Mitchell track and field season underway at Dan Lennon Invitational
Mar. 18—VERMILLION — Mitchell's track and field season commenced on Monday at the Dan Lennon Invitational at the DakotaDome.
The Class A competition, which involved contestants from 22 different schools across South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, saw Mitchell place inside the top-10 in 17 different events.
The highest individual Kernel finisher in any event was Alexier Padilla, who placed third in the boys 400-meter race with a time of 52.01.
The Kernel boys had a strong showing in the triple jump, with Kellan Odell (11.21 meters) placing fourth, Vitus Carpenter (11 meters) placing eighth and Trell Kaupp (10.27 meters) placing 12th.
Also finishing in the top five was Carter Harris in the pole vault, who was fourth with a vault of 3.92 meters.
A pair of distance runners finished top ten in the 1600 meter, with Hunter Patton running a 4:46.9 to place sixth, and Gradyson Hetland running a personal best of 4:49.11 to finish seventh. Floyd Korzan added a personal best of 5:20.23 in the race, while in the girls 1600 meter, Alexis Daley placed 26th with a personal best of 6:31.08, and Aspen Evers (6:34.6) and Katie Morgan (6:36.07) placed 27th and 28th.
Hentland followed up his strong 1600 meter showing with a seventh-place finish in the boys 800 meter (2:10.77), while Patton ran a personal best of 2:18.08 to place 20th, and Ben Gerlach (2:29.3) was 35th. In the girls 800 meter, Emerson Smith (2:37.5) was ninth, Londyn Schroeder (2:37.5) was 12th and Madeline Vogel (2:53.3) was 23rd.
In the girls 400-meter dash, Carsyn Weich (1:04.59) landed seventh, Ryan Keys (1:05.29) was eighth and Avrie London (1:07.08) was 14th. DJ Sheets recorded his personal best (59.29) to place 26th in the boys 400 meter.
Nathan McCormick finished seventh in the 60 meter finals with a 7.3. He charted a personal bests in the race's prelims (7.25) and ran a 7.3 in the semifinals to qualify for the final. Four Kernels competed in the 60-meter hurdles, with Connor Singrey placing 16th for the boys (9.61) and Sidney Malde (11.14) finishing 22nd to lead the Kernels.
In the boys long jump, Kellan Odell recorded a personal best (5.76 meters) en route to a 15th-place finish, while Will Prunty (5.58 meters) was 23rd and Vitus Carpenter (5.44 meters) was 26th. In the girls long jump, Audrey Miller (4.48 meters) and Avria London (4.45 meters) finished 18th and 20th, respectively. In the boys high jump, Oliver Olegario was 15th (1.7 meters).
Lilly Young threw for 9.68 meters in the girls shot put to place 10th, while Taylor DeJong (8.90 meters) was 15th and Macey Linke (7.10 meters) was 39th. Bryer Stach (11.81 meters) placed 25th in the boys shot put.
On the boys side for the 1600 meter medley relay, Kaupp, Harris, DJ Sheets and Elijah Schroeder placed 12th (4:10.49) and Hudson Borgan, Olegario, Miguel Vizcarra and Gerlach finished 18th (4:17.14). For the girls, Addie Siemsen, Ellis, Olivia Prunty, Londyn Schroeder placed ninth (4:44.2), and a team of Ava Brannan, Danny Borja, Ava Prunty, Kambyl Wede were 10th (4:47.75).
In the boys 4x200 meter relay, a team of Adam Kampshoff, Carter Lee, Harris and McCormick placed ninth (1:38.34), while Borgan, Kaup, Vizcarra and Elijah Schroeder were 29th (1:47.95). Brannan, Siemsen, Denaesia Aldridge and Olivia Prunty lifted the Kernel girls to an 11th-place finish in the 4x200 meter relay (1:57.09), while a team of Ellis, Kenzi Kayl, Makenzie Peterson and Aubrey Gelderman placed 22nd (2:01.88).
Mitchell's boys 4x400 meter relay team of Singrey, Padilla, Lee and Will Prunty placed second with a 3:38.43, and the Kernel girls 4x400 team was 14th (4:41.39), behind the efforts of Olivia Prunty, Weich, Keys and Aldridge.
Mitchell's indoor season continues on March 28 with a noon meet at the Corrigan Fieldhouse at Dakota Wesleyan University.
