Lennox 4x200 relay rewrites record books at Howard Wood: Relay success, individual titles and top-eight finishes cap big weekend

The Lennox High School track and field team delivered a standout performance against some of the area’s top competition at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays, held May 1–2 in Sioux Falls.

Competing in one of the largest meets in the Upper Midwest, which featured more than 3,000 middle and high school athletes, the Orioles were led by a historic performance in the girls’ 4x200-meter relay.

The team of Tori Gerdes, Jayla DeCou, Holly Gillick and Bergan Musser captured first place while setting a new meet record with a time of 1:42.06. The mark also surpassed their previously set school record and now stands as the top time in South Dakota this season. Lennox head coach Jared Vlastuin said the performance was both expected and remarkable.

“The girls 4x200 went how I thought it would,” Vlastuin said. “When we ran that group earlier in the year and broke the school record, those girls would agree that we left a lot on the table in terms of time. So I fully expected that we would be able to not only win that race against some of the best competition in the state, but that we would be able to crack the Top Ten All Time.”

Vlastuin noted the significance of the accomplishment for a Class A program.

“It is definitely something that at times it’s easy to take for granted — the group of girls we have right now,” he said. “It just seems like every meet one or multiple of them is doing something that Lennox track and field has never done. When you look at those girls 4x200 Top Ten All Time records, we are now the only Class A school that is listed. It just shows how rare it is to have a group of girls this fast at the same time. It makes my job pretty easy. But all the credit definitely goes to Tori, Jayla, Holly and Bergan — they stepped up in a high-pressure situation and made that happen for themselves. It was a truly special race by them.”

The Orioles had multiple first-place finishes on the weekend. The boys’ 4x200-meter relay team of Jaxson Bittner, Teegan Musser, Charley Bittner and Drake Mikkelsen also claimed gold with a time of 1:31.01 — a season best and the top Class A time in the state this year.

Individually, Bergan Musser added another championship performance by winning the girls’ long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 8.25 inches.

Lennox also turned in several additional top-eight performances.

The girls’ 4x400 relay team of DeCou, Musser, Adie McVey and Gerdes placed second in 3:59.75, just behind Sioux Falls Christian, which set a meet record at 3:58.87. Lennox’s time marked a season best.

The boys’ 4x800 relay team of Cloy McVey, Isaak Booker, Andrew Hanssen and Luke Strasser also earned a second-place finish, clocking 8:19.21 — another season best.

The girls’ 4x800 relay team of Sophia Johnson, Kenzie Bosma, Karlie Bosma and McVey took third in 9:46.50. The mark was also a season best and ranks second in Class A this season.

The boys’ sprint medley relay team of Jaxson Bittner, Mikkelsen, Musser and Cloy McVey earned third place with a season-best time of 3:33.52, while the girls’ sprint medley relay team of Gerdes, DeCou, Musser and McVey also placed third in 4:14.70, another season best.

In field events, Tate Gerdes led the way for the boys with a third-place finish in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 4 inches, while teammate Teegan Musser placed fourth at the same height. Addison Martz secured a sixth-place finish in the girls’ shot put at 38 feet, 8.75 inches.

On the track, Tori Gerdes added a fifth-place finish in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, clocking a personal-best 15.21 seconds.

The boys’ 4x100 relay team of Charley Bittner, Jaxson Bittner, Tate Gerdes and Teegan Musser placed fourth in 44.08, and Drake Mikkelsen added an eighth-place finish in the boys’ 400 meters in 50.79.

Vlastuin said the meet showcased the team’s competitiveness across the board.

“I thought as an overall team, both boys and girls, we competed very well,” he said. “Friday felt a little bit surreal, because you rarely have a day where it seems like everyone is competing at the top of their game. We probably were not quite there, but everyone who hit the track or competed on the field did so at a very high level.”

He added that the performances should build confidence heading into the postseason.

“That is all we want as a coaching staff — we want our athletes to step on the track and go compete,” Vlastuin said. “We definitely did that this weekend. It was very fun to see, and it should make our athletes, our coaches and the Lennox community extremely excited as we move forward to the state track and field meet.”