Ipswich rolls, Parker holds on as Tigers and Pheasants capture South Dakota Class B state titles
By Rich Winter
There was never really any doubt that Ipswich was going to capture the girl's Class B state track title. Not with Macy Heinz in the fold. The Tigers rolled to another South Dakota class B title with 97 points to easily outdistance Irene-Wakonda who scored 35.5 points
Heinz captured the 100 meters, 12.51 and she got some help as teammate Angela Heinz was third in that event.
Angela Heinz moved up one spot on the podium to finish 2nd in the 200 meters.
Ipswich finished 4th in the 4x100 and 5th in the 4x200.
But it was Heinz, a 9th grader, who carried this team.
Heinz won the 800 on Friday, captured the 100 on Saturday, won the 400, 57.1 and won the 1600 with a time of 5:13.
Has another athlete ever won the 100, 400, 800 and 1600? No, and no one probably ever will again, unless Heinz does it in each of the next three years.
The track title goes with a state cross country title from this fall and with Heinz being a freshman, you can expect a bunch of more titles for these Ipswich Tigers.
Boys results:
Parker scored solidly in the 400 and 800 meter events and the longer relays to score 58 points that just nipped Herried-Selby who finished with 57. Freeman, also had a great meet and finished third with 51 points.
The Pheasants could point to sophomore Kordell Buyck who finished 8th in the 110 hurdles to garner the one point that helped Parker to the title.
Although Parker failed to score in the 100 and 4x100, the Pheasants did nab a 5th place in the 4x200.
Parker's Tristen Erickson finished 2nd in the 400 meters, 50.79 and Eric Hunstad picked up one point in the 300 hurdles as he finished 8th.
Parker's bread and butter over the past few seasons has been the strength of their medley and mid-distance athletes. The Pheasants did not disappoint in that medley relay as Eric Hunstad, Jake Anderson, Tristen Erickson and Michael Olson won the event with a 3:43 that outdistanced James Valley Christian who was about five seconds back.
Sophomore Zack Anderson won the high jump on Saturday as he cleared 6-feet-4 to earn ten points.
Anderson had another big effort in the triple jump, finishing 5th and scoring four more big points.
Herried-Selby won the state title in 2013 with Parker finishing 3rd.
The photo for this article was taken by Kernit Grimshaw - Check out his state track photos at kernit.zenpholio.com