGail Schlechter in the event.
Freshman Kadye Fernholz is seeded 10th for the Rustlers in the 100.
Miller will also compete in the 800 and medley relays.
Eighth-grader Paige Mehlberg is the lone state qualifier for the Clark-Willow lake girls’ team. She is seeded 13th in the high jump.