Posted on Sun, Apr. 01, 2007

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High School Track & Field: Watertown girls, Pierre boys win Al Sahli Invitational titles

By Deb Smith

American News Sports Writer

The Watertown girls' team and the Pierre boys' squad used different routes to capture first place in the team points at the Al Sahli Invitational indoor track and field meet on Saturday at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen.

The Arrows depended on their depth and the Governors showed their quality by finishing first in seven events.

Watertown won the girls' portion of the meet with 106 points, followed closely by Huron with 104. Aberdeen Central was third with 78 points.

Despite graduating a lot of quality athletes from their state champion team last season, the Governors won the boys' part of the meet with 155 points. Watertown was second with 118 and Aberdeen Central was fifth with 54.

Watertown was led by junior Leslie Brost, who won the triple jump, tied a meet record on the way to winning the pole vault, and added a third-place finish in the 55-meter dash. She was selected the outstanding female athlete of the meet on a day that had a couple of firsts for her.

"I started out with the vault and that went pretty good," Brost said. "It was the first time I've tripled this year so it went pretty good. I've never really run a 55 before. We just kind of threw a 4-by-4 (1,600-meter relay team) together because we had someone sick and two people not here. We just had fun."

The Central girls started the meet out on the right foot with a relay win in the 3,200-meter race.

"We set the tone really well with the 4-by-8," said Central girls' coach Jim Appl. "We were led by our senior (Emily Geffre). She got passed but she hung on the girls' heels and wore her out. That girl started to fade and we got by her. We got the baton and just took off. We didn't let anyone catch us. That was an impressive way to start the day. I'm not taking times right now. I'm not worried about that. I want to see the kids compete."

The Golden Eagles added another relay win in the 960-meter race and picked up individual wins by Brittany Arment in the 1,500-meter run (5 minutes 22.33 seconds) and Leah Wensmann in the 400-meter dash (1:04.63).

"I really enjoy the 400," Wensmann said. "You go out there and try really hard and you can always do better. I need to work more on middle distances in practice and that will make the 400 seem easier. I'll keep working on technique and keeping my head steady."

A sophomore, Wensmann also won the 400-meter dash indoors in a meet the week before.

"Leah won for the second week in a row," said Appl. "Last week she led wire-to-wire but this week she was third or fourth at the cut and it stayed that way until the last 10 or 15 meters. She went from third to first."

The winning Pierre boys' team was paced by sophomore Jarrett Klinger who set meet records in the 55- and 200-meter dashes. Klinger, who was named the outstanding male athlete of the meet, also ran on a winning relay. It was his first action of the season.

"Coming off our state championship last year, I was ready to run," he said. "I wasn't sure about the meet because the first meet you usually just get the bugs out of your events. I came out and ran well. I ran the 200 and I had already got the meet record in the 55 so Coach (Geoffrey Gross) said to go for it and I went out and worked hard. It was just my day."

The Central boys' team had one first-place finish and that was by senior Cole Lemke in the 1,500-meter run. He set a meet record with a time of 4:12.33. At an earlier indoor meet, Lemke won the 3,000-meter run.

"At the bigger meets like conference and state, I'll be running both of them," he said. "At the smaller meets I'll just do one. I'm more of a distance guy so I kind of like the two-mile (3,200-meter) a little bit more."

The win on Saturday wasn't an easy one.

"It was kind of painful," Lemke said. "With four laps to go I was starting to hurt pretty bad. I was happy with the time. We haven't worked on a whole lot of speed work. I just need to get a little more speed in there and it'll be good."

The Central boys' team is still without the services of some of the basketball players who finished second at the State AA meet. Central boys' coach Mike Flakus wants to work those athletes onto the team as the season progresses.

"We have a couple of basketball athletes to add to the team yet," Flakus said. "I think this is going to be a really fun group of kids to coach. I've discovered that through these two indoor meets. The next meet (on Thursday) we'll use to see where we're at. That Huron meet will be good. The kids are still working hard but I still don't know where our track team is at."

The Golden Eagles will head outdoors on Thursday at the Huron Early Bird Invitational. That meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

GIRLS' DIVISION

Team Points: Watertown 106, Huron 104, Aberdeen Central 78, Brookings 57, Pierre 54, Mitchell 45.

55-Meter Hurdles: 1, Alexa Berg, Pierre, :08.95; 2, Brigette Gross, Huron, :09.01; 3, Mollie Holden, Pierre, :09.13; 4, Kara Alm, Aberdeen Central, :09.47; 5, Tricia Watson, Watertown, :09.84; 6, Macie Veflin, Watertown, :10.83.

55-Meter Dash: 1, Brittany Page, Watertown, :07.16 (meet record); 2, Bethany Gross, Huron, :07.37; 3, Leslie Brost, Watertown, :07.53; 4, Luvie Williams, Huron, :07.58; 5, Kayla Weisbeck, Aberdeen Central, :07.69; 6, Sami Juhnke, Brookings, :07.70.

