AA: Fast Start To Day Puts YHS On The Board

Yankton snuck several finalists and places where the pre-meet seeds said it shouldn’t, giving the young YHS squad optimism going into today’s (Saturday) final session at Sioux Falls’ Howard Wood Field.

“Especially at the beginning of the meet, we started off pretty hot,” Youmans said. “Through the course of the day, we had some good, some bad.”

Weather twice disrupted the preliminary event at the Brandon Valley High School track on Friday, but not even that could derail a good day for the Bucks and Gazelles.

The Gazelles got things going on both the track and in the shot put ring early in the day on their way to 21 1/2 points through the opening events of the meet.

In the shot put, senior Clara Schild ended her career with a fourth place finish (38-5 1/2), while junior Allie Murphy earned a spot on the awards stand with an eighth place toss of 36-1 1/4. Freshman Adrienne Kusek just missed the finals, placing tenth (34-8).

“That was a great thing for us,” Youmans said of the throwers. “We had three jump up in place, and we get two of them back. We’ll lose Clara Schild, an (Eastern South Dakota Conference) champ, but we get two of the three back.

“If they continue to improve like they did the second half of this season, they’re going to do very well.”

Schild finishes her YHS career with her first state meet medal.

“I’m very happy,” she said. “It was a good way to end my high school career.”

Murphy had the top throw in the first flight, and waited anxiously as the second flight commenced. She finished ninth a year ago, just missing finals.

“I usually don’t get nervous, but today I did,” she said. “Usually I do my own thing, focus on what I’m doing.”

After the prelims, both Murphy and Schild had time to kill, as the first weather delay of the game hit right as finals were getting ready to start.

“We had to stay in the (team) tent for a while,” Schild said. “We tried to stay loose, then we were able to get out and warm up.”

With a state meet medal under her belt, Murphy is even more pumped for her senior season.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I think I can finish a lot better next year.”

On the other side of the grandstand, Yankton senior Kelsey Fitzgerald started her final state meet by tying for fifth in the high jump, clearing 5-1. Later in the day, she finished 18th in the long jump, and will compete in the triple jump today to conclude her prep career.

Also in that long jump, eighth graders Lindsey Hale (15-10 1/2) and Emma Stewart (14-4 1/2) placed 15th and 24th.

As the Gazelle throwers were getting the day off to a great start, Yankton’s distance runners did the same. The foursome of Erica Westerman, Annie Kruse, Savannah Woods and Whitlee Larson blew away the slow heat in the 3200 relay, finishing fourth overall in 9:52.13.

“On paper we were a little out of it,” Youmans said of the relay. “But we knew if we ran it tough we could compete.”

Later in the day, Kruse finished third in the 3200 (11:08.24) and Larson placed eighth in the 800 (2:20.52). Seventh grader Madisen McClure finished 15th in the 3200, clocking an 11:54.71.

“If you ran a personal best (Kruse did), you can’t walk away feeling disappointed. It’s hard to go to any meet, do your best and not feel good,” Youmans said. “Maddie competed hard, competed well.

“They need to carry this over into the next 12 months, especially as a springboard into the summer to get ready for cross country.”

The Yankton girls sent one individual and one relay to today’s finals. Junior Hailey Luken clocked a 16.13 to earn a spot in the 100-meter hurdles final, then teamed with Brenna Fitzsimmons, Danielle Beckmann and Jessica Wirth to clock a 50.67 and make the 400-meter relay finals.

Yankton missed the finals in the other three relays, but set season-best times in the 800 and 1600 relays.

“Coming in to the relays we were optimistic, but only our girls’ 4-by-1 made it,” Youmans said. “But we ran some of our best times in the relays. It’s hard to be disappointed when you run your best times of the season.”

A trio of juniors got the Yankton boys’ day off to a good start as the Bucks scored 17 points on the day.

“One of the things that our coaching staff commented on at the end of the day was that the bulk of our points came from the upperclassmen, but not necessarily the seniors,” Youmans said. “It’s going to be fun to see what they can do in the next 12 months.”

In the pole vault, Casey Skillingstad and James Hofer each cleared 13 feet to place fifth and seventh.

For Hofer, the mark was a career best and was aided by the Mitchell squad.

“I was on a new pole at the end, one that we borrowed from Mitchell. We help each other out,” he said. “(Clearing 13 feet) gives me confidence that I can keep improving.”

The swirling winds that brought the storms that twice delayed Friday’s session made for challenging vaulting conditions, Skillingstad said.

“After a few vaults, I was able to get focused and block the wind out,” he said.

Skillingstad also didn’t enter the competition until 13 feet, a strategy that helped him finish ahead of Hofer and the other vaulter whose last cleared height was 13 feet. It also helped Skillingstad have the energy to nearly clear a career-best 13-6.

“That was our coach’s plan for me,” he said. “Hit 13 feet without knocking the bar over, which would help me place higher on the stand.”

As the Bucks were flying over the bar, junior Richard Culver got the Bucks going on the track. His time of 11.49 earned him a spot in the 100-meter dash final.

Junior Brice Cowman finished fifth in a tough 3200 field, clocking a 9:33.12, a career-best by 11 seconds. In that race, Brookings’ Addison DeHaven clocked a state and state meet record of 9:00.19.

Junior J.J. Hejna took home a pair of medals on Friday, finishing fifth in the high jump (6-3) and sixth in the long jump (20-10 1/4). Also in the long jump, sophomore Lee Rose (20-3 1/2) finished 10th and Culver (19-5 1/4) placed 18th.

Yankton just missed hardware in the 3200 relay, clocking an 8:33.35. It was a season best by over 13 seconds.

The Bucks also had season-best times in the other four relays, finishing 10th or 11th in each: 44.98 in the 400 relay, 1:34.11 in the 800 relay, 3:36.06 in the 1600 relay and 3:46.40 in the medley.

Among the highlights for YHS today will be longtime assistant coach Carmen Robinson receiving the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

Aberdeen Central has 65 1/2 points to lead the girls’ race, with pre-meet favorites Rapid City Central (37) and Stevens (35) looming. Sioux Falls Washington and Roosevelt, the pre-meet favorites on the boys’ side, have 54 and 41 1/2 points to rank first and second.

A state meet record shared by a former Buck went by the waysides on Friday, as Roosevelt’s Jack Lembcke recorded a toss of 63 feet, 10 1/2 inches. The old mark of 62-1 was shared by Yankton’s Lance Wipf (1993) and Aberdeen’s George Amundson (1969)

The meet concludes today at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, with competition beginning at 9 a.m. with field events and 9:30 a.m. with running events.

You can follow James D. Cimburek on Twitter at twitter.com/JCimburek