'Dawgs lock jaws on 2024 Class B State Track & Field titles

May 26—BISMARCK — Bowman County High School might as well be "Kenya-West" as it pertains to distance running events, with the unstoppable Taylor Wanner nailing down victories in the 800m run/dash, 1600m and 3200m runs and the 4x800m relay with teammates Noah and Jonah Njos and Gavin Lambourn, but while the boys took home a Class B State Title for the Bulldog Faithful the girls also posted an outstanding day across the board to win a first-place trophy of their own to rest firmly in the case in Bowman. While Bowman County is a perennial favorite in cross-country, this was the first time the boys track and field team won a state title — the girls team won their first in 2008 — which was particularly pleasing to BCHS head coach Jon Jahner.

"These kids have been the nucleus of who we worked with the last couple of years and we knew that we were young on the girls side last year — because of the senior leadership that graduated out — but we knew we were bringing back our scorers," Jahner said. "This year, we had high expectations and the middle of the season got a little bit dicey — and when you have those expectations you never feel like you're where you should be — but we ran our best at the right time and that was really fun to see for them."

But other area teams also saw solid days, with Dickinson Trinity winding up in 10th for both the girls and boys teams and Killdeer's girls took 11th-overall at the meet, while Richardton-Taylor, Beach and Hettinger County all registered points in the May 24-25 event.

Meanwhile, Trinity's Izaak Kudrna earned the 100m dash state title in 11.32 seconds and Gage Glaser earned a repeat-title in the pole-vault with a mark of 13'6" — with Killdeer's Gus Bohmbach taking second at the same height with more attempts — and Anna Clifton took the blue-ribbon for the girls in the same event with a 10-foot effort of her own.

"Anna Clifton was amazing in the pole vault, overcoming a hand injury from the region meet and not vaulting the week of state to reclaim her title," Trinity girls head coach Tim Baustian said. "It was an act of grit that should make Titans of all generations proud."

Sophia Headley had an outstanding series for BCHS throughout the weekend, taking top-honors in the 300m hurdles while teaming-up with Adyson and Landyn Gerbig with Quin Andrews in the anchor-role in the 4x200m and 4x400m relays for the state titles in those events.

Individual point-scoring results for other area competitors included Gage Glaser's ninth-place finish in the 100m dash and teammate Helena Pavek's seventh-place finish in the same event that was just-before Andrews's ninth-place showing for BCHS. Pavek also took home seventh in the 200m dash and sixth in the 400m event, while combining with Jersey Erie, Elly McAvoy and Annabel Scheeler to earn the bronze-ribbon in the 4x800m relay.

"Helena Pavek had the busiest week of all the ladies, and it paid off," Baustian said. "She finished with a new school record in the 400 in 58.93 — the third time she has broken the record — and she competed well against some fiery competition in the 100 and 200."

Jake Shobe was seventh for Trinity in the 400m dash and Killdeer's Jekori Dahlen was ninth, while in the 800m dash/run Jonah Njos ran a fourth-place 1:57.19 for BCHS along with Lambourn's sixth-place spot. Fellow 'Dawg Jaci Fischer took third in a time of 2:20.27 for the girls 800m event, while Killdeer's Addie Miller and Abby Hardersen were sixth and seventh, respectively.

Fischer also was third in the 1600m run with a 5:22.06 and Miller earned a fifth-place ribbon for KHS, while Julie Sarsland was ninth for the Bulldogs. On the boys side, Jonah Njos took second to Wanner in the 1600m run at 4:27.55 and Lambourn was third in 4:27.82 — as the three standouts pushed each-other all year — and Njos took a silver-ribbon in the 3200m event just behind Wanner at 9:30.41 with Lambourn finishing in fifth and Gabe Sarsland taking home sixth for Bowman. The girls 3200m run featured a third- and fourth-place finish for Fischer and Anna Sarsland in times of 11:51.06 and 11:54.49, respectively, while Julie Sarsland was seventh for the Bulldogs and Trinity's Carley Bullinger nailed-down eighth.

In the 4x100m relay, the Bowman County team of the Gerbigs, Andrews and Livia Bowman took third in 50.49 seconds and Trinity finished ninth for the boys, while in the 4x200m event Bowman County's boys team took home sixth and Dickinson Trinity was eighth. The boys 4x400m relay team of Nathan Dix, Bohden and Bishop Duffield and Brayden Williams earned fourth in the event at 3:29.76 for Bowman while Killdeer was ninth and the Titans' girls were 10th. Landyn Gerbig, Julie Sarsland, Kenley Bowman and Fischer were second in the 4x800m relay in 9:53.24 and the Titans' Pavek, Erie, McAvoy and Scheeler were third with a time of 10:01.7, while the Cowboys sent Addie Miller, Taylee Andersen, Mickellyn Walker and Abby Hardersen to fourth with a 10:06.93. Beach finished in seventh on the boys side and Richardton-Taylor was eighth in the same event.

In the field-events, Richardton-Taylor's Eastyn Gebhardt was sixth for the girls and Lainey Kucera earned fourth in the shot-put with a 127'5" effort with Hunter Rasmussen taking fourth in the discus for BCHS at 156'8". Jenna Schutt earned second in the javelin for the Raiders with a mark of 134'3" and Hettinger County's Samantha Greff came in ninth.

Killdeer's Madeline Lambert took a sixth-place ribbon from the high-jump pit and teammate Jaxon Reese was in at eighth, while Anna Nasset took eighth place for Hettinger County on the girls side.

Headley earned sixth-place points for the Bulldogs in the long-jump and Bohden Duffield was seventh in the same event, while Duffield also was a sixth-place finisher in the triple-jump.

"You know, the kids are unbelievable — and we know that and we see what they do all-year-long and in all activities — but as a coach you're always second guessing yourself," Jahner said. "But this puts an exclamation-point on it; the kids have performed and the training system does work ... and it's fun to see."

Jahner added, "I just want to give a shout-out to our seniors ...to go out like that is just super-awesome; kudos to them and the leadership they gave us, and I'm happy for them."

For more information about track & field in North Dakota, please visit the website at

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/NorthDakota/

, and for updates on Class B athletics just keep reading The Dickinson Press.