The Wildcats hope to break its string of oh-so-close finishes this weekend when it heads East River for the state meet. Head coach Craig Black said this year’s team is as strong, or even stronger, than the best teams he has taken to a state as head or assistant coach. Seventeen boys qualified for the meet.

After playing nine holes, Cassidy Adam shot 73, Leah Zacher shot 60 and Elizabeth Watland shot 59. While the girls weren’t too happy with their scores, coach Royed Hollick was pleased.

“They did great,” said Royed Hollick, coach. “They wanted to play junior varsity but couldn’t. I know they weren’t happy with their scores but I was. This was their second time playing all 18 holes and I was happy with their performance.”

The boys team piled up 188 points at the meet, 56 more than second place St. Thomas More. The race was closer than the score might indicate heading toward the end of the meet, but Custer head coach Craig Black had an ace in the hole. Three aces, in fact.

The Wildcats traveled to Belle Fourche on Tuesday, April 30, in a pre-conference and pre-region meet. The girls played 18 holes, making it the first time the three played at the varsity level.

“This was the first time Cassidy Adam played golf and the first time the other two played at the varsity level,” said coach Royed Hollick. “The weather was miserable and they weren’t used to walking so much on the course so they were tired by the end of the day. But for the first time playing at the varsity level they played pretty well. I was happy for them.”

In what has become a weekly occurrence for the Custer High School track team, another school record fell. This time the new school record came via the feet of Cody Herman, who set the new mark in the 3200 with a time of 9:44.18, good enough to place him third in the event at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays last weekend in Sioux Falls. Herman eclipsed the old record of 9:45.8 that was shared by Mitch Paulsen (1973) and Tre Ventling (1989).

Herman’s new record was one of several strong showings at the Dakota Relays, which sees teams of all class sizes from around the state and region compete in one of the premiere meets of the spring.

While an April full of rain and snow storms were helpful to the environment, it brought the spring sports season to a screeching halt. Both the track and golf teams went the better part of three weeks without competing, for the most part forced inside for days the sports that are supposed to be played and practiced outdoors.

The constant indoor practices have been tough on athletes and coaches alike who are itching to get outdoors and get back into a season that is slipping away.

“We had a really good day and got a bunch more qualified (for state),”Custer head coach Craig Black said.

Among the qualifers for the girls was the medley relay team of Moe Mack, Billie Wicks, Julianne Thomsen and Tori Glazier, which placed first at a time of 4:25.67. Thomsen and Glazier teamed up with Matti Kelley and Tori Dahlstrom to place second in the 3200 relay at a time of 10:08.04, which was also a state-qualifying time.

Thomsen won the event in a time of 15.21, beating the old school record of 15.23 set by Chad Ostenson in 1987.

Seventh graders Elizabeth Watland and Leah Zacher stayed consistent in the match-up against Hot Springs, Belle Fourche and Douglas. Watland was 57 while Zacher was 64.

“They have really great attitudes and their swings are coming along,” said coach Royed Hollick. “It’s going to take consistency.”