Athletes thrive despite elements at Sahli Invitational

Conditions were less than desirable at Swisher Field Saturday, but athletes still found ways to set both meet records and personal records at the Al Sahli Invitational track and field meet.

“We had probably about 20 percent of our kids or a little over PR today in this. We can’t complain there,” said Central girls’ coach Jim Appl. “I thought the kids competed hard. Some days you can run for the time and the PRs, and other days you’re just going out to compete and see what you’ve got.”

Some athletes showed they had plenty during the meet.

Sam Rohlfs not only won three events, the Central junior set meet records in two of them. Rohlfs won the 200-meter dash and triple jump in record-setting fashion and also won the long jump on the way to being selected the David Goodman Male Athlete of the Meet. Maggie Heesch of Watertown won the girls’ award.

Rohlfs said he was most satisfied with his triple jump.

“I was happy with the triple jump. I’ve kind of struggled the last couple of meets,” said Rohlfs who jumped 44-feet 21/2-inches. “In these conditions, if you’re jumping 44 you can imagine you can go 45-46.”

Rohlfs is looking forward to the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet on Saturday at Swisher Field.

“I love competing. That’s what I do. That’s what I live for,” Rohlfs said. “Any chance I get to compete I’m going to take that.”

It was that spirit of competition that was on display throughout the meet on Saturday.

“This might be a day where you don’t look at results. You say, hey we got out there and competed. We raced against a guy who was next to us,” said Central boys’ coach Greg Murley. “We had some good times, though. The kids did a good job of competing. That’s what we’re here for.”

Another of the Central boys who loves to compete is Jacob Merxbauer, who won the 100-meter dash and finished second to Rohlfs in the triple jump.

Merxbauer is used to going head-to-head against Rohlfs and then joining forces with him on relay squads.

“I want to try to beat him. He’s always beating me,” Merxbauer said. “I feel like in relays we all try to push each other. We want to get the best time we can. Me and Sam run a lot of relays together as well.”

Josh Martin won the 800 and 1,600, and Drew Salfrank won the 400. Among the other individual event winners were Kattie Witte in 100, Melissa Sandquist in the 200, Melanie Jacobs in the 400, Zoe Douglas in the 1,600 and Abby Berry in the discus.

While the elements included a steady rain, a stiff breeze and temps in the low 40s by the end of the meet, not everybody was downtrodden.

“It’s fun. It’s better than running in the heat,” said Central’s Alexis Ketterling after her victory in the 3,200-meter run.

The freshman is part of a strong delegation of distance runners for the Golden Eagles.

“In practice we’ll just try to keep up with each other,” Ketterling said. “Tuesday we did some really hard workouts and we all were pretty close to each other.”

It turned out to be a memorable day for senior Alli Joerger who won the high jump with a leap of 4-feet 11-inches.

“I haven’t really high jumped a lot in the past couple of weeks,” Joerger said. “Then doing so well today and just feeling so validated that my four years of track have been worth it was really, really reassuring.”

Joerger is one of a dozen senior girls (along with seven boys) who were honored on Senior Day.

“A special shout out to our seniors. Even though the conditions were less than stellar for over half the meet, hats off to our seniors,” Appl said. “We’ve got 12 girls this year. The most we’ve ever had. They deserved today even if was like this. I can’t be any more proud of them and I can’t wait to see what holds for their future.”

Participating teams: Aberdeen Central, Pierre, Watertown.

GIRLS’ DIVISION

100-Meter Hurdles: Hannah Walburg, W, :18.11; 2, Sydney Tedrow, P, :18.82; 3, Kenzie Gronlund, P, :19.03; 4, Emily Flood, AC :20.99; 5, Maddi Aldridge, AC, :21.98.

300-Meter Intermediate Hurdles: Results not available.

100-Meter Dash: 1, Kattie Witte, AC, :14.34; 2, Johanna Jarrot, AC, :14.43; 3, Anna Malchow, AC, :14.45 4, MaKayla Sherwood, P, :14.54; 5, Meg Maher, P, :14.74; 6, Rylie Pietz, AC, :14.78; 7, Hannah Krumenacker, AC, :14.83; 8, Emma Mounga, AC, :14.84.

200-Meter Dash: 1, Melissa Sandquist, AC, :27.82; 2, Claire Schaunaman, AC, :28.18; 3, Abigail Witte, AC, :28.20; 4, (tie) Sydney Uhrig, P, :28.22, and Cameron Larson, P, :28.22; 6, Aleis Christopherson, P, :28.24; 7, Lily Sanchez, P, :28.49; 8, Briana Altmaier, AC, :28.59.

400-Meter Dash: 1, Melanie Jacobs, AC, 1:04.52; 2, Lily Sanchez, P, 1:05.07; 3, Trinity Miller, AC, 1:06.54; 4, Sydney Uhrig, P, 1:07.48; 5, Tierney Hodorff, W, 1:08.23; 6, Cameron Larson, P, 1:08.90; 7, Alana Hansen, AC, 1:09.64; 8, Makia Moe, W, 1:10.47.

