SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — History was made Thursday at Howard Wood Field as Wagner senior Ashlyn Koupal became the first athlete in South Dakota state track and field history to earn six straight individual state titles, highlighting a standout opening day filled with record-breaking performances at the State Track and Field Meet.
Koupal cleared 5 feet, 6 inches to win the Class A girls high jump title for the sixth straight season, completing a streak that began in seventh grade. The future University of Nebraska basketball player was the only competitor to clear the winning height.
Thursday’s opening session featured several meet and state records across all three classes.
Custer freshman Tenlee Stiefel delivered one of the day’s top performances, clearing 13-3 to win the Class A girls pole vault and break the meet record previously held by her sister, Ciana Stiefel. Tenlee cleared the height on her first attempt after already surpassing the previous record of 12-8.
In Class AA girls competition, Spearfish set a new overall state record in the sprint medley relay. Gabrielle Ranek, Adelyn Bouman, Daniela Rodriguez and Peyton VanDeest finished in 4:01.13, edging the previous overall mark of 4:01.18 set by O’Gorman in 2025.
Rapid City Stevens also broke a Class AA meet record in the girls 4×100 relay preliminaries with a time of 47.16.
Aberdeen Central’s Taryn Hermansen set a Class AA girls shot put meet record with a throw of 47-2.25, winning by nearly eight feet.
Bennett County’s Rush O’Neill shattered the Class B boys long jump meet record with a leap of 23-11, while Madison’s Shane Veenhof broke the Class A boys 110 hurdles meet record in preliminaries at 14.17 seconds.
Deuel’s Oliver Fieber added another record in the Class A boys 100-meter dash prelims, clocking 10.60 seconds to break a 23-year-old meet mark.
Mitchell’s Audrey Miller brought home seventh place in the Class AA triple jump o. Miller’s best mark was 35 feet, 3.5 inches. The event was won by Aesia Aldridge, of Harrisburg, at 38 feet, 1.25 inches.
Mitchell’s 4×800-meter relay team scored the Kernels’ first boys team point of the state meet, finishing in eighth place. The team of Landon Johnson, Ben Gerlach, Keniel Padilla and Hunter Patton passed the baton in a time of 8:20.48.
Team races also began to take shape Thursday.
In Class AA boys standings, Brandon Valley surged to the lead with 51 points behind strong performances in the field events and a win in the sprint medley relay. Sioux Falls Lincoln sat second with 36 points.
Harrisburg led the Class AA girls standings with 29 points after winning the 4×800 relay and getting a triple jump title from Aesia Aldridge.
Sioux Falls Christian paced both Class A team races. The Charger boys totaled 36 points behind a state title from Marcus Furth in the shot put and a victory in the 4×800 relay. The Sioux Falls Christian girls scored 34 points, led by a javelin championship from Sydney Schaap and a win in the girls 4×800 relay.
In Class B, the Philip boys led with 24 points after winning the sprint medley relay, while the Deubrook Area girls topped the standings with 15 points.
Other event winners Thursday included Sioux Falls Lincoln in the Class AA boys 4×800 relay, Brandon Valley in the Class AA boys sprint medley relay and Harrisburg in the Class AA girls 4×800 relay.
Competition resumes Friday at Howard Wood Field with preliminaries and finals continuing across all three classes.