Track travels to Spearfish, Edgemont

By Jason Ferguson

The scheduled Douglas Early Bird track meet last Tuesday was cancelled due to weather, but the Custer High School track team was in Spearfish last Thursday where it participated in the Queen City Classic. This is one of the more difficult meets of the season, as Class AA schools compete along with larger schools from out of state.
“At this point in time we’re just looking for nice weather days to get some events in,” Custer head coach Karen Karim said. “We wanted to stack a couple of relays and work on some times. It’s nice to get the competition, too.”
On the boys side the Wildcats placed three in the pole vault, as Ayden Dooley placed second in the event by clearing a personal record (PR) height of 12-6, as did Ezra Wollman, who placed third. In seventh place was Wyatt DeFreece, who cleared 11-0, which was also a PR.
The 3200 relay team of Carter Cooper, Jared Cooper, Peyton Krueger and Zane Gunnell was third at 9:00.01, while the medley team of Danny Immormino, Marcus Merrill, Kian Rusch and Zach Cooper was fourth at 3:47.58.
Lincoln Golder picked up a pair of medals, placing sixth in the discus with a best throw of 134-7, which was a PR, as well as eighth in the shot put with a best toss of 45-2, which was also a PR.
Kian Rusch was sixth in the 1600 at a time of 4:43.15, while Veek Johncour was sixth in the triple jump with a best leap of 40-9 1/2, which set a PR.
The girls had two individual champions, as Tenlee Stiefel won the pole vault with a top height of 12-6, while Karyn Ellerton won the discus with a best throw of 123-8. Ellerton was also third in the shot put with a PR throw of 38-3.
The medley relay team of Sienna Musemeci, Taylor Busch, Kiran Pesicka and Mikayla Dennis was second at 4:31.81, and Rylan Lowe was third in the discus with a best throw of 107-0.
Kelsey Stiefel finished fourth in the pole vault with a best height of 11-0, and the 400 relay team of Siena Schultz, Tenlee Stiefel, Kelsey Stiefel and Busch was sixth at 51.77.
Rounding out the places was Ava Hohn in the discus with a best throw of 93-9.
Karim said many of the marks and times were good enough to already qualify for state and/or the Howard Wood Dakota Relays, coming up in a few weeks in Sioux Falls. Even athletes who didn’t place saw some top marks that helped them qualify or record a personal record.
“They blend in. You can’t really tell but those were some good races,” Karim said.
On Saturday a handful of the athletes headed south to Edgemont for the Cody Barker Memorial meet.
The boys had three championships, as Cheydon McPhee won the 110 hurdles in a time of 22.4, while Eli Kobza won the 300 hurdles at 55.77. The 400 relay team of McPhee, Jaxson Pomarleau, Brennan Gangel and Aiden Airheart placed first at 51.64.
Kobza was second in the 100 at 13.26, as was Airheart in the long jump at 16-10 1/2.
Pomarleau was third in the 100 at 13.47 as well as the long jump with a PR leap of 16-5, while Gangel was fourth in both the 100 (13.57 PR) and 200 (27.14 PR). Hayden Virtue was fourth in the discus at 87-7.
Fifth place finshes came from Will Boutwell in the shot put at 27-1 1/2 and Pomarleau in the 200 at 27.16 (PR). Custer got a sixth-place finish from Airheart at 28.51.
Finally, Boutwell had a PR in the discus at 76-0, good for seventh place, while Hunter Saari was seventh in the 100 at 14.40.
For the girls, the Wildcats got championships from Jessica Hite in both the shot put and discus at 33-6 and 70-0, respecitvely, Kadence Spaans in the high jump at a top height of 4-0 and the 400 relay team of Gabriella Hardesty, Rachel Adams, Racina Hagedorn and Jasmine Harbison at 1:00.96.
Harbison also grabbed second in the 100 at 15.48, while Sunshine Surratt was second in the long jump with a best leap of 13-5 1/2. Hardesty was second in the triple jump with a best jump of 27-0 3/4.
Harbison finished third in the 200 in a PR time of 32.11, while Miah Baker was fourth in the discus with a PR throw of 67-10. Baker was also fifth in the shot put with a PR throw of 24-0, as was Hardesty in the long jump with a PR jump of 11-6.
The team is scheduled for a pair of meets this week, starting with the Track-O-Rama on the campus of the South Dakota School of Mines &Technology in Rapid City Thursday morning, followed by heading to Belle Fourche for the Center of the Nation meet Saturday.