For the Freeman Academy/Marion boys track team, the 2022 State Track Meet started and ended just about as well as could be imagined.

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.

Student-athletes from Freeman Academy/Marion, Freeman Public and Menno all earned medals on the first day of the three-day, all-class 2022 State Track Meet at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls Thursday afternoon, May 26.

Five golfers from Freeman Public and two from Freeman Academy/Marion qualified for the 2022 State B Golf Tournament at the Region 3B meet at Hartford Monday, May 23. Those advancing from Freeman Public are: seniors Paige Auch and Lily Wipf, junior Zac Sayler, eighth grader Thor Aanenson and seventh grader Tannen Auch. Those advancing from Freeman Academy/Marion are Jada Buse and Sieta Wiersema, both freshmen at FA. State will be held Monday and Tuesday, June 6 and 7 in the Black Hills. The girls will compete at Hart Ranch and the boys will play at the Elks Country Club.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Rylee Peters was eight years old when Raygen Diede qualified for her first State Track Meet — the discus competition of 2018. In the years since, both have grown up a bunch. Diede, who just finished her senior year at Menno, has been among Class B’s top throwers in both the discus and the shot put while Peters, who will be an eighth grader at Freeman Public in fall, has quickly emerged as a star on the rise in the hurdles.

The Freeman Academy/Marion boys finished second and the Menno girls third at a warm and windy Region 5B Track Meet at Gayville Thursday, May 19. The Bearcats were the runners-up with 118 points, well behind Viborg-Hurley’s 155.

Menno finished in the top half of the team standings in both the boys and girls divisions of its very own Erv Ptak Relays — one of two home track and field meets being hosted this season by the Wolves. The girls finished third among nine teams and the boys were fifth among 10 at the April 28 meet.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER What was finally an ideal day for a track meet meant an extra bounce in the collective steps of more than 700 student-athletes from 18 schools taking part in the Flyer Invitational hosted by Freeman Public Thursday afternoon and evening, April 21.

Freeman Public hosted 18 schools and more than 700 student-athletes at the Flyer Invitational Thursday afternoon and evening, April 21. Colman-Egan won the girls division while Chester Area won for the boys. Here's a link to the full results.

Competing in their first meet of this weather-delayed season, the Freeman High School girls came away with a team victory at the Jack Rasmussen Relays in Salem on Tuesday, April 12, edging Garretson 105 to 98 in the final standings. The Flyers had an individual champion in freshman Emily Mendel competing in the triple jump and the girls 400 and 3200 relays both ran to victory.