Dakota Relays: Sioux Falls Christian's team speed hits stride

For the second year in a row, Jordyn Oostra put herself in position to compare and contrast individual success and team triumphs at the high school track portion of the Howard Wood Dakota relays.

The senior defended her meet title in the 300-meter hurdles by besting an accomplished field that wasn't divided by school size. She also played a part in Sioux Falls Christian winning three Class A relays – the 400, 800 and 1,600 – and setting two meet records.

Neither the high level of competition nor the lack of inclement weather – a rarity at the longstanding event – could keep the Chargers girls from turning in another solid Saturday. It's practically a tradition at this point.

"The team aspect of relays is very fun," said Oostra, who is slated to run at Northwestern College. "But the individual aspect just to see where you stand in all classes is fun, too."

SFC didn't face much of a challenge in the relays, winning by nearly a second in the 400 (50.7), by more than three in the 800 (1:45.43) and by nearly seven in the 1,600 (4:01.23). The latter two were Dakota Relay records for Class A. The Chargers held the old mark in the 800, too.

Cohesiveness appeared helpful as they used five girls between the three relays: Oostra, Kara Koth, Kristin Stern, Miranda Velgersdyk and Shelby Zomermaand. Most of those have been handing batons to each other for years. Ipswich may have a similar situation brewing – the Tigers won the Class B 400, 800 and 1,600 relays.

Oostra stepped out on her own for the 300 hurdles final and excelled there, too. She finished in a personal best 45.22 to top – among others – reigning Class AA champ Valerie Moos of Roosevelt, former Class A champ Haley Bruggeman of Harrisburg and 2013 North Dakota Class A runner-up McKayla Orr of Jamestown.

Later, Oostra wound up seventh in the 100 hurdles. That underscored two themes of the day – relative upsets and the difficulty of doubling.

Lauren Sokolowski scored the biggest surprise from a small school in South Dakota. The Irene-Wakonda junior prevailed in the girls 100 hurdles with a time of 14.78. She was never threatened after a powerful start, topping largely the same strong field that ran the 300 hurdles.

While no stranger to success, the two-time Class B state champ in the event clearly enjoyed facing – and conquering – a different type of challenge.

"I was shaking," Sokolowski said. "The one (other) year I ran here I got fourth, but it was OK; I wasn't worried about it. This year was pretty scary. I knew I had the top time and these girls were coming to get me."

Hudson Priebe handled that pressure twice – one of the few in the large field to do so. The senior from Chamberlain took top honors in the boys 110 and 300 hurdles, in both cases holding off the likes of Washington High senior and North Dakota State football recruit Dan Marlette.

What's more, Priebe had less than a couple hours between races – and he competed in the long jumper earlier in the day. The Drake recruit came in at 14.97 in the 110s and 39.01 in the 300.

The hope is that pulling off this double helps prepare him to do the same at the Class A state meet in three weeks. He's more concerned about that than how he does or doesn't stack up against kids in other classes.

"In between races I felt like I was still kind of loose," Priebe said. "I just tired to keep myself warm. I didn't want to do as long of a warmup as I did in the morning – I shortened it a little bit."

Cortney Dowling of Pierre successfully navigated the two-event challenge, too, except over two days. She followed a Friday win in the girls special event 200 with a victory in the 100 at 12.23. Dowling wasn't pushed in either race.

NDSU recruit Landon Jochim came close to matching her in terms of dominance. The lanky senior from Bismarck Century broke meet and all-time North Dakota records in the 400 at 47.78.

He never let Nebraska recruit and Brandon Valley standout Cam Holmes – the 2013 winner – mount a serious challenge.

Then Jochim put a final stamp on the event, running the anchor leg on the wining 1,600 relay.

He came here for the competition, and wound up leaving it in the figurative dust.

"I'm not going to see this type of competition again until the nation meet at the end of the year," Jochim said. "I came around the corner, felt really good – knew if I wanted the record I had to go for it."