STURGIS -- Mitchell senior Jason Greenway was the state runner-up in the long jump Friday afternoon at the Class AA state track and field meet.
Greenway finished with a mark of 22 feet, 3 inches, only behind Brandon Valley's Matthew Vandeberg's jump of 22-feet-6.75.
In two preliminary races, he advanced to today's final round in the 100 dash and the 300 hurdles. He ran an 11.09 in the 100 dash to tie for the second-best mark and ran a 40.35 in the 300 hurdles to lead all contestants in the event.
"Jason did what you expect Jason do to," Mitchell coach Geoff Gross said. "The competition in the long jump, it was basically going to be a toss-up. Jason happened to come up just short.
"With the weather conditions, it was brutal out there. The wind, the rain, the dampness of the day, it was very formidable."
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Besides Greenway, the Mitchell boys' team qualified two individuals and one relay team to today's finals. Mitchell's Austin Loes came in seventh in the 400 dash prelims and Jade Miller was seventh in the 300 hurdle prelims. Loes ran a 50.58 and Miller finished in 41.88.
"Both of them will be in the first lane in their races," Gross said. "I was very happy with their effort."
Mitchell's 400-meter relay team finished sixth with a time of 44.72. The team consists of Loes, Miller, Nick Kummer and Justin Greenway.
"We ran OK, a nice time," Gross said. "The conditions weren't real conducive to running real fast. It was just prelims, and I expect us to run better (today). If we move up at all, I'll be very happy with that, too."
The Kernels' 1,600-meter relay team, which had the second-best time in the state coming into the meet, was disqualified for a lane violation. Gross said the team finished third or fourth overall and would have qualified for today's final if it wasn't for the disqualification.
"Comparing it to NASCAR, there was a hold and it closed real quick and we got caught in it," Gross said. "It's a bummer. I know the kids are disappointed."
Gross said he went through an appeals process after the race to check on the ruling, but nothing was changed.
"You live and learn and move on," he said.
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The Mitchell boys failed to qualified in the 800 and medley relays. Nick Kummer finished 11th in the 400 dash with a mark of 52.24 and Mason Wenzel ran a 49.22 in the 300 hurdles.
The Kernel boys are tied for fourth with eight points after the first day. Sioux Falls Roosevelt is leading the boys' race with 24 points, Brandon Valley is second with 21 and Sioux Falls Washington is third with 16 points.
On the girls' side, Mitchell's Abby Sudbeck finished eighth in the shot put to make the awards stand. She had a mark of 35-feet-3, and she finished 13th in the discus with a mark of 98-feet-11.
"The conditions of the shot put ring, it was wet and slippery," Gross said, "but eighth place in those kind of conditions for a freshman, that's a great accomplishment for her to build on."
Mitchell's 3,200, 1,600 and medley relays qualified for today's final round.
The 3,200 relay consists of Emily Sudbeck, Emma Schmidt, Jesse Volek and Berkley Rietveld. The group finished sixth with a time of 9:53.66.
"That's where we were hoping to finish, but to have them go out and execute that was a great start to the state track meet," Gross said. "That was fantastic."
The medley relay is Amy Gaetz, Megan Farnham, Jesse Volek and Rietveld. Gross said the team could change for today's final round. In Friday's prelims, the Kernels took eighth.
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The 1,600 relay also took eighth, running a time of 2:27.66. The team is Naomi Munsen, Schmidt, Volek and Farnham.
Mitchell's 400 and 800 relays did not qualify for the finals.
"Our girls 400 relay was running fantastic," Gross said. "On the final exchange, we fumbled the handoff and it slipped out of our hands, otherwise we would have been in the finals. That's another bummer."
Individually on the girls' side, Ellie Rew took 10th in the long jump with a mark of 15-feet-6. Taylor Volesky was ninth in the triple jump at 33-feet-9.5, Munsen was 14th in the 800 at 2:27.66 and Farnham finished the 200 dash in 28.03 but didn't qualify for the finals.
Mitchell had two girls in the 100 hurdles, with neither qualifying. Lexie Weier ran a 15.9 and Rew ran a 16.0.
Mitchell continues the state meet today in Rapid City.
