Orioles shine at Howard Wood Dakota Relays

On Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 several Lennox High School athletes competed in the 100th edition of the Howard Wood Dakota Relays. Several personal records were set. The weekend was highlighted by a first place finish, a new school record, and a performance in the special events. 

Continuing a tradition that began in 1978, the Dakota Relays annually assembles many of the Midwest’s top boys and girls to compete for the title of the region’s best in their respective disciplines. Since 2013, the high school special events have rotated between the 200 meters and 800 meters, and for this milestone year, the spotlight was on the male mid-distance runners in the 800 meters and the female sprinters in the 200 meters.

Among the females competing was Lennox’s Bergan Musser. Musser, an eighth grader, is currently ranked No. 2 in South Dakota in the 200m and No. 6 in the 100m. Last year she placed third in the 100m, 200m and long jump at the State A Meet. She holds six different school records. 

In the event at Howard Wood, Musser took seventh place with a personal best time of 25.04, ranking her No. 2 in Class A. 

Earning first place at Howard Wood, was the boys’ 4x800 meter relay team of Cade Sherard, Noah Sayler, Chett Jibben, and Cloy McVey. They ran a season’s best time of 8:12.35 to win the event and move to No. 2 In Class A. 

The boys’ 4x200 meter relay team of Teegan Musser, Jaxson Bittner, Boston Katzer, and Drake Mikkelsen broke the school record in the event, with a season’s best time of 1:31.70, ranking them No. 3 in Class A and placing them fourth at Howard Wood. 

Other highlights from the weekend, included a second place finish by the boys’ 1600m Sprint Medley Relay team of Bittner, Katzer, Sayler, and Sherard. The team finished with a time of 3:38.70, moving them to #3 all time in the LHS record books. 

The girls’ 4x400 meter relay team of Jayla DeCou, Tori Gerdes, Adie McVey and Karlie Bosma took second at the Dakota Relays with a season’s best time of 4:04.20. This moved them to No. 2 in Class A. 

The boys’ 4x400 meter relay team of Mikkelsen, Sayler, McVey and Sherard took third with a season best time of 3:27.23, placing them No. 2 in Class A. 

The girls’ 4x800 meter relay team of Bosma, McVey, Kelsey Schmidt, and Sophia Johnson took third with a time of 9:47.42 in the event. This time was a season’s best and places them No. 2 in Class A. 

Also making the podium at the Dakota Relays was Mikkelsen who took eighth in the 300 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 40.27. He is ranked No. 3 in Class A. 

Tate Gerdes took third in the high jump, clearing 6-04. This ranks him No. 2 in Class A. 

Addison Martz took sixth in the discus throw with a throw of 123-08. This was a season’s best for Martz who is ranked No. 6 in Class A in the event. 

Compete results from the Howard Wood Dakota Relays are as follows: 

Girls 100m (HS - All): Prelims: 11. Bergan Musser – 12.32q; 20. Jayla DeCou – 12.59q (PR); Semis:  9. Bergan Musser – 12.22; 21. Jayla DeCou – 12.56 (PR, SD A #6)

Girls 100m Hurdles (HS - All): Prelims: 18. Tori Gerdes – 15.79q (PR); Semis:  17. Tori Gerdes – 15.66 (PR, SD A #6)

Girls 200m: 7 Bergan Musser – 25.04 (PR, SD A #2)

Boys 300m Hurdles: 8 Drake Mikkelsen – 40.27 (PR, SD A #3)

Girls 300m Hurdles: 28 Tori Gerdes – 47.64

Boys 400m:  24 Drake Mikkelsen – 51.29

Girls 400m:  11 Bergan Musser – 59.23 (PR, SD A #2);  42 Karlie Bosma – 1:02.30

Boys 1600m:  23 Cloy McVey – 4:26.54 (PR, SD A #2)

Girls 1600m:  22 Adie McVey – 5:13.36 (PR, SD A #9)

Girls 3200m:  20 Adie McVey – 11:20.77 (PR, SD A #6);  27 Kelsey Schmidt – 11:37.59

Girls Discus Throw:  6 Addison Martz – 123-08 (37.69m) (SB, SD A #6)

Boys High Jump:  3 Tate Gerdes – 6-04.00 (1.93m) (SD A #2)

Boys Long Jump:  16 Jaxson Bittner – 20-07.00 (6.27m);  20 Teegan Musser – 20-04.25 (6.20m)

Boys Shot Put:  22 Jevyn Lefers – 47-01.50 (14.36m)

Girls Shot Put:  25 Addison Martz – 35-02.50 (10.73m)

Relay Events

Boys 1600m Sprint Medley (HS - A):  2 Lennox – 3:38.70, (J. Bittner, B. Katzer, N. Sayler, C. Sherard)

Boys 4x100m Relay (HS - A): 15 Lennox – 44.45 (SB, SD A #14), (T. Musser, J. Bittner, T. Gerdes, B. Katzer)

Boys 4x200m Relay (HS - A): 4 Lennox – 1:31.70 (SB, SD A #3), (T. Musser, J. Bittner, B. Katzer, D. Mikkelsen)

Girls 4x200m Relay (HS - A): 8 Lennox – 1:49.96, (T. Gerdes, J. DeCou, R. Hanssen, H. Gillick)

Boys 4x400m Relay (HS - A): 3 Lennox – 3:27.23 (SB, SD A #2), (D. Mikkelsen, N. Sayler, C. McVey, C. Sherard)

Girls 4x400m Relay (HS - A): 2 Lennox – 4:05.20 (SB, SD A #2), (J. DeCou, T. Gerdes, A. McVey, K. Bosma)

