MITCHELL – It was a banner day for Aberdeen Central’s Taryn Hermansen at the Corn Palace Relays track and field meet on Thursday.
The junior broke the school record in the shot put, previously held by Paiton Burckhard dating back to 2018. Hermansen finished with a mark of 45-feet, 4-inches.
“She broke it by an inch or two the first time,” said Central girls’ coach Jim Appl, “and then broke it by a foot the second time in finals.”
Central also received a first place finish in the 100-meter dash by Gracie Rife.
“She ran a consistent race today,” Appl said. “She had a good start out of the blocks, and she was in about third place, and then she just kept building and building and was able to finish it.”
Mya Arampatzis finished third in the 100-meter hurdles and fifth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
Lucy Fritz continued her strong spring by finishing third in the long jump, fifth in the high jump and also ran a leg on the 400-meter relay squad.
“She’s a jack of all trades for us. … She can do any of the jumping events,” Appl said, noting she could also pole vault and run on multiple relay squads.
Appl said he is happy with where his athletes are at considering the time of the season.
“We’re running the consistent times that we’ve been running and now we’re doing it in cold weather off of tough workouts,” Appl said. “We’ve been keeping the kids’ legs back. We’ve been training through these meets. I can’t wait until we give our kids their legs back in May and freshen them up a bit.”
The Central boys were led by a first place finish by Kyson Fayant in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. He also took fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles.
“I thought our 300 hurdlers ran well today, especially in the windy conditions,” said Central boys’ coach Greg Murley. “That event takes a tough mindset even in ideal conditions, and our kids don’t back down.”
Carter Lust finished third in the 100-meter dash and also ran anchor on a second place 400-meter relay squad and a third place 800-meter relay team.
Joran Foss was third in the shot put and fifth in the discus.
The Golden Eagles got a chance see opponents they don’t normally face throughout the season.
“Good opportunity to compete against some other great schools that we don’t always get a chance to see,” Murley said.
Murley said the boys ran well during the meet.
“We got better today, made improvements, even if it doesn’t necessarily show in times and distances,” Murley said. “Despite the wind and cold, I thought our kids competed hard. It’s the same wind and cold for the lane next to them, so we don’t use it as an excuse.”
Central is off until competing at the Brookings Alumni Meet on Tuesday.
To see Thursday’s complete results, click on the following link:
