BROOKINGS – Aberdeen Central collected more than a half dozen first place finishes during a windy Brookings Quad track and field meet on Monday.

Taryn Nieman had a big day for the Golden Eagles, winning the discus with a personal best throw of 111 feet, 5 inches, eight feet better than her previous best.

“To make those strides this early in the year is a good credit for her,” said Central girls’ coach Jim Appl, also noting that Nieman had a PR in the shot put as well.

Mya Arampatzis finished third in the javelin as the Golden Eagles had a solid day in throwing events.

“The throws are looking good over there. We’re getting better. We’re improving,” Appl said. “We’re getting all kinds of PRs in our jav.”

Central’s other first place finishes on the girls’ side came in a pair of relays. The squad of Keyana Stillman, Regan Lust, Lucy Fritz and Gracie Rife won the 400-meter relay, while Samantha Altmaier, Abigail Witte, Kenadi Withers, and Angie Lopez combined to win the sprint medley relay.

“Give credit to those kids for stepping up in that in the wind,” Appl said.

Appl pointed out that Central had three of the top four finishers in the 100-meter hurdles, behind the defending Class AA state champion. Ciara Frank was second, Madison Hochstetter third, and Arampatzis fourth.

“Each of one them PR’d, so that was perfect,” Appl said.

The meet was the second in three days for the Golden Eagles, and the conditions made things even tougher.

“Especially when you go from 90 degrees to that,” Appl said. “That’s a tough double.”

Colby Dauwen continued his strong spring on the boys’ side, winning the 400-meter dash.

“Colby Dauwen had a good day,” said Central boys’ coach Greg Murley. “He ran the open 4 for us. He won that. It’s typically not a normal event for him.”

Teammate Grant Fritz was second in that race.

“He had a good anchor leg in the 4X4 for us, too,” Murley said of Fritz.

Christian Wells won the 3,200-meter run, Jack Bertsch won the discus, and Central’s 1,600-meter relay squad also took first. Members were Kalen Larson, Eli Biegler, Brendan Phillips, and Fritz.

Murley was pleased with how his members performed in less than ideal conditions on the day.

“You kind of have a choice when you have weather like this,” Murley said. “Either you compete or you don’t; I thought our kids did a good job of competing.”

Central is scheduled to compete in the Watoma Relays in Watertown on Friday.

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

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/551729/results/all