Catching up with former area athletes: Three standouts grab all-Summit honors for Jacks track and field

Mar. 31—BROOKINGS — Three area track and field standouts at South Dakota State University were recognized as all-Summit League performers during the indoor conference championships on Feb. 24 in Fargo, N.D.

Thailan Hallman, a junior from Alexandria, ran a time of 49.03 seconds for silver in the finals of the 400-meter dash. Hallman ran the top time in the preliminary round in 48.87 seconds.

In the 4x400-meter relay, Jake Werner, Hallman, Pierre Lear and Reggie Slaba teamed up and clocked a 3:19.34 for fourth place. Slaba, junior from Alexandria, was also a member of the second-place distance medley relay team, joined by Jackson Dutcher, Andrew Moller and Will Lohr, with Slaba running second.

A season-best mark of 5 feet, 8.5 inches from SDSU high jumper Madison Kizer, just 0.25 inches off her personal best, gave her third place in the women's high jump. Kizer, a senior from Howard, had a pair of event titles earlier in the indoor season, both at SDSU's Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. It was the best indoor conference finish in her career. She was also third last year during the Summit League's outdoor championships.

The SDSU women finished fourth with 78 points as North Dakota State took first with 203.5 points and South Dakota was second with 192.5 points.

In the shot put, Platte product Lee Reiser narrowly missed a top-three finish in the event, finishing in fourth with a personal record of 53 feet, 7 inches to cap his freshman indoor season. College throwers throw a 16-pound shot, while high school boys throw a 12-pound shot.

The SDSU men finished third in the team rankings with 135.5 points. South Dakota claimed the team title with 165 points to edge out North Dakota State in second with 163.5 points.

ABERDEEN — Northern State University's Dylan Schimke, a Wessington Springs product, claimed an all-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference finish during the conference's indoor track and field championships on Feb. 24 in Mankato, Minn.

Schimke had a second place finish in a time of 1:23.61 for the Wolves in the 600-meter run, just behind champion Ethan Boyens, of Augustana (1:23.42). Schimke was fourth entering the finals based on his preliminary time. He was also third in the event at a meet in Brookings on Feb. 16 and ran his career-best time on Jan. 27 (1:22.73) in Brookings.

Also at the NSIC championships, Mitchell product and Wolves jumper Treyson Schulz landed on the podium with an eighth-place finish and personal record of 6.85 meters (22 feet, 5.75 inches) in the long jump. He also set an indoor personal record in the triple jump at 13.34 meters (43 feet, 9.25 inches).

The Wolves' outdoor track and field season continues with the USD Early Bird meet on April 5-6 in Vermillion, followed by the Sioux City Relays on April 13 in Sioux City, Iowa. NSU is home on April 19-20 for the Dewey Donat Classic meet at Swisher Field.

SPEARFISH, S.D. — Black Hills State standouts Kalla Bertram and Morgan Hammerbeck were among the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball all-conference honorees at season's end for the Yellow Jackets.

Former Winner High School teammates, Bertram was a second-team selection to the all-RMAC squad, while Hammerbeck was an honorable mention. Bertram and Hammerbeck both garnered their first career RMAC recognitions.

Bertram, a junior from Colome, paced the Yellow Jackets in multiple categories this season, posting a team-high 61 steals this season, averaging 2.3 steals per contest, ranking eighth in the RMAC, and led the team in rebounding at 5.1 boards per contest.

Toward the end of the season, Bertram was leading BHSU offensively, finishing averaging 9.7 ppg. Heading into the RMAC tournament, Bertram had averaged 16.7 points in the last seven games. She has had her best three scoring games of her career this season at 19, 20, and 27 points, and her 27-point performance against Colorado Christian on the final weekend of the regular season helped secure the No. 6 seed in the RMAC tournament. Bertram was second on the team in assists (48) and is third on the team in field goal percentage (.447). Her 44.7% field goal percentage led all of the Yellow Jacket guards this season.

Hammerbeck, a senior from Hamill, set a career-high for points scored in a season (231) and per game average (8.9). Her 8.9 points per game ended the regular season third on the team, though she led the team in scoring a majority of the season.

Hammerbeck started in all 26 games she played in this season and was second on the team in rebounding (126) and per game average (4.8). She led the Yellow Jackets with her 50 assists on the season, while also recording 37 steals.

The Yellow Jackets finished the season 17-10 and 14-8 in RMAC play, bowing out in the conference tournament quarterfinals.