The cooperative between Corsica and Stickney has especially been beneficial for the boys' track and field team.
Thursday, at the Region 5B meet at Joe Quintal Field in Mitchell, the Corsica/Stickney boys claimed their third straight championship in the third year of the co-op. The Jaguars finished with 154 points, 36 points ahead of second-place Mount Vernon.
"Historically, we've done pretty well," Corsica/Stickney boys' coach Scott Muckey said. "We've got nice track athletes, and on the boys' side, we've been able to maintain numbers. In track, that's always important."
On the girls' side, Corsica/Stickney claimed the region track and field title for the first time as a cooperative, tying for first place with James Valley Christian with 106 points.
This year's boys' championship for the Jaguars came with wins dominance in field events and relays. Junior Michael Odens won the discus and junior Adam Bormann won the shot put, each claiming their event title by more than 3 feet. Corsica/Stickney was the only team to compete in the pole vault, and senior Brady Moke went 8-feet, 6-inches to win the title.
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The Jaguars won the 400- and 800-meter relays, both comprised of Gunner Baan Hofman, Mason Van Vuuren, Bormann and Ryan Hongslo.
Baan Hofman also won the 200-meter dash, edging second-place Hongslo by one one-hundredth of a second.
"I think we did a nice job and every one of our athletes did what they had to do," said Muckey, who said the team's mile relay ran its best time of the year to finish in second place and qualify for state. "We were pleased with our performance overall."
For the Jaguar girls, Jackie Dethlefsen won three individual region championships. She jumped 4-feet-11 in the high jump and was the champion in the 100 and 300 hurdles.
Dethlefsen won four events at this year's Custer Battlefield Highway Conference meet earlier this month but said she was happy to help the team on Thursday with three first-place finishes.
"We only have eight girls on the varsity tack team and we tied for the region title," said Dethlefsen, a sophomore. "That's pretty darn good. We qualified seven of the eight girls to state. I would say it was a good day."
Last year, she took third place at the state meet in the high jump and her best jump this year is 5-feet-1. Her winning mark Thursday was 4-feet-11.
"I have high hopes for the high jump," she said.
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Corsica/Stickney's 400-meter relay ran a 53.40-second race, Brianna Kuyper ran a 27.8 in the 200 dash and junior Kalla Sauvage won the discus, all were first-place finishes.
"I'm extremely proud of these young ladies," Corsica/Stickney coach Dennis Schrank said. "They're all hard-workers. We have some small numbers, but some good talent.
"We're real happy with where we ended up. The girls, coming up with the region championship, we're real proud of them."
NOTES: Wessington Springs' Jace Kraft won the 1,600-meter run. He held the Class B top time headed into the state tournament in pre-qualifying races. He also helped his team win the 1,600 sprint medley and took third in the 3,200 run. ... Kimball/White Lake's Ali Haines won the triple jump and the high jump, earning season-best marks in both events. She jumped 35-feet-7 in the triple jump and 16-feet-6 in the long jump. ... Mitchell Christian's Becca Glanzer won the 800- and 1,600-meter runs. She ran a 2-minute, 38.9-second 800 and 5:50.6 in the 1,600.
