Glanzer, Van Laecken, Lemon representing MCS at Class B meet

The Mitchell Christian School track team only has three athletes going to the state tournament this year, but MCS track coach Bob Lemon feels all three competitors are in a good position to medal. The Class B meet starts today in Rapid City.

Sophomore Becca Glanzer is qualified in the 800-meter run, the 1,600 and the 3,200, sophomore Aaron Lemon is qualified in the 800 run and sophomore Alexa Van Laecken is qualified in the long jump event. Glanzer is the No. 13 seed in the 800 run with a time of 2 minutes, 38.90 seconds, the No. 14 seed in the 1,600 run with a time of 5:50.60 and the No. 11 seed in the 3,200 run with a time of 12:29.70. Last year, Glanzer took fifth place in the 3,200 run with a time of 12:15.63. She did not place in the 800 run and took eighth place in the 1,600 run with a time of 5:36.90. Aaron Lemon is the No. 6 seed in the 800 run with a time of 2:03.40. Van Laecken is the No. 14 seed in the long jump with a mark of 16 feet, 1 inch.

“With Becca, Aaron and Alexa, we just hope that they can do the best they can at the state meet,” Bob Lemon said.

Lemon said he’s not sure if Glanzer will be running in all of her events, but is hoping she’ll be able to compete in at least two.

“The 800 run and the two-mile run events are fairly close together,” he said. “If running all three events is going to have a negative impact on her, we won’t have her run. We’ll just have to see where she’s at during the day.”

Bob Lemon said the drawback to competing in just one running event, like Aaron Lemon, is that he’ll have to sit out and wait for half the day before he’s able to compete in his run.

“It will be a challenge, because he’ll have to sit around with his nerves all day,” Bob Lemon said. “There will be athletes who have run earlier in the day who have had a chance to get those first-run jitters out of the way, but he won’t have that opportunity.”

Field events are set to start at 9:30 a.m. today.

Canistota boys leading Class B in relays

Defending Class B state champion Canistota boys felt the loss of a strong boys’ senior class this season, but track coach Pat Jolley said there are some younger athletes who have stepped up this year.

Canisota has three dominant relays qualified this year with the potential to win. The 4X400-meter relay, consisting of Eric Tieszen, Trevor Schroeder, Alex Robertson and Nick Hofer, is the No. 1 seed going into today with a time of 3:34.10. The 4X100 relay, consisting of Tieszen, Robertson, Schroeder and Hofer, is the No. 2 seed with a time of 44.80 seconds, and the 4X200 relay, consisting of Tyler Decker, Schroeder, Robertson and Hofer, is the No. 3 seed with a time of 1:34.00.

“We feel that with our relays we have the potential to score 40 points if everything goes the way we want it to go this weekend,” Jolley said. “We’ve been doing some work on handoffs to prepare and working on our steps and perfect our exchanges because those are really important.”

Schroeder is also competing in the 400 and is the No. 3 seed with a time of 51.10 seconds. Jolley feels Schroeder is definitely capable of winning the event and expects him to place.

On the girls’ side, the 4X800 relay is seeded second with a time of 10:15.40. Haley Jerman, Abby Klyaic, Lexys Sandman and Kassidy Buse make up the relay team, which is about one second off the No. 1 seed time. Arlington is in first place with a time of 10:14.40.

“We just want to put our best race together that we’ve run all year and whatever happens, happens,” Jolley said. “There’s a lot of good competition this year so as long as we run our best, we can live with the place we get.”

The Canistota girls have the No. 6 seed in the 4X400 relay.

Cailey Roth leading Freeman girls

Freeman track coach Rory Hermsen said his team has been hard at working preparing for its trip to the state meet. Hermsen said there are nine girls who qualified for the state meet this year from his team and he feels they are a strong group.

Freshman Cailey Roth is leading the girls’ track team and is qualified for three events. Roth is the No. 2 seed in the 800 with a time of 2:22.30, she is the No. 3 seed in the 3,200 run with at time of 5:28.90 and is the No. 4 seed in the 400 with at time of 1:00.20. Last year, Roth won the 800 run with a time of 2:21.44 and came in seventh place in the 1,600 run with a time of 5:34.78.

“I think she’ll be right there with the best of them in all of her events,” Hermsen said. “I think she can win the 800 and do very well in her other events.”

On the boys’ side, Freeman has some strong field event athletes who are set to compete at the state meet as well.

Andrew Munkvold is the No. 9 seed in the pole vault event with a jump of 11-feet-3 and Grant Preheim is the No.14 seed in the triple jump with a leap of 39-feet-9.25.

“We’re just going to go out there and do our best and whatever happens, happens,” Hermsen said.

Winckler, Johanneson top competitors for Andes Central girls

Two top competitors for the Andes Central girls’ track team are Peyton Johanneson and Kellie Winckler. Johanneson is the No. 2 seed in the high jump with a seed mark of 5-feet-2.25 and Winckler is qualified for the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump. In the high jump, she is the No. 9 seed with a seed mark of 5-feet-1, in the long jump is the No. 13 seed with a jump of 16-feet-1 and in the triple jump is the No. 4 seed with a jump of 34-feet-7.

Last year, Johanneson finished in ninth place with a high-jump mark of 4-feet-10 at the state meet, but she’s hoping to medal this year. Winckler came in ninth place in the long jump last year with a leap of 15-feet-4, she did not place in the high jump event and she finished in second place in the triple jump event with a jump of 33-feet-9.

“We have really high hopes for those two girls, so we’re just going to go out there and do our best,” assistant track coach Diane Deurmier said. “We have a lot of youth on our team this year and just getting the experience at the state meet will be really good for them.”

Also in the high jump from the Mitchell area with a top-10 seed are Freeman Academy’s Jamie Tschetter and Corsica/Stickney’s Jackie Dethlefsen, who both hold marks of 5-feet-1. Dethlefsen also holds the No. 5 seed in the 100 hurdles.

Other area athletes heading to state

Kody Weiss of Mount Vernon is the No. 4 seed in the 800 run with a time of 2:01.60. Chris Hofeldt of Colome is the No. 1 seed in the 110 hurdles with time of 15 seconds and Colman Haiar of Bridgewater/Emery is the No. 2 seed with a time of 15.20. Haiar is also the No. 1 seed in the 300 hurdles with a seed mark of 40.20 seconds. In relays, Kimball/White Lake is the No. 3 seed in the 4X400 relay with a time of 3:35.70 and Avon is the No. 4 seed with a time of 3:36.30. Wessington Springs holds the No. 2 seed in the 4X800 relay with a time of 8:31.00 and Bridgewater/Emery holds the No. 4 seed in the sprint medley with a time of 3:46.60.

For the girls, Ali Haines of Kimball/White Lake is the No. 2 seed in the triple jump event with a seed mark of 35-feet-7.00. Ashley Robinson of Hanson is the No. 8 seed in the discus throw with a toss of 123-feet-7 and Robinson is also the No. 4 seed in the shot put event with a seed mark of 38-feet-9.75. Mindy Kraft, of Wessington Springs, has the No. 3 seed in the 3,200 run and Freeman’s Rebecca Eberts is fourth in the same event.

Howard senior Erika Bamsey is the No. 10 seed in both the shot put and the discus.

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