SIOUX FALLS – All Gabby Thomas was looking for was a small increase in her personal best jump on Friday. What the Aberdeen Roncalli freshman accomplished was a major PR and a fifth-place finish in the Class A triple jump during the State Track and Field Meet at Howard Wood Field.

“I wanted to get 34 today and my coaches really, really prepared me for this and it felt really good coming in,” Thomas said.

Thomas soon found herself needing a new goal after she jumped 35-feet 1/4-inch in the prelims. She then extended that distance to 35-4 on her next attempt and eventually finished with a mark of 35-4 1/4.

“I feel like I perform tougher and maybe more competitive when I’m with better competition,” Thomas said, “and being in second flight, well there’s eight more people after me, so I just gotta go out and do my best, because usually I’m with the last flight.”

Performing in front of a large gallery was also a bit different for Thomas. She used a different strategy to keep her focus on the task at hand.

“That definitely makes me feel a little bit more excited because there’s more people watching me, and my coaches want me to watch someone,” Thomas said. “So my teammate Brody (Weinmeister), he was sitting there with his rice hat on at the end, and I just had to focus on him.”

Roncalli boys’ coach Mark Stone was pleased with the way the Cavaliers responded on the day after a slow start on Thursday.

“We had a better day today. Challenged our kids to find a way to give a personal best performance,” Stone said. “The weather is beautiful, hard to blame the weather. And the competition is as good as will ever be. So today, the Cavaliers had mostly personal best performances, of course highlighted by Gabby’s place in the triple jump.”

Friday marked the final performance of Roncalli senior Parker Grieben, who closed out his career with a 300-meter intermediate hurdles event, capping his fourth straight trip to the state meet.

“I know a lot of people say it, but the stuff off the court and off the field is always fun to remember and go back on, and even on the court and on the field, you just get those moments,” Grieben said, looking back on his career with the Cavaliers. “You don’t remember the whole game or the whole race, but you remember the tidbits and just parts of it that really made it fun.”

While Grieben competed in various settings in both basketball and track for Roncalli, he said there is nothing quite like the state track and field meet.

“I’ve never been anywhere that’s even close to this atmosphere. It’s just thousands and thousands of people just watching and there’s only one event (on the track) at a time, so I know they’re watching me,” Grieben said. “Honestly, I feel like I should be more nervous, but I really wasn’t that nervous. I was more nervous for my family and coaches, because I know that they’re watching and those are the people that I wanted to run and do good for.”

Groton’s Jayden Schwan was experiencing the state meet atmosphere for the first time. He ran in the 3,200-meter relay to start off his day.

“The goal when you’re in the two mile is to start off like you’re in the mile, and I feel like we did that pretty well,” Schwan said. “It started like a mile because we came through at like 5:01 or something, which is pretty good. You just have to hold on the last four laps.”

The junior did more than hold on. He got stronger at the finish.

“I knew that I had guys coming behind me that I’ve raced before and I know they can kick, so I tried to go a little earlier today than I usually do,” Schwan said of his closing kick. “I think I started at 500 (meters) and kept going and tried to go. It did work out pretty well.”

He said the experience he is gaining this weekend will help him next season.

“It’s my first year, so I think about how glad I am to be here and how I can just take it all in while I’m a junior, and I’ve got next year to come back,” Schwan said. “So if I just take it all in this year, I can go for it next year.”

Deuel’s Hannah Cutshaw reached her goals on the way to placing in the pole vault on Friday.

“My goal today was to first try to get on to podium and do the best that I can,” Cutshaw said, “so my goal was to get a new PR with 10-6 and I got 10-9.”

The sophomore is a standout gymnast for the Cardinals so she is used to state meet pressure. She compared the differences between the two sports.

“I think, in my opinion, gymnastics is a lot more stressful in a different type of way,” Cutshaw said. “For me I get more stressed, but pole vault, trying to make it over it three times and if you miss your first two, that pressure on that last one is so high that it overtops everything.”

While Cutshaw is used to competing with a lot of different distractions with multiple events going on at the same time in gymnastics, state track comes with its own set of challenges and is just as distracting.

“It really is, especially like when the planes are flying fast,” Cutshaw said, “or even when the crowd is doing that slow clap, it’s almost bringing a little bit more stress and distraction.”

Milbank’s Sam Rick continued his strong performance at the state meet on Friday. One day after placing second in the pole vault, the sophomore finished runner-up in the triple jump.

The state meet wraps up today with action starting at 9 a.m.

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

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/601956/results