NEW UPDATE FROM STATE TRACK: MCCONNIEL 3RD IN 3200

Freeman Academy/Marion got in on the medal count Friday morning as Finley McConniel secured a third-place finish in the 3200 on the second day of the SDHSAA. The defending Class B cross-country champion couldn’t quite maintain the pace set by Mitchell Christian’s Silas Holdeman, who won in 9:42.63, and finished just behind North Central’s Gabe Johnson, who clocked a 9:48.96. McConniel, a graduate from Marion, finished in 9:50.72 — a PR by nearly nine seconds.

Freeman Public freshman Lane McCune also set a PR in the 3200, bettering his incoming best of 10:23.55 with a 10:20.45. He finished 13th in the field.

Also Friday morning, the Freeman Academy/Marion and Freeman Public boys both qualified the 4×200 relay for Saturday’s final, as did the Freeman High School girls.

The Bearcats team of Dominic Sperling, Domani Butler, Karter Weber and Keaton Preheim finished fourth in the preliminary race in a time of 1:33.21, a couple of ticks better than their incoming best of 1:33.31.

Freeman Public’s relays also set new PRs in the preliminary round, with the boys team made up of Luke Miller, Tate Sorensen, Luke Peters and Christopher Aasenon finishing seventh in 1:33.88 — better than their previous mark of 1:33.98.

The Flyer girls, who went into the race seeded ninth, picked up a spot to get to the finals with the team of Cadence Hofer, Makenzie Scharberg, Rylee Peters and Vaida Ammann finishing eighth in the prelim. Their time of 1:49.72 was better than their incoming best of 1:51.14.

Freeman sophomore Rylee Peters guaranteed herself yet another medal in the hurdles by qualifying for the finals in the 300 hurdles. Peters finished fifth in the preliminary round with a 47.12 clocking; her best coming in was 47.16.

Freeman Academy/Marion’s Domani Butler advanced to the final in the 300 hurdles thanks to a seventh-place finish in the preliminary round. The Marion sophomore finished in 42.33, which bested his previous best of 43.00.

And Scotland/Menno was represented at the top of the podium thanks a somewhat surprising win by Scotland graduate Trinity Bietz in the discuss. The two-time defending Class B champion in the shot put set a PR in the finals with a throw of 134-08 to take the top prize. Her incoming best was 129-0. Bietz will defend her shot put title Friday afternoon.

THURSDAY RECAP

The first day of the 2025 SDHSAA State Track and Field Championships is in the books, and it was good one for athletes from Freeman High School.

The Flyers’ freshmen foursome of Luke Miller, Lane McCune, Brody Sorensen and Brayden Mangel clocked a personal best by five seconds en route to a runner-up finish in the 4×800 relay, falling only to the sensational quartet from Philip.

The “Fab Four,” which entered the race fourth in the field, finished in 8:32.80, while the Scotties — who defeated 4×800 relay teams from Class A at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays during the regular season — won with a time of 8:22.13.

Luke Miller, Lane McCune, Brody Sorensen and Brayden Mangel. PHOTO BY JEREMY WALTNER

Freeman Academy/Marion also earned hardware in the 4×800 as Elshadai Mesfin, Justin Escobar, Domani Butler and Finley McConniel slipped into the medal count with an eighth-place finish, crossing the line in 8:38.70 in what was a fast race. While the Bearcats’ time on Thursday was a PR, they went into the state meet with the fifth-best time in the field.

Other local successes on Thursday included the following:

• Freeman sophomore Rylee Peters — who has already earned six state medals in the hurdles dating back to her seventh-grade season — finished with the second-best clocking in the 100 hurdles preliminary round Thursday morning to qualify for Saturday’s final. Peters finished with a 15.59, second only to Bennett County eighth-grade phenom Peyson O’Neill. Peters went into the state meet with the third-best time in the field and will also compete in the 300 hurdles prelim on Friday.
• The Freeman boys 4×100 relay team of Luke Peters, David Walter, Tate Sorensen and Christopher Aason also qualified for Saturday’s final after trimming their incoming best from 45.6 to 44.9. The Flyers went into the race 12th in the field and take the seventh-best time into Saturday’s final.
• Thanks to a PR in what would have otherwise been her third and final jump of the day, Freeman sophomore Makenzie Scharberg uncorked a 16-6 1/4 to advance to the finals and ultimately bag a sixth-place finish. Scharberg went into the competition 11th in the field with an incoming best of 16-5 3/4.
• Scotland/Menno’s Kylie Guthmiller placed sixth in the javelin with a heave of 113-09. The Menno sophomore went into the competition third in the field with a season best of 121-03.
• Freeman Academy/Marion’s Keaton Preheim advanced to Saturday’s final in the 100 with a 11.39 in the prelim, just short of his incoming best 11.12. Preheim entered the state competition sixth and goes into Saturday’s final fifth.
• The Freeman Academy/Marion boys sprint medley relay team of Dominic Sperling, Keaton Preheim, Karter Weber and Finley McConniel advance to Saturday’s final with a 3:41.45 clocking. It was a PR by more than three seconds for a Bearcats foursome who went into the competition sixth in the field.
• The Freeman High School girls 4×100 relay team of Makenzie Scharberg, Reeslyn Hofer, Cadence Hofer and Vaida Ammann, which just missed the finals after placing ninth in the prelim with a time of 52.15. That’s a PR; their incoming best was 52.63.

