Pats, Riders score wins

The Roosevelt girls and Lincoln boys had their eyes on the moment Thursday.

Both teams captured team victories at the annual City Track Meet on Thursday at Howard Wood Field, showing off impressive depth across a wide array of events.

However, it's safe to say that the teams' dreams are already focusing on Rapid City Stevens.

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Lincoln has unmatched depth with well over 100 boys and girls out for the team. The Patriot boys scored 110 points to beat runner-up Roosevelt by 19.

A year ago, Lincoln's boys took third at state, and the team lost very few of its top competitors.

Sean Stokke led the Patriots with four first-place finishes. He won the 100- and 200-meter dashes on his own and anchored the 400 and 800 relays to victory. The 400 relay was the most impressive of the wins as a bad handoff cost him some ground he had to make up.

"In practice, I don't usually have guys in front of me like that," Stokke said of the 400 relay. "It was different to have to catch up."

As for competing with Stevens for a state title, Stokke is all for it.

"We want to be the best in the state," Stokke, who won the 100 in 10.9 and the 200 in 22.53, said. " I think we can match up with (Stevens)."

Beyond Stokke, teammate Austin Vandeberg won the 800 and 1,600. The Patriots also got wins in the 400 (Brent Olawsky), 3,200 (Matt Braithwaite), 300 hurdles (Derek Washington) and the 1,600, 1,600 medley and 3,200 relays. For those keeping score, the Patriots won every running event except the 110 hurdles (Roosevelt's Alex Anderson in a strong clocking of 14.96).

Brett Andersen also won the high jump (5-9) for Lincoln.

O'Gorman took third for the boys with 54 while Washington was fourth at 28.

Roosevelt's girls almost won the state crown last season, finishing just 131/4 points behind Stevens after beating the Raiders for the Greater Dakota Conference title.

Thursday, the Riders scored 105 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Lincoln at 76.5. The Riders could have scored even more points as many competitors didn't do all their usual events.

Riders runners like Krista Eckert, who won the 1,600 by over 100 meters in 5:05.96 and Megan Bren, the 100 winner in 12.46, put together their usual impressive performances. However, it was the field event performances that should give Roosevelt the most hope.

Roosevelt's Maggie Atkins won the long jump in 16-10 and teammate Katherine Hanson took the high jump in a personal best 5-2.

"Field events were what we needed to work on last year," Hanson said. "Our track runners are just as strong as they were last year, so it is us in the field that need to do well."

Such performances place Atkins and Hanson among the early leaders in the state. Hanson, for one, accepts the pressure that comes with such performances.

"I really don't feel that much pressure," Hanson said. "The whole team is strong. If I have a bad day, it's not the end of things. Of course, if I have a good day, it helps a lot."

Other Roosevelt wins came from Victoria Johnson in the 200, Shannon Devine in the shot put and the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays.

O'Gorman was third in the girls and Washington fourth.

Among the more impressive performances Thursday was Roosevelt's Tyler Lynch in the discus. His winning toss of 162-8 was over three feet farther than the winning throw at the Class AA state meet a year ago.

He credited the good wind blowing straight at him as helping his performance.

That's correct. Discus throwers love a stiff breeze blowing right at them while competing. It helps give the discus better lift - no matter that it seems to make little sense.

"It was fun," Lynch said, talking about why he likes to compete. "You can show everyone else what you are capable of."

Roosevelt's boys dominated the weights, finishing first through fourth in the shot put and first, fourth and fifth in the discus.

The Riders' Antonio Thompson won the shot put with a mark of 49-21/2.

Those weight points were able to keep Roosevelt close to Lincoln in the team standings. So if Lincoln has big team goals, Roosevelt probably has a few also.

Other impressive victories Thursday included Washington's Kyle Blake (42-81/4 in the triple jump), O'Gorman's Tyler Schulte (21-6 in the long jump), Washington's 40.46 in the boys 300 hurdles, O'Gorman's Mary Margaret Nelson (2:20.7 in the 800) and Johnson's 26.25 in the girls 200.