In first season competing in track and field, Deng Deng wins high jump state title
May 24—BISMARCK — Deng Deng had never competed at the North Dakota state track and field meet before.
The Four Winds senior joined the New Rockford-Sheyenne track and field team this season with a first-year co-op.
Four Winds hadn't had a track team in more than 10 years.
You wouldn't have noticed a rookie Friday in the high jump at the Bismarck Community Bowl.
Deng, who's signed to play football at UND next season, cleared 6-foot-6 to win his first state championship.
Deng was the only participant to clear 6-4, as well. Ethan Duval of Kindred and Will Mickelson of Glen Ullin-Hebron both jumped 6-2 as the closest competition.
Deng, a North Dakota Mr. Basketball winner at Four Winds-Minnewaukan, took second in the long jump during Thursday's events.
"It was my first year of track but I always knew I had the ability to come and win at state," Deng told the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. "Being able to do that, I truly feel blessed.
"Once I heard that it was official that we were going to co-op, I just knew I was going to come out and have some fun and compete against other people from the state."
Other top-eight finishes on the Class B boys side from the area include a fourth-place finish from Hillsboro-Central Valley in the 4x800, a seventh-place finish in the high jump from Dalen Leftbear (Four Winds athlete competing with New Rockford-Sheyenne) and a fourth-place finish from Karter Peterson of Thompson in the javelin.
Bowman County leads the team race with 66 points, followed by Kindred with 47 and New Rockford-Sheyenne with 20.
Riley Sunram of Kindred won the discus with a throw of 196 feet, 4 inches to win the event by nearly 30 feet.
One day after narrowly missing the state meet record in the shot put, Sunram broke the Class B, overall and Community Bowl records in the discus.
The throw broke Hillsboro-Central Valley's Kaden Pastian's Class B record of 192 feet and Grand Forks Red River's Bryan Bjerk's Bowl and overall meet record of 192-8. It was also 20 feet better than Sunram's previous best entering the state meet.
Ryder Bickett of Carrington won the javelin with a throw of 189 feet, 10 inches.
Taylor Wanner of Bowman County helped Bowman County take the top three places in the 1,600 meters. Later in the day, Wanner anchored Bowman County's state meet Class B record 4x800 relay team (7:56.82).
