Whether it was two weeks or just two days, some athletes competing in Monday’s Fuller Invitational Track and Field Meet at the Barnett Center had to switch sports on the fly.
Nobody had a quicker transition than Ipswich’s Sophie Knittel. The freshman competed in the State Youth Wrestling Tournament in Sioux Falls on Saturday where she finished runner-up, and turned around and won the 55-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the long jump on Monday.
“It’s a pretty big challenge, but it feels good because my coaches rely on me and know I can do it,” Knittel said of the quick turnaround. “My body needs rest, but that can be a problem later.”
Knittel never really gets out of shape, so that makes switching sports quickly a bit easier.
“I try and stay in shape throughout it,” Knittel said. “I still like to do things outside of track that keep me in shape. I like to go on walks with my friends and go to my friend’s farm and run around and stuff.”
Knittel used Monday’s initial meet of the season to knock some of the rust off from last year’s track and field campaign.
She said her favorite event in track is the 200 dash.
“It’s not too short and it gives me time to build up my speed, and 200’s one of the most mindset challenging ones, because it’s long, but it’s not too long,” Knittel said. “You hit the first 100 and you start feeling lactic acid and then you’re like OK, I’ve just got to finish, but you’ve just got to keep going. I just think about it like it’s just a full sprint. It’s not bad.”
Milbank’s Bryton Blauert had about two weeks to go from the State Long Course Swim Meet to his first track and field meet.
He had busy days while finishing up one sport and starting the next.
“I would swim in the mornings. I would get up around 5, drive into town and then I would swim so that way I could pole vault after school,” Blauert said. “I did that for about two weeks before state swim, so that way I’ve been able to pole vault for a while.”
The sophomore finished second in the pole vault on Monday. He said there is a major difference between vaulting indoors and outdoors.
“It’s the conditions. The conditions can change outdoors and effect you,” Blauert said. “A tailwind will make you run faster, but if there’s one coming at you, then it slows you down and makes things more difficult.”
Blauert said the approach is vital in an event like pole vault.
“Our coach likes to say that pole vault is 90 percent run and 10 percent technique,” Blauert said.
Aberdeen Central’s Taryn Hermansen had less than a two- week break from the State A Girls’ Basketball Tournament at the Fuller Meet.
“It’s just kind of crazy to mentally switch and then physically switch. … Basketball you’re running down and back, you’re giving elbows to people, you’re trying to get through defenders. It’s just a totally different mindset and physical demand,” Hermansen said comparing the two sports. “It’s kind of crazy, but I came into today with just the thought of let’s just go have fun, let’s try to get a good throw out there, and just kind of get off the nerve of OK we’re starting again. Track season here we go.”
The defending State AA shot put champion has big goals for her senior season and said those start taking shape now.
“The crazy thing is this is the fourth quarter now. There’s only a quarter left of school, so it’s like if you don’t start now, you’re not going to be able to be where you want to be at the end of the season,” Hermansen said. “I have marks I want to go get this year and if I want to do that, it starts right now for sure.”
Hermansen said there is one element that is crucial to have success in both sports.
“Basketball and track, you wouldn’t look at it and be like there’s a lot of similarities, but I always tell people it’s all footwork,” Hermansen said. “I’m a post, everything I do is footwork when I’m playing basketball. And that’s the same thing here. If you don’t have good footwork in track, you’re not going to be able to have a good throw.”
Hermansen said that footwork includes time spent in the weight room and making sure not to take any short cuts.
“You might be throwing for only one second,” she said, “but there’s a lot that goes into that one second for sure.”
Northwestern’s Ty Boekelheide also had a short transition from basketball to track and field. The junior won the 400-meter dash literally minutes after winning the triple jump on Monday.
“I don’t have to warm up twice,” he said, “so that helps.”
The 400 dash was a special moment for Boekelheide.
“I’ve never really won a race before,” he said, “so this is pretty big for me.”
Boekelheide, who was runner-up at state in the triple jump, has found that shorter races help keep him a bit fresher for jumping.
“I like distance running, but it’s a lot easier to jump when you’re doing mid-distance and sprinting,” Boekelheide said. “I just kind of started doing that so I could jump a bit easier.”
Boekelheide held on for the win in a tight finish in the 400.
“It felt pretty crazy coming down that stretch,” he said, “and be like this is the first one.”
He said the 400 is a much different race than some of the longer distance events.
“It feels completely different,” Boekelheide said, “like no pacing yourself, you just got to have guts and just run as fast as you can.”
Other double individual event winners on Monday included Ipswich’s Jalyssa Hutson in the high jump and pole vault, and Kyle Hettich in the 55-meter dash and 200-meter dash.
To see complete results from the meet, click on the following link:
