Lady Lynx narrowly miss top 3; boys land 5th at state track

The race for the girls’ AA state track and field team title was a close one, but the Lady Lynx fell short of repeating their state championship win last weekend.

Just 10 points separated the top five AA girls’ teams at the state track meet, moving from the Brandon track Friday to Howard Wood Field on Saturday. 

In the end, the Lady Lynx finished in fourth place with 78 points. Sioux Falls Lincoln won the AA girls’ title with 88 points, nipping O’Gorman by a mere two points, and Roosevelt in third, with 80 points. 

“It was intense all weekend. We were anxious with every track event, every field event,” said BV coach Troy Sturgeon. “It was definitely one of those nail-biters from beginning to end.”

The Lincoln boys tallied 169.5 points to sweep the team title. BV racked up 55 points to take home the fifth-place team prize, trailing Watertown in second (94 points), Aberdeen in third (73), and Rapid City Stevens in fourth (57).

Krista Bickley ran the 400 in 56.79 seconds to win her fifth straight 400 state title. Bickley stepped across the finish line three seconds ahead of the second-place competition. 

She also anchored BV’s winning 4x100 and nabbed runner-up honors in the 200.

Bickley’s two wins Saturday made for a total of 11 combined individual and relay state titles she’s had a role in during her prep career. 

“Krista is definitely one of the all-time greats in South Dakota track and field history,” Sturgeon said.

The BV girls also scored top prize in the 4x200, with Brielle Dixon, Morgan Thompson, Kennedy Nuebel in the 4x200 and 4x100. 

Taia Rude, who led BV’s 4x200 relay, was poised to place in the top three in the 300-meter hurdles when she re-injured her hip Friday. While Rude was forced to sit out the race, she continued to compete in the high jump, leaping 5 feet, 3 inches take third.

“Taia did everything she could to help us out,” Sturgeon said. “She was definitely one of our heroes this weekend.”

Mia Wentzy helped make up points with her surprise third-place finish in the 1600-meter run, while Sydney Pelletier vaulted 11 feet, 3 inches to take second in the pole vault.

On the boys’ side, Jesse Van Hemert led BV with his first-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles (40.37 seconds) and third place effort in the 110 (15.37). 

Four seniors also helped to secure points for the Lynx boys, including senior Trey Reindl, who closed out his high school career with a second-place finish in the 400 (50.97 seconds) and third in the 200 (22.40). 

Though Lynx senior Ethan Tellinghuisen was one of three vaulters to hit 14 feet, 6 inches, he finished in third. Alex Kolbeck also picked up third place in the shot put with his throw of 51 feet, 11 inches, and Carter Olthoff leapt 6 feet, 2 inches over the bar to earn fourth in the high jump. 

“It was really our field events that carried us through,” Sturgeon said. “Our kids performed better than they ever have. It’s just that other kids performed better.” 

Several other Lynx met their goals of making the podium as one of the top eight in their respective events, including Eli Cheever in the 1600, Britton Elkin in the 3200 and Jorey Sorenson in the discus. 

“In victory and in defeat, they’re always gracious. That’s what makes me the most proud,” Sturgeon said.

 

AA State Track & Field

 May 24-25, 2019

Girls team scores: 1.) SF Lincoln 88; 2.) SF O’Gorman 86; 3.) SF Roosevelt 80; 4.) Brandon Valley 78; 5.) RC Stevens 76; 6.) Watertown 59; 7.) Aberdeen Central 46; 7.) Harrisburg 46; 9.) Yankton 43; 10.) SF Washington 37; 11.) RC Central 27; 12.) Pierre T.F. Riggs 21; 13.) Spearfish 15; 14.) Sturgis Brown 14; 15.) Douglas 12; 16.) Brookings 7; 17.) Mitchell 4; 18.) Huron 1. 

Lady Lynx results – 200: 2.) Krista Bickley 24.97. 400: 1.) Krista Bickley 56.79; 8.) Kennedy Nuebel 1:01.72. 800: 9.) Kylie Foss 2:29.09; 13.) Natalie Moose 2:31.87; 17.) Danica Kocer 2:33.11. 1600: 3.) Mia Wentzy 5:13.53; 15.) Haley Bergan 5:27:00; 17.) Lauren Wells 5:28.60. 3200: 9.) L. Wells 11:53.84; 11.) Katie Wentzy 12:12.54; 16.) Allison Rief 12:35.63. 100 hurdles: 4.) Brielle Dixon 14.92. 4x100: 1.) BV (B. Dixon, Morgan Thompson, Kennedy Nuebel, K. Bickley) 48.38. 4x200: 1.) BV (Taia Rude, B. Dixon, M. Thompson, K. Nuebel) 1:44.43.

4x400: 6.) BV (Aysia Van Hulzen, Madelyn Labahn, K. Nuebel, K. Bickley) 4:06.52. 4x800: 5.) BV (L. Wells, K. Foss, N. Moose, Emily Van Roekel) 9:52.54. 1600 sprint medley: 5.) BV (B. Dixon, Olivia McIravy, E. Van Roekel, M. Wentzy) 4:24.96. High jump: 3.) Taia Rude 5-03.00; 7.) M. Thompson 5-01.00. Long jump: 9.) Trinity Law 16-06.25. Triple jump: 9.) M. Thompson 34-11.50; 11.) T. Law J34-09.00; 19.) Mya Bunker 33-03.25. Pole vault: 2.) Sydney Pelletier 11-03; 8.) Halayna Hendrick 10-09. Shot put: 12.) Aneesha Scott 36-04.00. 

 

Boys team scores: 1.) SF Lincoln 169.50; 2.) Watertown 94; 3.) Aberdeen Central 73; 4.) RC Stevens 57; 5.) Brandon Valley 55; 6.) Sturgis Brown 46; 7.) RC Central 45.50; 8.) Harrisburg 45; 9.) Pierre T.F. Riggs 29; 10.) SF O’Gorman 26; 11.) SF Washington 23; 11.) Spearfish 23; 13.) SF Roosevelt 15; 14.) Yankton 12; 15.) Douglas 11; 16.) Huron 10; 17.) Mitchell 2; 18.) Brookings 1. 

Lynx results – 200: 3.) Trey Reindl 22.40. 400: 2.) Trey Reindl 50.97. 800: 9.) Austin Vigants 2:04.03; 13.) Cole Sylliaasen 2:04.68; 24.) Riley Peyton 2:10.42. 1600: 8.) Eli Cheever 4:40.43; 14.) Zach Hentschel 4:42.72; 18.) Britton Elkin 4:45.96. 3200: 6.) B. Elkin 10:07.16; 12.) Z. Hentschel 10:22.06; 18.) E. Cheever 10:30.53. 110 hurdles: 3.) Jesse Van Hemert 15.37. 300 hurdles: 1.) J. Van Hemert 40.37. 4x800: 6.) BV (Carson Mashlan, A. Vigants, E. Cheever, C. Syliiassen) 8:17.23. High jump: 4.) Carter Olthoff 6-02.00; 17.) Ty McCann 5-10.00. Long jump: 17.) Jordan Blok 19-00.50. Pole vault: 3.) Ethan Tellinghuisen 14-06.00. Discus: 8.) Jorey Sorenson 144-03; 9.) Alex Kolbeck 141-11; 10.) Drake Swenson 139-09. Shot put: 3.) A. Kolbeck 51-11.00; 18.) Quinn Grode 45-05.00; 21.) Zach Roggow 43-10.00.