SPEARFISH – Aberdeen Roncalli’s medal count on the girls’ side stood at four when the State A Track and Field Meet came to a close Saturday in Spearfish, and all four of those belonged to junior Morgan Fiedler.
But Cavalier coach Mark Stone was hard pressed to find any negatives about any of the performances his team turned in.
“Most of the time this weekend, it was personal bests, and there’s nothing more as a coach that you can ask for,” Stone said.
As a prime example, Stone pointed to Ella and Olivia Ulmer’s efforts in the girls’ 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
“They both ran personal bests, but did not medal,” Stone said. “In fact, Ella’s time (49.58 seconds) sits No. 5 all-time on our lists at Roncalli. That’s a really neat accomplishment.”
Such efforts littered Roncalli’s two-day stay at the state meet.
“In our relays, we had some excellent split times,” Stone said. “We weren’t particularly close to medaling, but we had some good performances. I’m just super grateful for the weather and for our kids. It was a really fun weekend. It’s about as much fun as a state meet can be.”
Fiedler’s efforts in the 200-meter dash and the long jump, both seventh place finishes, capped a four-event, four-medal weekend for the Cavalier, who won a state championship in the triple jump on Friday.
“Certainly Morgan had an awesome weekend,” Stone said. “It’s not easy to medal at the state meet, and it’s certainly not easy to come home with four of them. In all four of her events, the field was pretty good. We are really proud of Morgan.”
The Roncalli girls finished in 14th place, while the boys were 26th overall. Sioux Falls Christian was the run-away victor in the boys’ team race, while West Central claimed the girls’ title.
Milbank Area, fueled by a pair of state championships, finished runner-up in the boys’ division with 66 points, five better than Custer. Bennett Schwenn, who won the triple jump on Friday, added the long jump state title on Saturday. The Bulldogs also won the Sprint Medley Relay. Team members included Dustin Gertsema, Sawyer Gauer, Kaden Krause and Nick Batchelor. Ryker Trevett was second in the shot put.
Meanwhile, another Northeast Conference athlete won a state championship in the girls’ division as Gracelyn Leiseth of Hamlin topped the field in the shot put to go along with her state title in the discus on Friday. The Chargers finished sixth in the girls’ team standings.
In all, NEC athletes accounted for seven total state championships during the meet.
To view complete meet results click on the following link:
