Young team heads to state track meet

It all comes down to the this.
From March in Chadron, Neb., to now, the Custer High School track team’s season comes down to this weekend, as it heads to the Class A State Meet Thursday through Saturday in Sioux Falls.
The Wildcats aren’t prohibitive favorites to be standing in one of the top spots on the podium as they have in years past, as they will take a group of just over 30 athletes to state this year, many of whom are young and will be getting their first experience at a state meet.
“I have two senior boys going to state. That’s it. On the girls side I have two seniors,” head coach Karen Karim said. “We are a young team. I hope it’s good experience for the future for them. I’m happy to get there and get them that experience.”
That doesn’t mean the Wildcats won’t be without a chance to bring home some hardware.
Freshman Tenlee Stiefel is the prohibitive favorite in the girls pole vault, and if sister Kelsey is able to compete through injury, she should be near the top of the podium as well. Karyn Ellerton is among the favorites to win both the shot put and discus events.
Both the boys and girls team have four relay teams qualified for state, with the boys 3200 relay among the top teams in the class.
The Wildcats sweat out Friday and early Saturday, as many athletes were on the bubble to make the state meet after competing in a pair of last chance meets last week. After those meets, the Wildcats had to wait the results of a bevy of similar meets held East River last Friday. The top 24 athletes in each event qualify for state.
Many Wildcats were on the bubble heading into the day, and were just in or just bumped out as the other meets unfolded.
Last Thursday the team traveled to Wall for the Eagle Qualifier, and came home with a pair of championships. The meet was called off midway through the running events due to an incoming thunderstorm.
Brady Virtue won the javelin with a top throw of 138-4, a personal record (PR), and Zane Gunnell won the 1600 in a time of 5:02.78.
Second-place finishes came from Logan Olson in the shot put at 41-7, and Saylor Rice was second in the 1600 at 5:08.09.
Third-place finishes came from Danny Immormino in the 100 at 11.36, and Veek Johncour in the triple jump with a best leap of 40-2.
Lincoln Golder was fourth in the shot put with a best throw of 40-0 1/2, while Cheydon Lewis was fourth in the 110 hurdles at 16.60, and the 800 relay team of Marcus Merrill, Johncour, Virtue and Immormino was fourth at 1:48.21.
Jameson Wiles picked up a fifth-place finish in the shot put with a best throw of 39-4, and Merrill was sixth in the 100 at 11.49, a PR.
For the girls, Ava Jaure was second in the javelin with a PR throw of 99-6, as was Jessica Hite in the shot put at 35-3 3/4 and Rylan Lowe in the discus at 118-3.
Ava Hohn finished fourth in the discus with a best throw of 97-6, and was fifth in the shot put at 30-4.
Also placing fifth was Keira Nelson in the javelin with a best throw of 90-9.
Coming in sixth in the 100 hurdles was Riley Messer at 17.64 (PR). Seventh-place finishes came from Tenlee Stiefel in the long jump with a PR leap of 15-3, and Gloria Keller in the 100 at 13.55. Stiefel was eighth in the high jump with a top height of 4-8 and Taylor Busch was eighth in the 100 at 13.71.
On May 19 the Wildcats were at the West River Last Chance Meet on the campus of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, where Ellerton continued her mastery in the throws, winning the shot put with a best throw of 38-10 and the discus with a best throw of 126-7.
Tenlee Stiefel also continued her winning ways in the pole vault, clearing 12-3.
Lowe picked up a second-place finish in the discus with a best throw of 109-9, while the 1600 relay of Kiran Pesicka, Mikayla Dennis, Nelson and Busch were third in the 1600 relay at 4:22.19.
Hite finished fourth in the shot put with a best throw of 34-9, while Siena Schultz was fifth in the 200 with a time of 26.72, which was a PR.
Rounding out the placings for the girls was Hohn placing sixth in the discus at 103-2 and eighth in the shot put at 31-6 3/4.
Two Wildcat boys finished in second place, including Adam Hohn in the 3200 at 10:31.65, along with Ayden Dooley in the pole vault at 12-0.
Ezra Wollman was third in the pole vault with a top height of 12-0, as was the 1600 relay team of Austin Drew, Daniel Wozny, Zach Cooper and Kian Rusch in a time of 3:34.33.
Golder picked up a fourth-place finish in the discus with a best throw of 137-2, as did Wyatt DeFreece in the pole vault at 11-6 and Carter Cooper in the 800 in a PR time of 2:03.14.
The 400 relay team of Merrill, Virtue, Immormino and Mason Dirkes was fifth at 45.29, while Gunnell was sixth in the 1600 at 4:46.66 and Dirkes tied for sixth in the high jump with a top height of 5-9.
Finally, Peyton Krueger was seventh in the 1600 at a time of 4:50.44.