BROOKINGS – Aberdeen Central got its track and field season underway at the Ruth Marske Invitational on Saturday.

“It’s just nice to get to a meet and compete a little bit,” said Central boys’ coach Greg Murley. “We’ve been looking forward to the opportunity to set some baseline times and distances.”

The Golden Eagles were led on the boys’ side by Grant Fritz who took third in the tripe jump, and David VanVeen, who finished fifth in the 1,600-meter run.

“David VanVeen ran solid 800 and 1,600 races,” Murley said. “Grant Fritz had some nice triple jumps. Sprinters laid the beginning ground work with some decent early season times.”

Other top 10 finishes for the Central boys came in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles where Colby Dauwen was sixth, and Kyson Fayant was ninth, and in the high jump where Brendan Phillips was seventh.

Madison Hochstetter helped to power the Central girls, taking fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, fourth in the high jump, and fourth in the triple jump.

Addison Everson had the team’s highest finish, placing third in the triple jump. Jaidyn Forsyth was fifth in that event.

“Field events look strong with many places,” said Central girls’ coach Jim Appl. “We had some PRs on the track and some good runs in the short sprints and hurdles. Distance crew had better times than last year as well.”

Taryn Hermansen finished fifth in the shot put, Regan Lust was seventh in the high jump, Forsyth and Brecken Santjer tied for fifth in the pole vault, and Lucy Fritz finished sixth in the long jump.

“We’re showing good signs of competing and looking where some people can help the team,” Appl said. “It was a good day and looking forward to competing (Tuesday) at NSU.”

Milbank grabbed three places in the pole vault. Jayden Johnson tied for third in boys, while Jacy Dexter was fourth, and Maggie Kruger tied for seventh in girls.

The meet featured squads from a three-state area.

“All of our kids competed hard. It’s good to get our young kids in a large venue with a lot of athletes they won’t typically see during the regular season,” Murley said. “We don’t worry too much about things this early in the season. It is just good to get a starting point.”

To see complete meet results, click on the following link:

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/532082/results/all