Class ‘A’ and ‘B’ athletes head to 2019 state track and field meet

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To say that the spring sports season has been one for the books is an understatement. Plagued by wet and often cold and windy conditions, schools have struggled to complete even a portion of their scheduled sporting events.
But the season is behind them now, and athletes from all corners of the state will gather in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area this weekend, when the South Dakota State Track and Field Championships will be held. The state crowned its first boys’ team champion in 1906 - Sioux Falls Washington edged Huron - when all teams competed in one class. The girls’ first held championships in 1969.
Here is a look at the Class “A” and Class “B” boys’ and girls’ athletes from the Heartland area, who will be in competition this weekend. All have met provisional times, distances or heights to qualify and fields are limited to  the top competitors who meet those standards.
Class B
Girls
Teams will seek to unseat defending champion Deubrook Area, who will face stiff competition from both Ipswich and Chester Area at this year’s state championships.
One of the Heartland area’s top qualifier in all events may also be its youngest, as Wolsey-Wessington seventh-grader Kailynn Dorris comes into the 100-meter dash with the sixth best time in Class “B” this season - 12.94. Alana Hood of James Valley Christian is qualified 12th.
Other Wolsey-Wessington athletes going to the “B” include Raquel Nelson (10th in the 300-hurdles) and Cortney Sprecher (18th in the discus), along with the Lady Warbirds 4x100 and 4x800-meter relay teams. Hood will be joined by Karily Wieting, who qualified in both the 400-meter (16th) and 800-meter races (5th, 2:27.64) and the Lady Vikings Medley Relay team is qualified as well.
The De Smet Lady Bulldogs will take a strong contingent to Sioux Falls. Julie Anderson will run the 200-meter dash, Mackenzie Zell is qualified seventh in the shot put and 12th in the discus and Kennedy Buchholz is qualified in the high jump. The De Smet 4x200 meter relay team has also qualified to run at state.
Sunshine Bible Academy closed the year on the upswing and will be well represented at the “B.” The Crusaders’ 4x400 meter relay team is in the field and individual qualifiers include Lindsey Wilken (7th in the long jump) and Shariah Brockel in the open 400.
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket is represented by 400-meter runner Megan Poyer and 300-meter hurdler Trinity Boschee, who will also compete in the triple jump for the Blackhawks.

Highmore-Harrold’s Maddie Knox will run in the 400 for the Pirates and Oakley Jandreau will compete in the 800 as well for H-H.
Boys
Freeman only took five athletes to last year’s state meet, but brought home three titles and a state championship. The Flyers will again be tough in the sprints, but Viborg-Hurley is lurking and have a bad taste after falling four points short last year.
The Heartland region has athletes in every event except one at the boys’ division of the “B” - the pole vault. Let’s look at the events and who is competing from the area
100 & 200-meter dashes - Trey Ulmer of Sanborn Central-Woonsocket will seek to sprint to a win for the Blackhawks.
400-meter dash - Grant Hamilton of Hitchcock-Tulare is qualified 19th in a fast field of 24 where the top time is under 50 seconds.
800-meter run - Heartland schools are well represented in this middle distance race. James Valley Christian’s Colton Schweigert is qualified fifth in 2:05.14 and Clark-Willow Lake Cyclone Jacob Prouty qualified at No. 7, in 2:05.34. Jace Burma of Sunshine Bible Academy and Tate Haider of Wolsey-Wessington will take the gun in the 800 as well.
1600 and 3200-meter runs - Braden Held of James Valley Christian is qualified with the sixth best time in the 1600, 4:44.14, while De Smet’s Baylor Beck qualified 8th in the 1600 and 12th in the 3200 for the Bulldogs.
110-meter high hurdles - JVC’s Karlus Waldner qualified 8th and Joshua Roth of De Smet will both look to make the finals in the high hurdles.
300-meter hurdles - Waldner is also in the 300 hurdles and will be joined by Spens Schlicht of Sanborn Central-Woonsocket and Hitchcock-Tulare’s Ty Hofer.
Shot put and discus - De Smet thrower Koby Spader is the top qualifier in the discus, with a heave of 172-feet, 5-inches and is fifth in the shot put with a toss of 51-7.25. Mitch Wipf of James Valley Christian will also compete in the discus for the Vikings.
High jump - De Smet jumping jack Trev Holland qualified second in the high jump with a height of 6-4. Ross Engle of Sunshine Bible and Clark-Willow Lake’s Micah Burke will also look to clear the bar in the event.
Long jump - James Valley Christian’s Darrian Hood qualified 5th in the long jump with a season’s best of 21-2.5. Jeff Paulson of Clark-Willow Lake is qualified 8th, Roth is 9th and Holland qualified 11th in a deep field.
Triple jump - Hood again leads local qualifiers, as he has the third best hop, skip and jump this year - 42-9.25. Holland qualified 19th in the field.
Relays - De Smet is qualified in the 4x100, 4x800 and medley relays; Clark-Willow Lake is in the 4x200, 4x400, the medley and is qualified second in the 4x800; James Valley Christian is qualified No. 2 in the 4x400, sixth in the 4-800 and 8th in the medley; Wolsey-Wessington will compete in the medley and 4x800. Sunshine Bible Academy is qualified fifth in the 4x400, 7th in the 4x800 and has the second fastest time in the medley relay this season, losing to Timber Lake  by two-hundredths of a second at the Howard Wood Relays.
Class A
The race for the team titles will begin with the pursuit of defending champion St. Thomas More in both the boys’ and girls’ competitions this weekend.
Only two schools in the Heartland region - Redfield-Doland and Miller - compete at the Class “A” level in South Dakota and both have athletes who will vie for titles in the competition which will find preliminaries being held in Tea on Friday with the finals in Sioux Falls on Saturday.
Miller - Miller athletes making the trek to state include Kailen Krause in the girls’ 100-meter dash and long jump and Kayde Fernholz, who qualified fourth in the 100 hurdles and 10th in the high jump. VonnaGail Schlechter will also long jump for the Rustlers and is also qualified in the triple jump, while Elise Brooks will toss the discus for Miller. Abby Ketelhut will run the 300-meter hurdles and the Rustlers qualified their 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 meter relay teams.
Miller’s boys’ team will be represented by Garrett Knox in the 200 meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles, while Caden Gortmaker has qualified in the high jump and triple jump and Karst Hunter will compete in the long jump for the Rustlers, who also have their 4x100 and 4x200 meter relay teams in the field.
Redfield-Doland’s boys who qualified include Dylan Stephens in the high jump and Johnathan Schweitzer in the discus, while Dillon Fliehe will compete in both hurdle events for the Pheasants. Joseph Woodring will run the 800 and Gannon Pudwill will take the gun in the 100. Pudwill is tied for the fifth quickest 100 in Class “A” this season. The Redfield-Doland 4x200 and 4x400 meter relay teams have both qualified for the state championships.
Redfield’s girls in competition include the Pheasants’ 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.