TEA — A trio of area athletes earned places during the opening day of the Class A State Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Jarek Kindle of Miller finished third in the boys’ long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 0.5 inches. He was less than seven inches shy of the top jump of 22-7 posted by Tiegen Priebe of Chamberlain and less than six inches out of second place.
Cole Sargent was fourth for Miller in the boys’ 3,200-meter run. He turned in a time of 9:59.77, which was less than 20 seconds off the pace set by Derick Peters of West Central, who won the event with a 9:40.87.

Redfield-Doland’s Nicolette Schmidt earned a spot on the podium with a fourth-place finish in the girls’ 3,200 run. She turned in a time of 11:37.91.
Cooper Baloun of Redfield-Doland turned in the top time of 14.89 seconds in the prelims of the boys’ 110 hurdles to reach today’s finals.
The Clark-Willow Lake boys’ medley relay team also reached the finals. Graysen Florey, Ntai Stevens, Bradyn Rusher and Jacob Prouty turned in a time of 3:47.08 to qualify sixth for the finals.
The finals of the Class A State Track and Field Championships will begin at 9 a.m. today at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.