Mitchell track coach ecstatic about teams' 'incredible performances'

Mitchell High School track coach Geoff Gross made it clear how he felt about his team after the Corn Palace Relays track and field meet Saturday at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell.

“I was jacked with the performances,” he said. “We had an absolutely phenomenal day. Both on the boys’ and girls’ sides, we had some incredible performances.”

The event does not keep a team score, but the Kernels won seven of the 19 events in which they participated in.

Gross said that Austin Loes was his choice for top performer of the meet.

“Loes was kind of the X-factor,” he said. “He hasn’t had the opportunity to practice much, but he went out and ran phenomenally. He gives us some huge possibilities on the boys’ side.”

Loes was part of the 1,600-meter relay team that took first place.

Gross was hoping the relay team — which consisted of Loes, Nick Kummer, Jade Miller and Jason Greenway — would finish in less than 3 minutes and 40 seconds. He was astonished when the group ran the race in 3:28, the fastest recorded time in the state thus far, Gross said.

Kummer also won an individual event, taking the 400 with a time of 53.25 seconds.

Another athlete that had Gross excited moving forward was Justin Greenway.

Justin Greenway suffered a knee injury during the football season and was able to return to action in the Kernels’ lone home meet.

“He’s not running competitively, but he’s building some confidence and stamina,” Gross said.

Justin Greenway ran two 800-meter events.

Jason Greenway had another successful day for Mitchell, winning two individual events and finishing second in another.

Jason Greenway dominated the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.52 seconds. Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Ethan Decosse finished in second with a time of 43.8 seconds, well behind Greenway’s pace.

Jason Greenway also won the long jump with a jump of 21 feet, 7 inches. His run in the 100-meters was good for second place, finishing with a time of 10.97 seconds.

Olivia Willis was the only girl for Mitchell to win an individual event. She was the champions of the high jump at 5-foot-1.

Two relay teams took first-place finishes for the Kernels.

Lexi Weier, Tara Palmer, Amy Gaetze and Emily Paulson took first in the 400-meter relay while Weier, Berkley Rietveld, Naomi Munsen and Megan Farnham won the 1,600 sprint medley.

Ellie Rew, Taylor Volesky and Shelly Iburg all had second-place finishes in their events Saturday.

Rew took second in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet-4. Volesky’s jump of 31-feet-9.25 was good for second in the triple jump, and Iburg’s throw of 35-feet-1.5 was second best in the shot put.

Iburg knows that the throwing events don’t get the spotlight many other events do, but she said throwers work just as hard.

“We’re always the last ones to leave the track,” she said.

Iburg said that it takes a lot of discipline to be able to compete in the throwing events.

“It takes a lot of footwork and practice just to get the right form, let alone worrying about distance,” she said.

She finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 95-feet-11.

Two Mitchell boys finished second in throwing events Saturday.

Dalton Wangerin was runner-up in the shot put with a throw of 44 feet 3 inches. Dylanger Pierson’s 110-feet-5 throw in the discus was also good for second place.

The Kernels’ next competition is at the Pierre Invitational. The event begins at 9 a.m. Friday in Pierre.

Tags: sports, updates, track, mitchell, kernels