SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The South Dakota track and field state championships run May 28-30 at Howard Wood Field, bringing together the state’s top performers in Class AA, A and B for three days of competition in sprints, distance events, relays and field events.
While powerhouse programs across the state set the pace on the team side, several local athletes from the Mitchell area and southeastern South Dakota enter with top-10 marks that position them in the mix for state medals.
The Mitchell Kernels return to Howard Wood Field with a handful of athletes ranked among the state’s best. Bryer Stach leads the way in the throws, sitting seventh in the Class AA discus at 163-0 and ninth in the shot put at 53-6.5. On the girls side, Audrey Miller ranks ninth in the triple jump at 36-6, giving Mitchell a field event scoring opportunity.
In the relays, Mitchell’s boys 4×200-meter team is ranked ninth at 1:30.20, while the 4×400 relay sits ninth at 3:24.06, putting both squads in position to chase finals lanes in deep fields.
Several area school also bring top-10 individual performers into the meet.
Wagner has one of the area’s highest-ranked athletes in Ashlyn Koupal, who is tied for fifth in the Class A high jump at 5-6. The mark keeps her within reach of the leaders, where multiple athletes are clustered at 5-7 entering the meet.
Ethan/Parkston features a pair of top-10 jumpers. Mason Jervik is sixth in the Class A long jump at 22-4, while Sean Deckert ranks fifth in the triple jump at 45-1.75, giving the co-op multiple scoring chances in horizontal jumps.
Sanborn Central/Woonsocket enters with one of the top javelin contenders in Class B in Elizabeth Boschee, who is second in the state at 140-9. Only a few feet separate the top throwers, keeping her firmly in the medal conversation.
Kimball/White Lake brings sprint depth led by Lincoln Kranig, who ranks fourth in Class A in the 400 meters at 49.12. That position gives the co-op a lane in one of the meet’s most tightly packed events, where the top 10 spans just over a second and a half.
Bridgewater-Emery also enters with a top-10 400-meter runner in Holden Wollmann, who is ninth at 49.83. With qualifying margins tight across the board, advancing to finals will be key to scoring opportunities.
Freeman will lean on Rylee Peters in the hurdles. She ranks eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.07 and seventh in the 300-meter hurdles at 45.73, giving Freeman two potential scoring lanes in the sprint hurdle events.
The meet opens Thursday with a full slate of preliminary and finals action, including the girls 100-meter hurdles prelims at 11 a.m., followed by the boys 110 hurdles prelims at 11:20 a.m. Field events begin with AA boys pole vault at 10:30 a.m. and continue through the afternoon with events such as the girls 100 dash prelims, boys 100 dash prelims, and relay prelims in both the 4×400 and sprint medley.
Finals action Thursday also includes the girls and boys 3,200-meter relays, sprint medley relays, and several field event finals across all classes.