Boys win Center of the Nation meet

The Custer High School boys track team was able to come away with a win at the Center of the Nation track meet last Saturday in Belle Fourche, despite the fact that several of their team members were in Rapid City participating in the Track-O-Rama Meet, which was held the same day.

The boys scored 103.5 points at the meet, largely in part to a dominant performance in the relays. They were well ahead of second place Upton, Wyo., which scored 74 points, followed by Faith at 73 points and Belle Fourche with 63 points.

Two relay teams finished in first place for the Wildcats, led by the medley relay team of David Hernandez, Tanner Eiesland, Kenneth Myers and Logan Huntington that finished with a time of 3:57.69. The 3200 relay team of Kenneth Myers, Chris Pinkerton, Matt Dvorak and Huntington also placed first with a time of 9:00.49.

Custer’s 1600 relay team placed second, as Joel Thomsen, Israel Parsons, Myers and Hernandez ran a time of 3:46.81, while the 800 team of Hernandez, Eiesland, David Gaston and Jaime Climenti was third at 1:39.85.

No Wildcats placed first at the meet for Custer, but Logan Burns placed second in the 800 with a time of 2:14.65 and third in the 1600 with a time of 4:54.21.

Brandon Erwin also brought home a pair of medals, taking second in the shot put with a throw of 43-0, while placing third in the shot put with a throw of 126-9. Also placing in the throws were Angelo Climenti, fifth in the shot put at 38-8 and seventh in the discus at 109-7, and Darren Colgan, seventh in the shot put at 37-8.

Joel Thomsen was third in both of the hurdles events, running a time of 18.25 in the 110 and 44.55 in the 300 hurdles, while Shane Herman placed fifth in the 800 at 2:17.00 and seventh in the 1600 at 5:02.51. Rounding out the placewinners for the ’Cats were Clayton Wahlstrom, second in the pole vault at 9-6, and Parsons finishing fourth in the 1600 with a time of 4:57.05.

For the girls squad, three relay teams placed, paced by the 400 team of Jade Spring, Josie Engen, Billie Wicks and Nykyla Malinosky. The team ran a time of 57.77, good for second place.

Two teams placed third for the girls. The 1600 team of Wicks, Malinosky, Ashlee Eggers and Olivia Dahlstrom ran a time of 4:34.77, and the 3200 team of Wicks, Malinosky, Eggers and Engen posted a time of 11:23.62.

Three girls placed individually at the meet, with Lauren Esser placing seventh in both the shot put and discus with throws of 27-3 1/2 and 79-1, respectively. Halley Henry placed eighth in the shot put with a throw of 27-0.

At the Track-O-Rama, Tyler Schultz continued his domination of the throwing events, winning both the shot put and discus competitions at a meet that included many Class AA schools including Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central. Schools from the largest class in Wyoming also competed at the meet.

Schultz threw the shot put a distance of 62-2 3/4 to win the shot put, and hurled the discus 153-9. Like the Center of the Nation Meet, the Track-O-Rama was held in chilly, rainy conditions. Some events, such as the triple jump and pole vault, were cancelled due to the weather.

Jared Thomsen also had a strong meet at the Track-O-Rama, winning the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.78, and the 100 hurdles at 15.77. Greg Witt also placed in a pair of events, finishing second in the discus at 148-2, and seventh in the shot put at 47-7 1/4.

Chad Bryant picked up a third place finish in the 200 with a time of 23.66, while Brennan Witt was fourth in the 800 at 2:02.78 and Cody Herman was fifth in the 1600 at 4:32.54.

Custer also placed one relay team, as the 1600 team of Thomsen, Bryant, Witt and Chase Glazier finished fourth in the 1600 relay at 3:36.90.

Four girls placed for the girls team at the Track-O-Rama, led by Victoria Dahlstrom’s third place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:31.46. Karley Konkol placed fourth in the 1600 at a time of 5:21.21, and Mattie Kelley was eighth in the 3200 at 12:29.60. Sam McNeel was fifth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 50.07.

The only relay team the girls entered at the meet was the 1600 team of McNeel, Dahlstrom, Konkol and Mo Mack, which finished third at 4:21.70.

As they reach the halfway point of the season, the Wildcats are putting up times and distances that are among the best in their class to date. 

Konkol has the fastest time in Class A in the state so far in both the 800 and 1600, the two events she won the state championship in a year ago. Even more impressively, she is ahead of the second place time by six seconds in both events.

Sam McNeel has run the second-fastest time in Class A in the 300 hurdles and second best mark in the high jump, and Mo Mack is tied for the fifth best mark in the high jump.

For the boys team, Cody Herman has the fastest time in both the 1600 and 3200, and is nine seconds ahead of his closest competition in the 3200. Brennan Witt has the second-fastest time in the 800 in Class A, while Jared Thomsen has the fastest time in the 300 hurdles and is tied for the fastest time in the 110 hurdles.

In the throws, Tyler Schultz has the best mark in the state in any class in the shot put, and is a whopping 11 feet better than his closest competitor in Class A. Schultz is also ranked second in the class in the discus. Chad Bryant has the top mark in the long jump to date while Greg Witt is ranked fourth in the discus. The Wildcats also have the fourth-ranked 400 meter relay team.

This week the Wildcats get to enjoy some home-track advantage, as they host the Custer Invitational Friday, beginning at 9 a.m.