Schultz breaks state shot put record

Coming into this spring track season, Custer High School senior Tyler Schultz said breaking both the school record and state record in the shot put were among his goals.

Check, and check.

On his first throw last Friday at the Custer Invitational, Schultz broke Eric Flores’ school record of 67-4 1/2, and followed that up with a new state record throw of 69-5 3/4 on his second toss. The throw beat the old record of 69-3, set by Kyle McKelvey of Beresford a year ago. Flores set his school record in 2006.

“My main goal was to break the state record,”â��Schultz said. “Iâ��figured I would get the school record, but all I wanted in the year was to break the state record.”

Making things more interesting is the fact the shot put ring Schultz has practiced on all year was unavailable at the meet because of a broken toe board. He said the move made him nervous, as the other ring is a slower surface, and he felt it might cost him some distance. Despite that, he said when he was warming up he felt strong and that a record-breaking day might be on tap.

“Iâ��felt very good, actually,”â��he said. “Iâ��thought it was going to be a very good day.”

The minute he let the record-breaking throw go, he knew it was a good one.

“Iâ��knew it was going to be close,”â��he said.â��“Iâ��feel like Iâ��had more in me that day, a further throw. But, Iâ��was plenty happy Iâ��broke the record.”

Schultz said breaking the record was a “load off his back,”â��relieving a lot of pressure he had put on himself to break the record coming into the year.

“It’s not like anybody was putting pressure on me, Iâ��just felt like Iâ��had to do it for myself,”â��he said. “All the practice Iâ��have put in over the years—I had to get the state record.”

Now that the state record is his, Schultz is eyeing bigger and better things as the season winds to a close. The next target on his list is a throw that goes over 70 feet.

“The way the year is going so far, for the state meet Iâ��think I might be able to hit 72 (feet),”â��he said. “That’s my goal. Iâ��think it’s possible.”

Schultz’s record was the major headline of a day that saw all of the Wildcats perform well, with the boys team winning the meet crown by 40 points and several more ’Cats qualifying for the state meet.

“It was almost like every kid who stepped on the track ran faster, jumped further and jumped higher than they had before,” head coach Craig Black said. “We had a lot of personal bests for kids.”

One of those personal bests came from Sam McNeel, who won the 300 hurdles in 47.85, beating her own school record. McNeel also won the long jump with a leap of 16-0.

Two relay teams qualified for state for the girls, including the medley relay team of Monique Mack, Victoria Dahlstrom, Karley Konkol and McNeel, which took first with a time of 4:32.19. The 3200 relay team of Billie Wicks, Mattie Kelley, Dahlstrom and Konkol also qualified for state, placing second with a time of 10:08.99.

Other individuals to place for the Custer girls included Mack placing second in the high jump by clearing 4-11, Kelley placing eighth in the 1600 with a time of 6:08.20, Lauren Esser seventh in the discus at 91-5 and Katie Van Balen eighth in the shot put with a toss of 31-7.

Two other relays teams placed for the girls as well. The 1600 team of Mack, Dahlstrom, Wicks and Nykyla Malinosky was fourth at 4:27.12, while the second medley team of Malinosky, Jade Spring, Olivia Dahlstrom and Josie Engen was sixth at 5:07.12.

Spearfish won the girls title with 136 points. Custer finished in fourth with 59 points.

For the boys, Schultz followed up his gold medal in the shot put by winning the discus with a toss of 179-7. Three Wildcats placed in both the shot put and discuss. Greg Witt was second in both events, throwing the shot put 49-10 and the discus 159-10, while Brandon Erwin was fifth in the shot put at 44-0 and Logan Huntington was seventh in the discus at 128-11.

Dakota McGee earned himself a trip to the state meet in the high jump, clearing 6-1, good for second place. Also qualifying for state was Clayton Wahlstrom in the pole vault, by virtue of clearing 11-6.

The brothers Thomsen had another strong meet, as Jared Thomsen won the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.23, while Joel Thomsen was first in the 300 hurdles at 43.54. Other individual placewinners for the boys squad included Tyler Jones third in the 3200, Chad Bryant third in the long jump, Chase Glazier fifth in the triple jump, Blake Frybarger fifth in the pole vault, David Gaston sixth in the 100, Logan Burns sixth in the 1600, Matt Dvorak seventh in the 800, Austin Malinosky seventh in the 3200, Adam Baker seventh in the high jump and Gunner LeFebvre eighth in the 3200.

Custer cleaned up in the relays, winning four of the five that were run, topped by the 3200 team of Kenneth Myers, Cody Herman, Brennan Witt and Glazier, which won the event at 8:23.29 and qualified for state. Custer’s second team in the same race finished second at 8:48.66. That team was made up of Huntington, Burns, Israel Parsons and Shane Herman.

The 400 relay team placed first, with David Hernandez, Tanner Eiesland, Jared Thomsen and Bryant combining to finish in 45.53, while the medley team of Bryant, Eiesland, Jared Thomsen and Herman was also first at 3:48.91. Custer’s second team in the medley relay (Hernandez, Gaston, Myers, Huntington) finished second at 4:00.96.

The other two relay teams to place were the 1600 team of Bryant, Jared Thomsen, Glazier and Myers finishing first at 3:37.65, and the other 1600 team of Joel Thomsen, Parsons, Hernandez and Shane Herman finishing fourth at 3:47.40.

As a team the boys finished with 167.75 points. Coming in second was Spearfish with 123 points.

Saturday the team will head to Sturgis for a 10 a.m. meet.