200-Meter Dash: 1, Bethany Gross, Huron, :26.97; 2, Ashley Odegaard, Brookings, :27.77; 3, Kayla Weisbeck, Aberdeen Central, :28.05; 4, Yvonne Dashiell, Brookings, :28.07; 5, Raven Cummings, Pierre, :28.08; 6, Laura Ackerwold, Brookings, :28.63.

400-Meter Dash: 1, Leah Wensmann, Aberdeen Central, 1:04.63; 2, Mandy Robish, Huron, 1:04.83; 3, Haley Williams, 1:05.21; 4, Katie Whaley, Brookings, 1:05.22; 5, Amelia Ladd, 1:06.17; 6, Amy Diedrich, Brookings, 1:06.35.

800-Meter Run: 1, Amy Reuter, Brookings, 2:19.53 (meet record); 2, Jen DeHueck, Pierre, 2:27.59; 3, TyAnn Buddenhagen, Huron, 2:35.93; 4, Abbie Mitchell, Pierre, 2:39.01; 5, Emma Struwe, Watertown, 2:46.90; 6, Andrea Neugebauer, Mitchell, 2:48.25.

1,500-Meter Run: 1, Brittany Arment, Aberdeen Central, 5:22.33; 2, Andrea Neugebauer, 5:31.40; 3, Jessica Thyen, Watertown, 5:44.36; 4, Heather Steen, Watertown, 5:47.86; 5, Amber Turner, Mitchell, 6:33.85; 6, Donna Schneider, Mitchell, 6:41.66.

3,000-Meter Run: 1, Kelsey Robish, Huron, 12:33.45; 2, Jessica Thyen, Watertown, 12:53.45; 3, Heather Steen, Watertown, 13:37.95; 4, Donna Schneider, Mitchell, 15:03.53; 5, Emily Peart, Mitchell, 16:17.24.

960-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central (Kayla Weisbeck, Lexi Jares, KaSara Sutton, Christina Kusler), 2:20.68; 2, Huron, 2:22.95; 3, Pierre, 2:27.03; 4, Watertown, 2:28.74; 5, Aberdeen Central, 2:31.18; 6, Mitchell, 2:33.99; 7, Aberdeen Central, 2:36.26.

1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Huron (Tiffany Lawrence, Mandi Robish, Brigitte Gross, Bethany Gross), 4:15.33; 2, Mitchell, 4:26.02; 3, Pierre, 4:28.02; 4, Watertown, 4:28.31; 5, Aberdeen Central, 4:30.00; 6, Aberdeen Central, 4:38.96.

3,200-Meter Relay: 1, Aberdeen Central (Emily Geffre, Brittany Arment, Courtney Neubert, Taylor Maine), 10:51.45; 2, Huron, 11:05.73.

High Jump: 1, Jen Miner, Huron, 5-10; 2, Lexi Jares, Aberdeen Central, 4-10; 3, Dani Pauley, Aberdeen Central, 4-10; 4, Trisha Birr, Huron, 4-10; 5, Abby Winkels, Watertown, 4-8; 6, Whitney Morsching, Aberdeen Central, 4-8.

Long Jump: 1, Raven Cummings, Pierre, 16-11; 2, Bethany Gross, Huron, 16-11; 3, Ashley Odegaard, Brookings, 15-10; 4, Abby Sanderson, Brookings, 15-9; 5, Alexa Berg, Pierre, 15-8; 6, Marcelina Glab, Watertown, 14-9.

Triple Jump: 1, Leslie Brost, Watertown, 33-7; 2, Abby Sanderson, Brookings, 33-6; 3, Marcelina Glab, Watertown, 27-7.

Shot Put: 1, Shara Thompson, Brookings, 38-10; 2, Jessica Tetzlaff, Watertown, 37-10; 3, Shauna Iberg, Mitchell, 35-3; 4, Caitlyn Way, Mitchell, 33-9; 5, Tresa Moeller, Watertown, 32-1; 6, Kristen Stephen, Huron, 31-11.

Pole Vault: 1, Leslie Brost, Watertown, 12-6 (tied meet record); 2, Kaylyn Ronke, Watertown, 10-6; 3, Ali Arampatzis, Aberdeen Central, 10-0; 4, Amy Marquardt, Watertown, 10-0; 5, Peggy Ronke, Watertown, 9-0; 6, Mandy Hebbert, Huron, 9-0.

Outstanding Female Athlete: Leslie Brost, Watertown.

BOYS' DIVISION

Team Points: Pierre 155, Watertown 118, Mitchell 58, Huron 56, Aberdeen Central 54, Brookings 25.

55-Meter Hurdles: 1, Matt Tetzlaff, Pierre, :07.66 (meet record); 2, C. Olson, Mitchell, :07.96; 3, Keith Newman, Watertown, :08.30; 4, Quinn Holden, Pierre, :08.49; 5, S. Brotherton, Pierre, :09.09; 6, Alex Kjellsen, Watertown, :09.22.

