The Warner girls got a big 400-meter relay win in front of a big home crowd during the Dial-A-Move Last Chance Meet track and field meet on Wednesday afternoon.
The four members of the relay team were Courtney Leidholt, Kaydee Mackner, Jaycee Jung and MaKenna Leidholt.
The Monarchs finished with a time of :51.50, just 0.11 seconds ahead of second-place Groton.
“It was really cool,” said MaKenna Leidholt following the narrow win. “It was cool to have all the fans here and have it on our home turf and to take the win at one of our last meets of the season before state.”
The victory also gave the runners a jolt of momentum as they head into next week’s state meet in Sioux Falls.
“It boosts the confidence a little just knowing that we can run that fast,” Leidholt said, “and we can even go faster because there are still changes we can make.”
The team wants to get on the podium at state.
“We want to place in the top eight,” Mackner said.
That would help make up for some disappointment from last season.
“Last year, we had a mishap,” Leidholt said. “We were hoping to make it, but didn’t, but this year we’re really hoping to get that medal.”
Aberdeen Christian’s Dylan Hofer had a big day, winning the triple jump with a mark of 43 feet, then following it up by helping his 400-meter relay team get a win in a personal best time of :44.01, and also finishing second in the 200-meter dash.
The other three members of the relay team were Eben Wurgler, Luke Kaiser and Ryder Shaving.
“It felt good, especially the 4X1 because we haven’t run that in a while and we got a personal best by like half a second,” Hofer said, “so it feels really good.”
Even though the team hadn’t run the 400-meter relay in a while, Hofer said he was confident heading into the meet.
“We definitely thought we could win, because Ipswich and us are really close,” Hofer said. “Then today we tried to stretch our handoffs and make them a lot better, because this is the last time we’re running before state.”
Even with the improvements, Hofer said there are still things to work on.
“We still need to work on our handoffs, because they weren’t perfect,” he said. “We just need to get out on the track and practice those so we can be confident.”
Kaiser also had a busy day, being a member of that 400 relay and also winning the 110-meter high hurdles with a personal best time of :16.19, which was seven-tenths better than second place. The junior also finished second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles with a personal best time of :43.15 and ran on the third-place 800-meter relay squad.
“Great day, lots of personal bests,” said Knights coach Sam Bjorkman. “The 4X1 made the strides we needed them to make today.”
Bjorkman also noted Kaiser’s performance in the 110 hurdles.
“Luke made a big jump in the 110s,” Bjorkman said, “dropped off four tenths, putting him in contention for a medal at state.”
Kyle Hettich of Ipswich also had made his presence felt at the meet.
The standout sprinter set a new meet record and ran a season-best time in the 100-meter dash in 10.8 seconds and also won the 200 in :23.24. He teamed up with Casey Geditz, Shay Knust and Ethan Wald for a win in the 800-meter relay with a personal record time of 1:34.64.
Hettich was glad to get a good result following his last few meets.
“I came off last meet with not much confidence to be honest,” Hettich said. “I didn’t run very well the last couple of meets, so it was really nice to get a win and a season-best time.”
Hettich talked about regaining his confidence.
“You just have to keep grinding and working hard,” he said. “You can’t go wrong with that; it will translate well to the meet.”
The senior will now gear up for a big finish to his prep track career.
“I always think about just one race at a time,” Hettich said. “Don’t look back, don’t look forward. I just have to clear my mind and focus on the stuff I need to.”
Britton-Hecla’s Abigail Lee also won a pair of events, taking the long jump and triple jump.
Aberdeen Roncalli also had a variety of athletes competing at the meet.
“We didn’t have any change in top 24 positions for the state,” said Cavaliers co-coach Mark Stone, “but we did have a number of personal best performances.”
Stone pointed out the efforts of pole vaulters Isaac Price and Landon Schaffner, long jumpers Harper Kline and Bria Chambers, and the boys’ 3,200-meter relay team of Blake Hansen, Evan Hansen, Ezra Steele, and Cole Feickert.
“Brock (Bowman) threw over 150 today in the javelin, and Addi (Cassady) had a personal best in the 1,600,” Stone said. “We are taking some athletes to Webster (Thursday). One last opportunity before the state track meet.”
To see the complete meet results, click on the following link:
