By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
The new Class AA girls track and field champion in South Dakota is the same one the state has had for 13 straight years. Rapid City Stevens again claimed the crown over the weekend in Sioux Falls at Howard Wood Field.
According to the Rapid City Journal newspaper, the championship by Stevens equals the nation’s longest streak of consecutive state championships by one school. They list Essex Junction Education Center, Vt., Safford, Ariz., and Chandler Valley Christian, Ariz., as also having won 13 straight state championships.
Stevens scored points in all but three events during the state meet. Individual championships for the Raiders came from Brooke Garner in the discus and shot put, Hannah Lehmann in the triple jump and the 4x100-meter relay team.
Rapid City Central sophomore Jasmyne King was the Class AA meet’s outstanding performer for the second-straight year. She set a record in the long jump Friday and then claimed victories in the 100- , 200- and 400-meter dashes on Saturday.
Boys Track and Field: Year of the Governors in AA
It’s the “Year of the Governors” again in South Dakota Class AA boys track and field, as Pierre took the state championship in Sioux Falls last weekend. The victory was the Governors’ third-straight state crown.
Pierre won the title with 104 points to 91 ½ for second-place Rapid City Central, which finished second in the state meet for the fourth-straight year.
Travis Fitzke and Mike Tetzlaff were the individual stars for the Govs in the state meet.
Fitzke claimed a state title in the 1,600 meters, and Tetzlaff starred in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles with victories there. The Governors also won championships in the 4x100 meter and 1,600 meter sprint medley relays. Tetzlaff was named the meet’s most outstanding athlete.
“It never gets old but you do have different feelings with it,” Pierre head coach Geoff Gross told the Rapid City Journal newspaper. “The first year is the first one that these kids had, and last year the way our kids performed on the second day was absolutely unreal and today we were kind of in control of our own destiny. If we didn’t make mistakes we were going to be okay.”
Boys Track and Field: Sioux Falls Christian Shines in Class A
Thanks to Colin Koth, the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers went from scoring just six points on Friday to winning it all on Saturday during the Class A portion of the South Dakota state track and field meet at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
The state championship was the Chargers’ first in boys track and field.
Koth was the meet’s most outstanding performer, winning the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events and was on the Chargers’ 4x200-meter relay team that took the state title. Sioux Falls Christian also captured the 4x400-meter relay.
Girls Track and Field: Vermillion Claims Class A Championship
Vermillion took the Class A state girls track and field title last weekend in Sioux Falls by edging West River powerhouse St. Thomas More, 60-56.
The narrow victory, due in large part to the efforts of senior Alicia Brown, gave the Tanagers’ their first team state track and field championship.
Brown led the team with her fourth-straight 400 meter title and had a hand in 38 of Vermillion’s 60 points. Brown is headed to the University of South Dakota to join the Coyote basketball team next fall.
Vermillion also got championship performances from its 4x100 meter relay and 4x200 meter relay teams.
It was a moment worth savoring for the Tanagers, who had finished second to St. Thomas More the past two seasons.
Alexa Duling of Gregory was the individual star for the second-straight year, winning four individual events.
Among her championships, Duling won the 300 meter hurdles, an event she didn’t even take part in last spring, and then tied a meet record time of 12.25 seconds in the 100-meters.
Track and Field: Scotland Takes Tight B Competition
A half point was the difference for Scotland in winning the Class B boys state track championship last weekend in Sioux Falls. Scotland earned 46 points in the meet to 45.5 for second-place Langford.
Mark Sayler of Scotland was the meet’s most outstanding performer. He won the 100 meter dash and was the anchor on the school’s 4x200-meter relay victory.
Hanson was led by Bethany Gross in taking the Class B girls’ team title, breezing to the 200 meter, 400 meter, and long jump events. She also anchored a state championship 4x400-meter relay team.