Other local athletes competing on Thursday included the following.

From Freeman High School

• Vaida Ammann in the 100: 16th, 13.38 (incoming best 13.19, 18th)
• Luke Peters in the long jump: 15th, 19-3 1/4 (incoming best 20-2 1/4, 11th)
• The girls 4×800 relay team of Libby Ammann Alexa Nanninga, Olivia Schultz, Rylea Timmerman: 22nd, 10:54.77 (incoming best: 10:54.25)

From Freeman Academy/Marion

• Hunter Nankivel in the discus: 16th, 121-10 (incoming best 137-4, 16th)

From Scotland/Menno (Class A)

• Trinty Bietz in the javelin: 10th, 107-01 (incoming best 119-5, 5th)
• Hunter Yosten in the shot put: 13th, 44-5 1/2 (incoming best 48-9, 6th)
• The girls 4×800 relay team of Zoe Schaeffer, Nora Robb, Elle Hlavac, Ellyana Ulmer: 19th, 10:36.16 (incoming best 10:28.90, 20th)
• The boys 4×800 relay team of Mirik Vaith, CJ Bjorum, Daniel Schaeffer, Adam Munkvold: 23rd, 9:38.54 (incoming best 8:49.62, 22nd)
• Sophomore Micah Goehring was scheduled to compete in the pole vault but could not because of a hip injury

Schedule for Friday, May 30

• 9:00 a.m. – Kylie Guthmiller, Discus: Flight 1, No. 8
• 9:00 a.m. – Trinity Bietz, Discus: Flight 3, No. 5
• 9:30 a.m. – Zoe Schaeffer, 3200 Final: Lane 1B
• 9:30 a.m. – Elle Hlavac, 3200 Final: Lane 8B
• 10:20 a.m. – Finley McConniel, 3200 Final: Lane 6A
• 10:20 a.m. – Lane McCune, 3200 Final: Lane 8A
• 11:00 a.m. – Girls 4×200 Relay Prelim: FHS Heat 3, Lane 3
• 11:30 a.m. – Emma McConniel, Javelin: Flight 1, No. 6
• 11:30 a.m. – David Walter, High Jump: No. 2
• 11:40 a.m. – Boys 4×200 Relay Prelim: FHS Heat 2, Lane 5; FAM Heat 3, Lane 5
• 12:50 p.m. – Tate Sorensen, 400 Prelim: Heat 3, Lane 6
• 1:20 p.m. – Rylee Peters, 300 Hurdles Prelim: Heat 2, Lane 5
• 1:45 p.m. – Domani Butler, 300 Hurdles Prelim: Heat 3, Lane 3
• 2:00 p.m. – Trinity Bietz, Shot Put: Flight 3, No. 8
• 2:35 p.m. – Braydan Mangel, 800 Final: Section 1, Lane 2A
• 2:35 p.m. – Brody Sorensen, 800 Final: Section 1, Lane 7A
• 2:35 p.m. – Elshadai Mesfin, 800 Final: Section 2, Lane 2B
• 2:35 p.m. – Izayah Ulmer, 800 Final: Section 2, Lane 6A
• 2:35 p.m. – Bryce Sattler, 800 Final: Section 1, Lane 5A
• 2:35 p.m. – Luke Miller, 800 Final: Section 2, Lane 7B
• 3:00 p.m. – Talon Pitchford, Pole Vault: No. 10
• 3:20 p.m. – Keaton Preheim, 200 Prelims: Heat 2, Lane 3
• 3:35 p.m. – Girls 4×400 Relay Prelim: FHS Heat 1, Lane 5
• 4:30 p.m. – Boys 4×400 Relay Prelim: FHS Heat 1, Lane 5; FAM Heat 3, Lane 2

For full results, go to dakotatiming.com