55-Meter Dash: 1, Jarrett Klinger, Pierre, :06.46; 2, Ethan Johnson, Watertown, :06.77; 3, Matt Tetzlaff, Pierre, :06.77; 4, Andy Erickson, Watertown, :06.78; 4, Cameron Rogers, Pierre, :06.78; 6, T. Hill, Mitchell, :06.81.

200-Meter Dash: 1, Jarrett Klinger, Pierre, :23.42; 2, Andy Erickson, Watertown, :24.73; 3, T. Hill, Mitchell, :24.82; 4, C. Hearnen, Mitchell, :24.86; 5, C. Greenway, Mitchell, :25.00; 6, Mason Sveenes, Brookings, :25.07.

400-Meter Dash: 1, B. Zimmerman, Mitchell, :53.98; 2, C. Christopherson, Mitchell, :55.19; 3, Josh Bartel, Huron, :55.29; 4, T. Hill, Mitchell, :56.59; 5, Tyler Heller, Watertown, :56.59; 6, C. Olson, Mitchell, :57.20.

800-Meter Run: 1, Travis Fitzke, Pierre, 2:03.56; 2, Cole Lemke, Aberdeen Central, 2:06.85; 3, Jordan Punt, Aberdeen Central, 2:10.15; 4, Paulson, Pierre, 2:11.10; 5, Jordan VanMaanen, Watertown, 2:16.47; 6, Philip Parker, Brookings, 2:17.05.

1,500-Meter Run: 1, Cole Lemke, Aberdeen Central, 4:12.33 (meet record); 2, Alec Espeland, Pierre, 4:30.89; 3, D. Paulsen, Pierre, 4:33.29; 4, I. Harrington, Mitchell, 4:48.48; 5, K. Monroe, Pierre, 4:48.96; 6, Kenny Meyer, Watertown, 4:57.82.

3,000-Meter Run: 1, Shaun Henderson, Huron, 9:41.63; 2, Josh Wilson, Aberdeen Central, 9:45.58; 3, Matt Bump, Pierre, 9:56.41; 4, Marquel Crawford, Aberdeen Central, 10:12.09; 5, K. Monroe, Pierre, 10:19.21; 6, Andrew Juba, Watertown, 10:57.12.

960-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Jarrett Klinger, Cameron Rogers, Lucas Solberg, Devin Rounds), 2:00.58; 2, Huron, 2:04.58; 3, Watertown, 2:04.03; 4, Pierre, 2:05.27; 5, Aberdeen Central, 2:06.78; 6, Aberdeen Central, 2:07.29.

1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Matt Tetzlaff, Cameron Rogers, Travis Fitzke, Parsons), 3:38.57; 2, Watertown, 3:42.90; 3, Huron, 3:48.87; 4, Pierre, 4:02.85; 5, Aberdeen Central, 4:07.44.

3,200-Meter Relay: 1, Pierre (Matt Bump, Alec Espeland, Brice Drapeaux, Travis Fitzke), 8:35.64 (meet record); 2, Aberdeen Central, 8:56.89; 3, Huron, 8:57.03; 4, Watertown, 8:57.03; 5, Pierre, 9:01.77; 6, Watertown, 9:16.01.

High Jump: 1, Jeff Sebern, Brookings, 6-2; 2, Adam Renner, Watertown, 6-0; 3, Logan Korkow, Huron, 5-10; 4, Brad Monahan, Watertown, 5-10; 5, Andrew Smith, Pierre, 5-8; 6, Wade Schoenfelder, Huron, 5-8.

Long Jump: 1, B. Zimmerman, Mitchell, 20-8; 2, Ethan Johnson, Watertown, 20-; 3, G. Schuetzle, Pierre, 19-1; 4, Evan Nolte, Aberdeen Central, 18-10; 5, Scott Jorgenson, Brookings, 18-9; 6, Ahijah Potts, Watertown, 18-7.

Triple Jump: 1, Brad Monahan, Watertown, 43-7; 2, Jeff Sebern, Brookings, 36-5; 3, Devin Rounds, Pierre, 38-7; 4, Aaron Trimble, Pierre, 37-11; 5, Scott Jorgenson, Brookings, 37-9; 6, Sam Johnson, Watertown, 37-4.

Shot Put: 1, Aaron Jung, Watertown, 52-5; 2, Brandt Payne, Pierre, 48-3; 3, Max Fuller, Watertown, 42; 4, Wade Schoenfelder, Huron, 41-1; 5, Chad Johnson, Pierre, 41-1; 6, Baker Haar, Aberdeen Central, 40-6.

Pole Vault: 1, Jesse Morrow, Watertown, 13-0; 2, Jason Stickler, Huron, 13-0; 3, Scott Keszler, Watertown, 12-0; 4, Drew Danforth, Watertown, 12-0; 5, T. Owens, Pierre, 11-6; 6, E. Fuller, Pierre, 11-0.

Outstanding Male Athlete: Jarrett Klinger, Pierre.