800-Meter run: 1, Jessica Lutmer, P, 2:31.16; 2, Melanie Jacobs, AC, 2:33.45; 3, Zoe Douglas, AC, 2:39.17; 4, Victoria Smith, W, 2:40.06; 5, Kaylie Peldo, AC, 2:41.66; 6, Brianna Sargent, P, 2;43.75; 7, Kiana Joerger, AC, 2:51.60; 8, Alivia Burgaard, AC, 2:52.90.

1,600-Meter Run: 1, Zoe Douglas, AC, 5:42.51; 2, Kaylie Peldo, AC, 5:48.28; 3, Jazzlyn Rombough, P, 5:49.94; 4, Emma List, W, 6:11.35; 5, Kristen Schulte, W, 6:11.35; 6, Alivia Burgaard, AC, 6:12.51; 7, Angelina Lopez, AC, 6:35.92; Aurelia Steiger, AC, 7:01.10.

3,200-Meter Run: 1, Alexis Ketterling, AC, 13:31.98; 2, Jordan Phillips, AC, 13:50.12; 3, Aurelia Steiger, AC, 15:08.77; 4, Maelee Schulte, W, 16:37.93.

Shot Put: 1, Maggie Heesch, W, 40-6.5; 2, Olivia Corey, W, 34-7; 3 Emily Lingle, P, 31-5.5; 4, Grace Kuch, AC, 31-0.5; 5, Hannah Lemieux, P, 30-9; 6, Brooke Bollinger, W, 29-7.5; 7, Reese Terwilliger, P, 29-4.25; 8, Maya Shorter, P, 27-7.5.

Discus: 1, Abby Berry, AC, NA; 2, Maggie Heesch, W, 137-10; 3, Lexi Olson, AC, 119-8; 4, Grace Kuch, AC, 114-7; 5, Brooke Bollinger, W, 113-4; 6, Jahna Meester, W, 112-1; 7, Maya Shorter, P, 108-7; 8, Taryn Hermansen, AC, 101-7.

High Jump: 1, Alli Joerger, AC, 4-11; 2, (tie) Lily Sanchez, P, 4-9, and Ryann Barry, P, 4-9; 4, (tie) Karly Wellman, AC, 4-7, Danielle Beck, P, 4-7, Johanna Jarrot, AC, 4-7, and Ciara Frank, AC, 4-7; 8, Maddi Struble, AC, 4-5.

Long Jump: 1, Aleis Christopherson, P, 15-7.25; 2, Ciara Frank, 15-4.5; 3, Katelin Stoebner, AC, 15-0.75; 4, Myah Morris, W, 14-8.25; 5, Hannah Walburg, W, 14-5.5; 6, Olivia Fox, AW, 14-5; 7, Sierra Stanton, W, 13-8.5; 8, Lily Sanchez, P, 13-4.5.

Triple Jump: 1, Myah Morris, W, 33-0; 2, Aleis Christopherson, P, 32-5; 3, Ashlyn Beyer, AC, 32-3.5; 4, Alli Joerger, AC, 31-5; 5, Sierra Stanton, W, 31-3; 6, Hannah Walburg, W, 31-2.5; 7, Olivia Fox, W, 30-8; 8, Meg Maher, P, 29-0.

Pole Vault: 1, Trinity Hodorff, W, 9-9; 2, Elizabeth Lake, W, 9-3; 3, (tie) Madi Weig, AC, 8-9, and Makenna Glanzer, AC, 8-9; 5, Mariss Mathews, P, 8-3; 6, Kaylin Warrey, AC, 7-9; 7, (tie) Ayrlie Waldo, AC, 7-3, Jordyn Padgett, W, 7-3, and Emily Richie, Webster, 7-3.

400-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, :53.56; 2, Aberdeen Central II, :54.32; 3, Watertown, :55.12.

800-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, 1:55.15; 2, Aberdeen Central II, 2:00.37; 3, Aberdeen Central III, 2:02.76; 4, Watertown, 2:04.98.

1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, 4:24.76; 2 Aberdeen Central II, 4:36.94; 3, Pierre, 4:38.82.

Sprint Medley Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, 5:01.47; 2, Watertown, 5:09.13.

3,200-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre, 10:20.73; 2, Watertown, 10:42.79; 3, Aberdeen Central, 10:46.51; 4, Aberdeen Central II, 11:16.28.

BOYS’ DIVISION

110-Meter High Hurdles: 1, Collin Dingsor, W, :15.98; 2, Jaden Bohms-Buechler, AC, :16.67; 3, Aiden Heimann, AC, :16.95; 4, Braxton Kusler, AC, :17.10; 5, Shawn VanLiere, P, :18.23; 6, Gavin Black Bear, P, :20.73.

