MITCHELL — After literally being smoked out on Thursday in Huron, the Mark Wendelgass Relays moved south on Friday morning to Joe Quintal Field where Mitchell hosted a final shot at qualifying for the state track and field meet.
The meet included the Big 4 schools of Brookings, Huron, Mitchell and Watertown. (The Big 4 middle school meet followed the high school meet on Friday afternoon at Joe Quintal Field.) The competition served as a final chance to qualify for the South Dakota state track meet, which begins May 25 in Sioux Falls. But the conditions — with temps in the low 50s and steady winds around 20 mph — made making season-best marks difficult.
But the Kernels had their shining moments on Friday, led by a school-record effort in the girls 4x200-meter relay. The quartet of Brooke Bartscher, Claire Hegg, Mia Mullenmeister and Lizzie Tyler won in 1:45.16, breaking the previous mark set in 2002 by Jeana Hoffman, Jenna Hoffman, Sarah Matthews and Katy Hilton.
These girls just broke the school record on the 4x200! Congratulations Brooke Bartscher, Claire Hegg, Mia Mullenmeister, & Lizzie Tyler! #kernelpride pic.twitter.com/JhTLaOxspC
— Mitchell Kernel Track and Field (@kerneltf) May 19, 2023
The 4x100 team had a winning time of 51.45 seconds from Ava Brannan, Lainee Forst, Brooke Bartscher and Keyana Kelley. Bartscher, Mullenmeister and Tyler have now been a part of the Kernels’ girls record times in the 4x100 (50.52 seconds on May 2 in Mitchell) and the 4x200, while MHS’ sprint medley’s best mark this season is one-tenth off the school record entering the state meet.
In the girls sprints, Bartscher took second place in the 200 (27.30 seconds). Tyler won the 400-meter race in 1:00.42, with Mullenmeister in second place at 1:00.49. (Both were season-best times.) Emerson Smith finished second in the 800-meter race.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the 100-meter hurdles, Keyana Kelley and Sidney Malde finished 1-2, with Kelley posting 16.65 seconds and Malde’s time of 16.68 seconds. The two reversed the order in the 300 hurdles, with Malde winning in 50.62 seconds and Kelley taking second in 51.41. Kelley was also the champion in the long jump (15-6.5), with Audrey Miller taking second place (15-3.25). Emily Moody won the triple jump (32-6.75), a new personal best, and Miller was second in the triple, as well (32-3). In the throws, Taylor DeJong was first in the discus (115-4), which was a new personal best. Lilly Young took second place in the shot put (34-4).
In the 100-meter boys sprint, Nathan McCormick won the race in a time of 11.14 seconds, while teammate Lukas Bennett won in 23.88 seconds in the 200.
Hunter Patton had a personal-best day in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs, winning both races. In the mile race, he finished in 4:43.53, while the 3,200-meter time was a 10:19.35. Trevon Austell won the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 16.32 seconds with teammate Connor Singrey in second place in 17.17 seconds. Bryce Palmer cruised to the 300-meter hurdles victory in 42.2 seconds.
Kellan Odell finished as the winner in the boys javelin, with a winning toss of 149 feet, 5 inches, while Carter Harris won the pole vault with a top mark of 12 feet, 6 inches. Lincoln Bates won the high jump with a top leap of 5 feet, 10 inches. Jagger Tyler was second in the long jump with a personal best of 19 feet, 0.25 inches. In the boys discus, A.J. Siemsen had a personal-best throw of 133 feet, 7 inches to take second place.
The Trust Project
