Catching Up: A Look at Former Area Athletes

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Mitchell native Kendra Knight won the 400-meter dash and took second in the 200 at the University of Sioux Falls Invitational on Friday in Sioux Falls.

Knight, a sophomore on the USF track and field team, won the 400 in a time of 58.59 seconds. She finished the 200 in a time of 26.42 seconds.

A number of other area athletes for USF shined at the invitational.

Freeman Academy graduate Ashley Unruh won the 1,500 in a time of 4 minutes, 58.64 seconds. Unruh, a junior for the Cougars, also took third in the 800 in a time of 2:24.38.

Wessington Springs graduate Nathan Bridgman won the triple jump competition with a mark of 49-feet-8 ½. Bridgman is a junior at USF.

Hanson graduate Brigitte Gross won a pair of events for the Cougars. Gross took first in the 100 hurdles in a time of 14.87 seconds and won the pole vault after clearing 13-feet-3 ½.

Kimball native Melissa Kroupa finished third behind Knight in the 400 in a time of 1:00.21. Kroupa, a junior at USF, also took fifth in the 800 in a time of 2:24.90.

USF competes at the Great Plains Athlete Conference Meet on Friday and Saturday in Orange City, Iowa.

Parkston native Jeremy Sudbeck helped lead the Minnesota State University – Mankato baseball team over the past week.

Sudbeck, a junior utility man for the Mavericks, had two hits in the opening game of a doubleheader against Winona State University on Tuesday. Sudbeck also finished 2-for-4 with a two-run double in the second game.

The Mavericks also swept Southwest Minnesota State University on Sunday. Sudbeck hit a home run in the first game and scored a run in the nightcap.

Sudbeck and the Mavericks have won 23 games in a row and are 35-8 overall this season. They finish their regular season with doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday in Bemidji, Minn.

Sudbeck has started in 31 games this season for Mankato. He leads the team with a .396 batting average and this season.

— “Catching Up” runs Thursdays in The Daily Republic. Send your nominees to sports@mitchellrepublic.com

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