300-Meter Intermediate Hurdles: 1, Collin Dingsor, W, :42.32; 2, Aiden Heimann, AC, :42.69; 3, Jaden Bohms-Buechler, AC, :43.85; 4, Isaac Ligon, AC, :44.65; 5, Ash First In Trouble, W, :45.96; 6, Tommy Foley, W, :49.47.

100-Meter Dash: 1, Jacob Merxbauer, AC, :11.60; 2, Tucker Putzier, P, :11.77; 3, Juven Hudson, W, :11.93; 4, Caden Thompson, P, :11.99; 5, Trevon Rawdon, W, :12.01; 6, Josh Strand, P, :12.10.

200-Meter Dash: Results not available.

400-Meter Dash: 1, Drew Salfrank, AC, :52.74; 2, Josh Strand, P, :53.36; 3, Dalton Baumberger, W, :54.70; 4, Austin Foley, P, :56.82; 5, Tucker Putzier, P, :57.30; 6, Cade Kaiser, P, :58.46; 7, Jett Zabel, P, :58.55.

800-Meter Run: 1. Josh Martin, AC, 2:07.07; 2, Jaxson Fiechtner, W, 2:07.58; 3, Daniel Street, AC, 2:09.01; 4, Cole Burris, AC, 2:11.15; 5, Jared Lutmer, P, 2:19.81; 6, Christian Wells, AC, 2:24.08; 7, Noah Miller, AC, 2:24.26; 8, Tino Lopez, AC, 2:26.72.

1,600-Meter Run: 1, Josh Martin, AC, 4:35.60; 2, Daniel Street, AC, 4:36.58; 3, David VanVeen, AC, 4:58.71; 4, Jacob Angehofer, AC, 4:59.96; 5, Haeden Wheelhouse, P, 5:00.59; 6, Ben Peterson, W, 5:03.43; 7, Christian Wells, AC, 5:12.43; 8, Noah Miller, AC, 5:13.99.

3,200-Meter Run: 1, Evan Halbe, W, 10:53.45; 2, Jacob Angerhofer, AC, 10:56.96; 3, David VanVeen, AC, 11:02.68; 4, Ben Peterson, W, 11:34.79.

Shot Put: 1, Cooper Mack, W, 62-3.5 (meet record); 2, Tyler Dean, W, 50-0.5; 3, Paden Johnson, W, 43-10; 4, Houston Lunde, P, 43-2.5; 5, Regan Bollweg, P, 41-10.25; 6, Brian Johnson, AC, 39-2.25; 7, Blake Wagner, P, 37-2.5; 8, Boaz Raderschadt, W, 37-2.

Discus: 1, Cooper Mack, W, 177-7 (meet record); 2, Tyler Dean, W, 153-3; 3, Blake Wagner, P, 129-0; 4, Regan Bollweg, P, 127-5; 5, Brian Johnson, AC, 123-2; 6, Chanden Nieman, AC, 120-0.

High Jump: 1, Spencer Skjonsberg, P, 5-9; 2, Cade Kaiser, P, 5-5; 3, AJ Hase, AC, 5-3; 4, (tie) Grant Fritz, AC, 4-11, and Parker Lemer, AC, 4-11.

Long Jump: 1, Sam Rohlfs, AC, 20-7.25; 2, Juven Hudson, W, 20-3.5; 3, AJ Hase, AC, 18-0; 4, Deegan Houska, P, 17-9.5; 5, Chase Carda, P, 16-8.5; 6, Gavin Mooney, W, 16-1.

Triple Jump: 1, Sam Rohlfs, AC, 44-2.5 (meet record); 2, Jacob Merxbauer, AC, 39-8.25; 3, Deegan Houska, P, 38-2.5; 4, Carter Dingman, AC, 37-3.

Pole Vault: 1, Canyon Jones, P, 11-3; 2, Chase Carda, P, 10-3; 3, (tie) Ethan Fergel, AC, 9-9, and Gabe Johnson, AC, 9-3; 5, (tie) Jaiden McCreary, Webster, 9-3, and Deegan Houska, P, 9-3; 7, (tie) Max Duerre, Webster, 8-9, and Parker Helwig, AC, 8-9.

400-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, :46.47; 2, Aberdeen Central II, :50.51.

800-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, 1:36.79; 2, Watertown, 1:40.39; 3, Aberdeen Central II, 1:43.87.

1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central, 3:41.34; 2, Aberdeen Central II, 4:01.73; 3, Pierre, 4:01.88; 4, Pierre II, 4:08.46.

Sprint Medley Relay: 1, Watertown, 4:19.73; 2, Aberdeen Central, 4:22.81.

3,200-Meter Relay: 1, Watertown, 9:01.14; 2, Pierre, 9:09.56; 3, Aberdeen Central, 9:11.39; 4, Pierre II, 9:21.08.