SIOUX FALLS – Aberdeen Central’s Kyson Fayant lowered his school-record time and moved into eighth place all-time in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles during the Howard Wood Dakota Relays on Saturday.
Fayant clocked a time of :38.33 on the way to a runner-up finish in the event.
“He got beat to the first hurdle and then I think he probably won the other nine hurdles, but the guy just got away from him early,” said Central boys’ coach Greg Murley. “He didn’t have the speed to catch him completely.”
Central’s Jack Bertsch also had a strong showing in the discus.
“Jack had a nice series in discus to get sixth,” Murley said.
The Golden Eagles ran a time of :43.55 to finish eighth in the 400-meter relay
“They’re (wanting) to get a warm day to maybe knock one underneath that 43 time,” Murley said.
The Central girls also had solid day in the relays, led by the medley squad.
“In all regards I thought we had a nice day a on the track, so no complaints there. We may not have eclipsed some of the times that we did earlier in the year, but our medley certainly did,” said Central girls’ coach Jim Appl. “We’re sitting pretty good heading into the month of May. Our times are probably a little bit faster than last year’s at this time, so that’s a good thing.”
A key member of some of those relays is Keyana Stillman from her leadoff leg.
“Stillman coming out of the blocks, she was outstanding today,” Appl said. “She is so solid, so good. She’s been handing off either first or second dang near every relay.”
Appl also noted that Mya Arampatzis shaved two seconds off her 300 hurdles time and that Central had two vaulters place in the 10 in the pole vault with Brecken Santjer eighth and Jaidyn Forsyth tied for 10th.
Appl said Howard Wood is a valuable experience, especially for the younger athletes.
“It’s good for our kids. It’s really good for our young kids,” Appl said. “For the ninth-graders that this is this first appearance here, to get the nerves out of the way so that way when we come back here in three more weeks, four more weeks for the state meet, they know what to expect.”
The meet brings together some the premier athletes from a multi-state area.
“It was good effort,” Murley said of his athletes. “It’s great to be able to compete against some of the best schools in the area. … I don’t know that we’ll go to a meet that’s tougher than this one.”
Among the other area athletes, Milbank’s Sam Rick finished third in the open triple jump with Northwestern’s Ty Boekelheide fourth, and Ipswich finished third in the Class B 1,600-meter relay.
Aberdeen Christian also grabbed some places during the meet.
“The boys came through a tough 4X2 exchange day one to play in the 4X1 today,” said Knights coach Sam Bjorkman.
Dylan Hofer also placed in the triple jump, and the Christian girls clocked season-best times in the 400-meter relay and 1,600-meter relay.
“A number of kids got to perform on the track for the first time and we learned a lot through the weekend,” Bjorkman said. “So happy for each of the kids.”
Central will host its only home meet of the season on Friday with the Sahli Invitational at the Brownell Activities Complex. Field events will start at 2 p.m., with track events beginning at 4 p.m.
To see complete Howard Wood results, click on the following link:
