IPSWICH – It was hot, it was windy, and it was record-setting during the Lake Region Conference track and field meet Tuesday in Ipswich.

The Ipswich boys’ won their eighth straight LRC title, edging North Central, while Warner turned back Ipswich for its second straight girls’ conference crown.

Along the way, there were numerous personal records and LRC records.

Warner’s Courtney Leidholt set the tone for the day in the long jump where she smashed her previous best mark by well more than a foot. The freshman, whose previous best was 15-feet 81/2-inches, jumped 17 feet to win the event in a new meet record.

“I think the wind really helped me,” Leidholt said, “but just the mental toughness of running fast and jumping, just knowing that I can do it.”

Leidholt was also competing in the pole vault at the same time as the long jump and broke two school records in a matter of minutes, vaulting a meet tying record 10-feet and finishing third in that event.

“It’s a lot, too, because then you have to run back and forth and it tires you out,” Leidholt said. “And I have to change my spikes.”

When asked to compare her performances on Tuesday, Leidholt picked her third place pole vault finish over winning the long jump.

“I think my pole vault,” Leidholt said, “because the wind doesn’t help me as much there.”

Faulkton’s Spencer Melius used the wind in two different ways during the meet. He ran his set of 110-meter high hurdles with the wind on the way to winning the event, and then threw into the strong south wind during the javelin.

The junior said the wind was so blustery it nearly messed up his steps in the hurdles, so he ended up having to pay attention to the windy conditions.

“Today I kind of did, because it’s blowing so hard so it was pushing me closer to every hurdle that I went over,” Melius said, “so by the end it got a little hairy. I was pretty close to the hurdles.”

He was hoping for the opposite effect when he competed in the javelin.

“Hopefully it’s blowing at me so I can throw it and it can pick my javelin up,” Melius said, “but I’m not sure.”

It turned out Melius was correct as he won that event also, in addition to later winning the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, defeating friend Rasmus Loken of Ipswich, who was runner-up in both hurdles.

“I don’t really think about the competition,” Melius said. “I just kind of go out and compete, but me and Rasmus have a pretty good connection, so I like running with someone I know at least.”

Ipswich’s Jalyssa Hutson dealt with the wind in all four of her events, winning the pole vault as four vaulters tied for a meet record, finishing second in the high jump, grabbing a place in the javelin and running the 100 hurdles.

The sophomore talked about her strategy of competing with the wind.

“You have to jump way more up than you normally do, especially in high jump,” Hutson said. “You have to just jump right off the ground and let the wind carry you in or you’re going to end up at the back of the pit or off the pit.”

Of course the 90-degree temperatures also presented a bit of challenge.

“I’d say it’s 50-50,” Hutson said of the hot conditions. “If it’s windy, not so much. I don’t think the heat or cold effects us so much, it’s the wind.”

North Central’s Gabe Johnson had to deal with both the heat and the wind, something distance runners aren’t particularly fond of.

“60s is the best for us,” said Johnson, of the perfect temperature. “The wind you kind of have to treat like a workout. Just to work on your weaknesses, like your kick.”

Johnson, who owns the third best time in Class B in the 1,600 and 3,200, said he had a completely different strategy on the backstretch compared to the front stretch.

“You have to just put your head down, I guess,” Johnson said of heading into the wind, “use it on the backstretch and try to make it up, but a lot of times you can’t make it up on the back.”

Johnson won the 800 and 1,600, and ran the opening leg on the winning 3,200-meter relay.

“Our coach wants the fastest leg first to get us out to a little bit of a lead, maybe take some pressure off of the other three,” Johnson said.

The senior from Eureka, who will compete in cross country and track at Dakota Wesleyan next season, said he treats the relays the same as his open events.

“You want to have enough to still get the baton off, but there’s other people relying on it, too,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty much the same amount of pressure as opens for me.”

Ipswich’s Kyle Hettich won the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter dashes and ran on the winning 1,600-meter relay. Leola’s Dustin Wurtz won the shot put and discus, and Aberdeen Christian’s Dylan Hofer won the triple jump.

Shawnteah LaCroix won the 100 and 200, while the Knights won the 400-meter relay. Members were Ali Isakson, Payton Skarin, Hope Ellyson and Eritrea Cobbs.

“Dylan somehow went farther today,” said Knights coach Sam Bjorkman, “good thing too with Ty (Boekelheide) hitting a big PR as well. Awesome to see the ways kids are focused and making the most of each meet. There’s usually something good with the weather, even if it’s not good for every event group.”

Bjorkman said it’s enjoyable to see the Knights keep making progress.

“Sweet to see the kids take a step forward as a team,” Bjorkman said. “Amazing groups of kids working hard together. Getting to watch that is a lot of fun.”

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

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/592730/results