Spartan Track and Field season finally gets underway even with soggy conditions

BY COACH BECKY BELL-KRUEGER

The Spartan track and field team traveled to Redfield on Thursday, April 16 to participate in the Hitchcock/Tulare Invitational track meet. The day was less than perfect conditions and we sat through half-hour rain delay, but the meet did go on. “This was our first track meet of the season due to the all the recent precipitation. Actually it was our fourth time on the track so I thought the kids performed well due to the circumstances thus far,” said head coach Becky Bell-Krueger.

“We have asked some 7th and 8th graders to step up and run on the varsity level due to lack of high school numbers. With them we are able to put together some relays and fill some individual events. Even though we are short on numbers I still expect to participate competitively at each meet,” adds Krueger.

The Spartan track team traveled to Mitchell on Saturday, April 18 to participate in the Corn Palace Relays. It was a cool day with steady rain. This meet was comprised of AA, A, and B schools. In some events we were participating in class B and other events were all classes combined. There was very good competition and we stepped up and performed very well. The high light of the day was having junior, Mitch Kraft qualify for the state meet in the two-mile run. The two mile was an open event and Mitch received the 2nd place medal in the two-mile run behind a runner for Sioux Falls Roosevelt. Mitch along with Mahmoud Monsour, Drew Kraft, and Cordell Muilenburg also medaled 2nd in the two mile relay. Cordell, Drew, Mitch, along with Filip Berglund ran in the medley relay and medaled in the 6th place spot with a time of 3:54.18. That time is just a second off of the qualifying mark. Sophomore, Kole Kopfmann threw the discus 129’0 and made it to finals. That throw earned him a 2nd place medal in the class B discus. Sophomore, Cordell Muilenburg won the class B mile run. Cordell’s time was 5:00.41.

The boys 4×200 meter relay of Trevor Kenobbie, Alex Muilenburg, Mahmoud Monsour, and Kole Kopfmann ran a time of 1:53.95 and finished 10th overall. The boys 4×100 meter relay of Kenobbie, A. Muilenburg, Kopfmann, and Won Sang Cho ran a time of 51.98 and also finished 10th overall. In the two-mile run were Drew Kraft who ran 11:11.85 and finished 7th and seventh grader, Jase Kraft ran a time of 11:56.30 to finish 10th. Mahmoud Monsour ran the open 400m dash in a time of 1:01.91 to finish 25th overall. Filip Berglund ran the 100m dash in a time of 12.32 to finish 13th overall and in the 200m dash he ran a 26.64 to finish 17th. Won Sang Cho ran the 100m dash with a time of 12.99 to finish 25th and in the 200m dash his time was 27.19 to finish 20th. Cordell Muilenburg finished the 200m dash with a time of 25.87 to finished 10th.

On the girls side we were short some numbers due to prior commitments, but still did well. Senior, Chelsea Hettinger threw a personal best in the discus. Her throw of 90’4 earned her the 4th place medal in the class B discus. Freshman, Mindy Kraft ran two good races. Mindy won the class B mile run with a time of 5:39. With that time, Mindy is just a second away from qualifying this race for the state track meet. In the open class of the two-mile run, Mindy ran a 12:34 for a 4th place medal.

Chelsea Hettinger also threw the shot put. Her throw of 26-06.50 placed her in 14th overall. The girls, Kasey Younie, Taylor Sinkie, Shelby Sandmann, and Lindsey Mettler ran the medley relay in a time of 5:27.13 to finish 9th overall. Those same four girls ran the 4x200m relay in a time of 2:09.94 to finish 10th. Lindsey Mettler ran in the open 400m dash with a time of 1:09.77 to finish 13th.

We are looking to some warmer weather as we look to the next couple of weeks. The Spartan Junior High meet will be held Monday, April 20 here in Wessington Springs. The varsity team travels to Corsica on Tuesday and travels to Miller on Thursday.

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