Custer boys and Sioux Falls Christian girls take home South Dakota Class A titles

By Rich Winter

      The Custer boys used distance depth and timely field event scoring while the Sioux Falls Christian girls showed they are more than the Miranda Velgersdyk show as both teams captured state titles at the South Dakota Class A meet.

      Sioux Falls Christian racked up 119 points to outlast St. Thomas More, 98 and Madison, 92.5 for the win. Custer racked up 103 points to outdistance a speedy Dell Rapids squad who scored 85.

Boys results:

   Dell Rapids got off to a quick start in the morning when Zack Schroeder captured the 100 meters, 11.06. The Quarriors finished 2nd in the 4x100 and 4x200 but Custer just had too much depth. 

    Joel Thompson garnered a 5th place finish in the 110 hurdles to score four points. 

   Custer failed to score a single point in the 100, 200 or 400 or sprint relays, but when they lined it up for the medley relay, the Wildcats were ready.

   Brennan Witt anchored the Wildcats to a victory, just edging Hot Springs, 3:38.43 to 3:38.44.

   The Wildcats salted the victory away in the 1600 meters going No. 2, No. 4 and No.7, scoring 15 big points.

   The icing on the cake was the 4x400. The Wildcats won that event, just edging St. Thomas More in the process.

Girls results: 

   Velgersdyk finished 2nd in the 200 meters and clocked a 56.95 that scared Alicia Brown's meet record.

   SFC won the 400 relay, 50.23, the 4x200, 1:44, and then blew the track away with records in the medley and mile relay. 

   The Chargers medley team of Shelby Zomermaand, Stacy Smidt, Kristin Stern and Erin Alpers won the race in 4:14.72 to take down the 1984 Custer record that was anchored by Lisa Darley. 

     SFC finished the meet off with a meet record in the 4x400, 3:59.52 that broke the record set last season by the same quartet of Kara Koth, Kristin Stern, Jordyn Oostra and Velgersdyk.