PETERS TAKES TOP TIME INTO 100 HURDLES FINAL
As a seventh grader competing in her first State Track Meet on Friday, all Rylee Peters wanted was to advance to the finals in her open events — the 100 and 300 hurdles.
Not only has she reached that goal, she’s going into Saturday’s competition with two of the best times in the field.
Peters posted the fastest time among the 24 competing in the 100 hurdles by clocking a 15.95 — edging senior defending champion Mackenzie Hemmer of Colman-Egan by half-a-second in the process — and ran the fourth-fastest time in the 300 hurdles, a 48.98.
“Oh my gosh, it feels really great,” Peters said after outlasting Hemmer in the 100 hurdles. “I’m really excited.”
Peters said she was nervous in the moments leading up to the race — “When I was in my set position I was shaking,” she said — but tried to focus on the job at hand.
“I just wanted to run my own race and not worry about the people next to me,” she said.
Peters showing in the hurdles was among several highlights for local athletes competing in the second day of this year’s three-day competition at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
Like Peters, Menno sophomore Ashton Massey advanced to the finals in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. Her time of 16.49 in the prelim was good enough for her to slip into the eighth and final spot on Saturday (just in front of teammate Kaelie Derby), and she clocked the fourth fastest time in the field in the 300 hurdles with a 48.6;
Freeman Public senior Dawson Munkvold advanced to the 110 hurdles final with a 16.22; he is sixth in the field. Munkvold also ran the 300 hurdles but did not advance;
Freeman Academy/Marion sophomore Tavin Schroeder placed third in the 3200 final in a time of 10:07.98, and his older brother Thalen finished fourth in the 800 with a 2:02.84;
Freeman Academy junior Jada Koerner finished fifth in the 3200 with a 12:08.09 clocking and eighth in the 800 final in a time of 2:27.12;
Menno senior Raygen Diede finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 114-9;
Menno junior Kayden Ulmer finished seventh in the 800 final after posting a 2:04.53;
Freeman Academy eighth grader Estelle Waltner finished seventh in the 800 final in 2:25.05.
Also competing on Friday were:
The FA/Marion boys 4×200 relay (DNF);
The FA/Marion boys 4×400 relay (21st);
FA/Marion senior Quincy Blue in the 400 (20th);
FA/Marion senior Dylan Johansen in the shot put (11th);
FA/Marion sophomore Finley McConniel in the 3200 (18th);
Freeman Public’s girls 4×400 (19th);
Freeman Public junior Kate Miller in the 400 (21st);
Freeman Public senior Justin Wollman in the 200 (20th);
Menno boys 4×400 relay (15th);
Menno sophomore Bianca Fischer, eighth grader Madison Schaeffer and seventh grader Ervin Schrock in the pole vault (NH);
Menno junior Owen Eitemiller in the 110 hurdles (9th);
Menno sophomore Kaelie Derby in the 100 hurdles (9th);
Menno senior Bridget Vaith in the 100 hurdles (18th) and 300 hurdles (18th).
