Traxton and Hudson Priebe have been winning hurdles events all season for Chamberlain High School. At the Class A state track and field meet this weekend in Rapid City, they expect to continue the trend.
Traxton, a senior, is the No. 1 seed in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.10 seconds and his younger brother Hudson, who is a sophomore, holds the No. 1 seed in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.70 seconds. Traxton is also seeded in the 110 hurdles at the No. 5 spot with a time of 15.50 seconds and Hudson is seeded in the 300 hurdles in the No. 4 spot with a time of 41.00.
Last year, Hudson came in seventh place in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.39 seconds and Traxton came in eighth place in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.62 seconds. Neither of the boys placed in the 300 hurdles event.
"Obviously, Hudson and Traxton are going to be very strong competitors for us at the state meet," Chamberlain track coach Jerry Rhodes said. "There are always a few guys that are going to be right there with them, but I'm expecting those two to do well."
Rhodes is expecting the team to score around 35 to 40 points, but if all of his athletes have strong days, it's very possible that the team could score 60 to 70 points.
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Another strong contender for the Chamberlain boys' team is the 4X400 relay. Hudson, Traxton, Russell Felicia and Davis Carson make up the relay and are the No. 5 seed going into today. Rhodes is also expecting the relay team to do well.
"The boys kind of surprised themselves when they qualified for the state meet," Rhodes said. "It was an exciting qualifying race between us and Miller, and we were able to beat Miller in the last leg of the race. I just want the team to do its best and we'll see what happens."
Anna Byers is the only girl going to state for Chamberlain, sitting in the No. 9 spot in the two-mile run with a time of 12 minutes, 11.10 seconds. Rhodes said he's hoping Byers will be able to place at the state meet as well.
"We've been doing pace work in practice so the kids get know what a faster pace will feel like at the state meet," Rhodes said. "If anything, the meet will be very good experience for her."
Three seniors leading Wagner High School
Jack Robinson, Elijah Heth and LaShawn Medicine Horn are the three seniors competing at the state track meet this year for the Wagner track team.
Wagner track coach John Tyler said the motto for his team this year has been "no regrets."
"I know we're not going to be in the hunt for a team title, and I don't want to put too much pressure on my seniors," Tyler said.
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"Whether you're an eighth-grader or a senior, I don't want the kids to have any regrets this weekend, and I don't want them to take it for granted."
Robinson is the No. 10 seed in the discus throw with a mark of 159-feet-2, Heth is the No. 12 seed in the discus throw with a seed mark of 156-feet-1 and Medicine Horn is the No. 1 seed in the girls' high jump with a seed mark of 5-feet-4. Robinson is also seeded at No. 6 in shot put with a throw of 51-feet-4.50.
Robinson and Heth did not place in the shot put or the discus events last year. Medicine Horn came in second place at the state meet last year in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet-2.
Tyler said the team hasn't been doing anything different in practice to get ready for the state meet.
He knows his three seniors have been consistent enough all year to be able to do well this weekend.
"We don't change things up the week before state. We try and keep to our routine we've had all throughout the season," Tyler said. "We stress working hard and doing your best, and we'll have to let the chips fall where they will. I just want the kids to have fun and give their best effort."
Relay teams expected to finish strong for Ethan/Parkston
Ethan/Parkston track coach Craig Bruening has high hopes for his boys' sprint medley relay team and 4x100-meter relay this year at the state track meet.
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Payton Monson, Jesse Thuringer, Kendall Lindeman and Anthony Huber make up the 4X100 relay and are in the No.10 seed going into today with a time of 45 seconds.
Monson, Thuringer, Lindeman and Tyler Hohn make up the sprint medley relay are currently sitting in the No. 3 spot going into today with a time of 3:44.40.
"Our relays are expecting to run in the second day and we're hoping we can have a good day (today)," Bruening said.
"Those guys have been working on handoffs and maintaining their condition so they can make it past the prelims."
Huber is also competing in the discus event, and Bruening said he feels Huber will be able to place in that event as well. Huber is the No. 3 seed in the discus event with a seed mark of 176-feet-1.
"Huber has tough competition in the discus event but you never know," Burening said.
"Especially if it's a windy day you never know what can happen."
Katie Murtha is the only girl going to the state meet for Ethan/Parkston. She's qualified in the 300-meter hurdles event and is the No. 23 seed with a time of 53.30 seconds. Murtha is only a ninth-grader and Bruening said he's happy that Murtha was able to qualify for the state meet this year.
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"She's just expecting to go out there and run her best time of the year," Bruening said.
"It's her first time at the state track meet and it will be a really great experience for her. I just want all my athletes to go out there and try and do the best that they can."
Other teams and individuals to watch
The Winner High School boys' and girls' track and field teams swept the Region 7A meet last week.
Donovan Brother of All will be a strong competitor for the Winner boys' this weekend. Brother of All is the No. 4 seed in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:03.20, the No.10 seed in the 800 run with a time of 2:05 and the No. 3 seed in the 1,600 run with a time of 4:30.70.
Austin Richey is the No. 9 seed in the boys' shot put event with a throw of 49-feet-1.
For the girls, Dayna Diez is the No. 15 seed in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.80 seconds, the No. 9 seed in the 300 hurdles with a time of 48.00 seconds and the No. 10 seed in the triple jump with a jump of 33-5. The girls 4X200 relay is the No. 8 seed with a time of 1:51.20.
For McCook Central/Montrose, Gavin Gassman is the No. 4 seed in the boys' discus throw with a seed mark of 147-feet-9. The boys' 3,200 relay team is the No. 5 seed with a time of 8:33.40.
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Shayne Gottlob is the No.4 seed in the 400 dash with a time of 50.60 seconds.
Platte-Geddes track coach Regan Holleman said she expects both the boys' and girls' two-mile relays to do well this weekend as well as both boys' and girls' medley relays.
Darren Daum, Trey Alberda, Cooper Kemnitz and Keegan Ringling make up the boys' two-mile relay. The team is the No. 10 seed with a time of 8:57.30. Kole Heller, Ty Wilkins, Daum and Alberda make up the boys' medley team and are the No. 4 seed with a time of 3:44.50.
Holleman hopes Ringling will grab the first-place spot in the boys' 800. He is the No. 5 seed with a time of 2:01.
Last year, Ringling finished in fourth place with a time of 2:05.07.
Holleman said Destinni Girton, Rochelle Wynia and Ringling will be strong individual athletes at the meet this year as well.
Girton will be high jumping for Platte-Geddes and is the No. 3 seed with a seed mark of 5-feet-3.
Girton is the defending champion in the high jump event and grabbed the first-place spot with a 5-feet-3 jump at the state meet last year.
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Bon Homme track coach Byron Pudwill said having a lot of depth has helped the team qualify a good number of athletes for the state meet this year.
Bon Homme has 17 athletes qualified for the state meet, 10 boys and seven girls.
"We're definitely really happy with the numbers and depth we've had this year," Pudwill said.
"You have to be able to have that at the region level and at the state meet level because there is some pretty salty competition."
Individually, Wyatt Stepka is the No. 5 seed in the pole vault event with a jump of 11-feet-6.
"There's definitely a lot of good, close competition at the state meet this year so we'll just have to go out there and see what happens," Pudwill said.
