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Highlights from ECC, LCC, LRC and 281 Conference track and field meets

roger merriam, watertown public opinion
·5 min read

Great Plains Lutheran's track and field teams continued their successful run of championships in the Eastern Coteau Conference meet at Britton on Tuesday.

The Panther boys scored 198 points and won the boys division title for the 18th-straight year. The Panthers girls won for the 14th-straight year with 207 points.

Micah Holien led the Panther boys by winning the 100 (11.43) and 200-meter (24.94) dashes and also running on the winning 1,600 (3:39.63) relay. Thad Kratz (1,600 run), Carter Hinners (3,200 run), Lucas Johnson (high jump) and Hessel Andringa (triple jump) also won events for GPL.

Abby Kjenstad, Katherine Prahl, Halle Bauer and Sophie Kannas powered GPL's girls. Kannas won the 100 (12.8) and 200 (28.02) dashes and ran on the winning 400 (54.48) and 800 (1:59.58) relays. Prahl took the 100 (16.93) and 300 (51.54) hurdles and ran on the 400 and 800 relays. Bauer won the 800 (2:32.08),1,600 (5:41.35) and 3,200 (12:16.23) runs. Kjenstad also ran on the 800 relay and swept the jumps, winning the high (4-10), long (15-0.5) and triple (32-10) jumps.

Members of the Great Plains Lutheran boys and girls' teams pose for a picture after winning Eastern Coteau Conference track and field titles on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at Britton. The titles were the 18th in a row for the boys and 14th in a row for the girls.
Members of the Great Plains Lutheran boys and girls' teams pose for a picture after winning Eastern Coteau Conference track and field titles on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at Britton. The titles were the 18th in a row for the boys and 14th in a row for the girls.

Bauer (running events) and Kjenstad (field events) earned MVP honors in the girls division. Brady Eschen of Waverly-South Shore (field) and Kaleb Foltz of Tri-State (running) were MVPs in the boys division. Foltz won the 400 (51.11) dash and 800 (2:00.25) run. Eschen took the shot put (43-6.5) and discus (129-6).

Here's more highlights from the ECC as well as the Lake Central, Lake Region and 281 Conference meets that were also held on Tuesday.

Eastern Coteau Conference

Tucker Keller of Florence-Henry swept the hurdle races and Britton-Hecla won the 400, 800, medley and 3,200 relays. Cody Thompson of Waverly-South Shore won the long jump.

Shali Laurence of Tri-State won the shot put and discus and Taylor Watson of Florence-Henry won the 400 dasha nd ran on the winning 1,600 relay. Addison and Ana Byer ran on the winning 1,600 and 3,200 relays for Florence-Henry.

Tri-State won the girls' medley relay.

Robert Begalka of Deuel swept the boys' shot put and discus during the Estelline Alumni Track and Field meet on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. More top athletes from the meet will be honored in the Top Performers of the Week April 22-28 that will run early next week.
Robert Begalka of Deuel swept the boys' shot put and discus during the Estelline Alumni Track and Field meet on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. More top athletes from the meet will be honored in the Top Performers of the Week April 22-28 that will run early next week.

Lake Central Conference

Sioux Valley swept the team titles for the second-straight year in the LCC meet at De Smet. The Cossacks won the boys division with 189 points and edged Clark-Wilow Lake 155-150 in the girls division.

Donovan Rose won the 110 and 300 hurdles and Skyler Trygstad the 1,600 and 3,200 runs for the Cossacks. Carson Wosje took the 800.

Adison Renkly won the 110 hurdles and ran on the winning 400 and medley relays for Sioux Valley's girls, who also won the 1,600 and 3,200 relays. Maci Licht ran on the winning 1,600, 3,200 and medley relays. Summer Guthmiller (discus) and Emma Gorvin (high jump) also added wins.

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Zac VanMeeteren of Hamlin won the 200 and 400 dashes and ran on the winning 400 relay. George Jensen of De Smet took the high and triple jumps. Other area event winners were Robert Begalka (shot put) and Oliver Fieber (100 dash) of Deuel, Cristhian Rodriguez (discus) and Evan Stormo (javelin) of Hamlin and Lane Tvedt of Castlewood (long jump).

Other area event winners in the girls division included Nevaeh Reitz (200 dash) and Kamryn Nesheim (1,600 run) of Clark-Willow Lake, Kelly Goens of Castlewood (300 hurdles), Ivey Schoenfelder of De Smet (shot put), Kayden Russell (javelin) and Makia Moe of Deuel (pole vault) and Marissa Bawdon (long jump) and Shayne Fritz (triple jump) of Hamlin.

Hitchcock-Tulare's Payton Chasing Hawk takes the baton from teammate Devin Enander in the boys 800-meter relay during the Estelline Alumni Track and Field meet on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
Hitchcock-Tulare's Payton Chasing Hawk takes the baton from teammate Devin Enander in the boys 800-meter relay during the Estelline Alumni Track and Field meet on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

Lake Region Conference

Warner ended Ipswich's run of 17-straight titles by winning the girls divison 159.5-156 in the LRC meet at Ipswich. The host Tigers won the boys division for a seventh-straight year with 175.5 points.

Warner's girls lone event win came in the medley (4:55.81) relay.

Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern won the 400 dash and 800 and 1,600 runs and Sofia Losure of Frederick Area took the 300 hurdles and high jump and also ran on the winning 1,600 relay in the girls division. Shawnteah La Croix of Aberdeen Christian won the 100 and long jump and ran on the winning 400 relay.

Kaidence Bulgin of North Central won the 100 hurdles and ran on the winning 800 relay along with Lindsey Geier, who won the triple jump. Savanna Hayes of Faulkton Area won the discus and javelin. Sophia Knittel (200 dash), Madisyn Gellhaus (3,200 run) and Jalyssa Hutson (pole vault) of Ipswich also won events along with Ana Ratigan of Northwestern (shot put). Northwestern also won the 3,200 relay.

Multi-event winners in the boys division included Trevor Heinz of Ipswich (100 dash and long jump), Lincoln Woodring of Northwestern (800 and 1,600 runs), Spencer Melius of Faulkton Area (300 hurdles, and javelin), Dustin Wurtz of Leola (shot put and discus), Gabe Johnson of North Central (3,200 run and 3,200 relay) and Maxwell Kulesa (200 dash and 400 and 700 relays), Rasmus Loken (pole vault and 800 relay) and Brody Davis (400 and 800 relays) of Ipswich.

Raynor Sprague of North Central (400 dash), Hunter Cramer of Warner (110 hurdles), Brennan Wolf-Donat of Warner (high jump) and Ty Boekelheide of Northwestern (triple jump) also won events.

More: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/SouthDakota/

281 Conference

James Valley Christian edged Wolsey-Wessington's three-year streak of girls division titles, winning by a 190-184 margin in the 281 Conference meet at Huron. Wolsey-Wessington edged JVC 158-155.5 to win the boys division for a third-straight year.

Adison Moore of Iroquois-Lake Preston won the 100 and 200 dashes and also ran on the winning 800 relay to lead area athletesd in the girls division. Emma Schneider of Hitchcock-Tulare (long and triple jumps) and Hadlee Holt of ILP (discus) were other area event winners.

Logan LaBrie of Hitchcock-Tulare won the 200 dash and ran on the winning 400 and 800 relays along with Brendan Nowell, Devin Enander and Payton Chasing Hawk. Teammate Erik Salmen won the shot put and javelin.

Complete results of all four area conference meets are posted on athletic.net.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Four area conference track and field meets held on Tuesday