Track team gears up for state run

What do you do for an encore?
That’s the question that will be asked of Custer High School senior sprinter Blake Boyster this spring, as he takes to the track for his final season as a Wildcat off a state meet a year ago that saw him crowned state champion in three races—the 100, 200 and 400. Boyster scored over half of the Wildcats’ points at the Class A State Track Meet last May, a meet in which the boys placed third.
“He is a full-time track athlete,” head coach Karen Karim said of Boyster. “He trains year-round. He works really hard. He is completely committed. I expect him to be a standout and drop some super fast times in those sprints.”
One person does not a team make, however, and there are other returning boys team members who competed at state last season who should help the Wildcats remain toward the top of state teams. Among those are Gage Grohs, who placed fifth in the 3200 a year ago, and Robbie Emery who was eighth in a stacked Class A pole vault field. Several  younger athletes who competed at state or had strong seasons also return.
Karen expects good things out of Cade Lehman in the jumps, young sprinters Brady Virtue and Danny Immormino, fellow sprinter Leighton Landon and newcomers such as Roland Sedlacek (sprints and jumps) and Carter Tennyson in the high jump. Karim fully expects throws coach Russ Bailey to have a stable of throwers peaking at the right time by the end of the year as well.
While the boys team should once again be solid, the girls team could be spectacular. A bevy of state placewinners return from last year, led by senior Ramsey Karim, who was second in the 3200 at state a year ago and third in the 1600. She will be joined by sophomore Ciana Stiefel, who placed second in the pole vault a year ago, and sophomore sprinter JoJo Larse, who placed in the 100 (fourth), 200 (third) and 400 (seventh). A variety of girls who were on placewinning relay teams or competed at state such as Rachel Miklos, Paige Fitzler, Kylee Ellerton, Maya Tennyson, Torri Virtue and Brit Wheeler also return.
“We have some younger kids I think will step up into scoring positions,” Karim said. “It’s exciting to see.”
As has been the case far too frequently, the spring weather in the Black Hills has put a damper on the start of the season. Runners have had to spend most of their time running on treadmills, and some of the field-event competitors were only able to practice outdoors for the first time last week, and only in a limited capacity. The first meet of the season, which was supposed to be held last weekend, was cancelled. The team is set to compete this weekend at the Douglas Early Bird meet, weather pending.
The Wildcats figure to be near the top of the conference race again this year, but may once again run into a numbers game when it comes to the championship. For as good as the Wildcat athletes are the Class AA teams, Sturgis, Spearfish and Douglas, bring such a large amount of athletes to the meet it can be hard to match up.
“They just have too many kids,” Karim said. “It’s hard to stack up numbers-wise.”
The Wildcats figure to be competitive at the state meet with both teams, however, even though it’s not a senior-laden team.
“That’s always the goal. You aim for the top and if a couple of things would have gone differently last year, had I made different decisions, we could have been first and second,” Karim said. “I don’t know if we’ll get the championship trophy, but we’ll get as close as we can.”