Mixed 4x400m Relay (Coed):  6 Lennox – 3:49.84, (C. Jibben, J. DeCou, C. Sherard, K. Bosma)

Boys 4x800m Relay (HS - A): 1 Lennox – 8:12.35 (SB, SD A #2), (C. Sherard, N. Sayler, C. Jibben, C. McVey)

Girls 4x800m Relay (HS - A: 3 Lennox – 9:47.42 (SB, SD A #2), (K. Bosma, A. McVey, K. Schmidt, S. Johnson)

Lennox Boys and Girls 

Claim Team Titles at Dakota Valley Invite

The Lennox High School track and field teams dominated the competition at the Dakota Valley Invite on April 29, with both the boys and girls squads capturing team titles in convincing fashion. The Orioles enjoyed strong showings across nearly every event, including multiple first-place finishes and personal records.

Eighth-grader Tori Gerdes led the charge for the Lennox girls with a double-win in the 100m hurdles (16.39) and 300m hurdles (47.45), continuing her strong season. 

Freshman Jayla DeCou also turned heads with two individual golds, capturing the 200m in 25.95 seconds and the 400m in 59.88 seconds, both personal records and top-six performances in Class A this season.

In the distance events for the girls, Kelsey Schmidt earned a third-place finish in the 1600m (5:16.21 PR) and runner-up honors in the 3200m (11:40.43). Teammates Adie McVey and Karlie Bosma joined DeCou atop the podium in the 400m, finishing second and third, respectively. McVey also placed second in the 800m (2:24.82), while Bosma claimed third (2:29.68). Seventh-grader Sophia Johnson followed in fourth with a personal-best 2:30.07.

In field events, Addison Martz took second in discus with a throw of 114-07 (Class A #8). She also claimed second in the shot put with a throw of 26-10.5 (Class A #5). In the high jump, Holly Gillick took second, clearing 4-09. Lilly Meyer took third in the javelin throw with a throw of 95-04. 

On the boys’ side, Cloy McVey dominated the 1600m in 4:27.74 take first place (PR, Class A #2), while Noah Sayler won the 800m (2:01.43 PR) and helped the 4x400m relay (Cade Sherard, Chet Jibben, Sayler, Isaac Booker) team to victory with a time 3:35.43. Jibben followed closely in the 800m, taking second with a PR of 2:02.42. In the boys’ 3200, Landon Strasser took third with a time of 10:38.18. 

In the sprints, Drake Mikkelsen won the 400m in a time of 50.50 (PR, Class A #3), and Layton Smith cleared a personal-best 6-03 to win the high jump. Teegan Musser took second 6-01 and Tate Gerdes third, 5-11. Gerdes won the triple jump, jumping 40-5 in the event. 

The boys also swept the shot put, led by sophomore Jevyn Lefers, who threw 47-11.50 (Class A #5) to edge out teammates Emory Lefers and Nate Haar for the top three spots. Lefers earned second with a throw of 47-2.0 and Haar third with a throw of 46-3.0. In the discus, Haar took second with a throw off 132-05. J. Lefers finished fourth (128-02). 

Wyatt Bult took second for the Orioles in the 110 meter hurdles with a new personal record time of 16.88. Joey Boysen took fifth (18.41). Bult also took third in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 44.38. 

In the long jump, Jaxson Bittner took second with a jump of 19-11. Musser took third, jumping 19-10.25. In the pole vault, Elijah Johnson finished third (9-09), Noah Wood fourth (9-03), and Kedren Fergen fifth (9-03). 

The boys’ 4x100m relay took second with a season-best 44.74. Team members included Gerdes, Bittner, Musser and Boston Katzer. The boys’ 4x800 meter relay team of Leo Aesop, Booker, Landon Strasser, and Max Bishop took second with a time of 9:00.52 in the event. 

Complete Lennox results by event are as follows:

Boys 100m Dash: 10 Boston Katzer – 11.74; 11 Ben Dejong – 12.01; 12 Noah Wood – 12.92; 13 Elijah Johnson – 13.57

Girls 100m Dash: 7 Holly Gillick – 13.87 (PR); 8 Ryan Hanssen – 14.23

Girls 100m Hurdles: 1 Tori Gerdes – 16.39; 2 Briana Slack – 19.13

Boys 110m Hurdles:  2 Wyatt Bult – 16.88 (PR);  3 Joey Boysen – 18.41;  4 Kedren Fergen – 19.77

Boys 200m Dash: 5 Jaxson Bittner – 23.48 (PR);  6 Drake Mikkelsen – 23.64 (PR); 7 Boston Katzer – 23.96; 8 Aiden Hanssen – 26.18

Girls 200m Dash: 1 Jayla DeCou – 25.95 (PR); 2 Holly Gillick – 29.04; 3 Josephine Plucker – 30.62

Boys 300m Hurdles: Wyatt Bult – 44.38 (PR); 4 Kedren Fergen – 48.96

Girls 300m Hurdles: 1 Tori Gerdes – 47.45; 2 Briana Slack – 58.59

Boys 400m Dash: 1 Drake Mikkelsen – 50.50 (PR); 2 Cade Sherard – 52.34 (PR); 3 Aiden Hanssen – 56.83; 4 Ben Dejong – 58.01 (PR)

Girls 400m Dash: 1 Jayla DeCou – 59.88 (PR); 2 Adie McVey – 1:01.88 (PR); 3 Karlie Bosma – 1:02.72; 4 Josephine Plucker – 1:07.27 (PR)

Boys 800m Run: 1 Noah Sayler – 2:01.43 (PR); 2 Chett Jibben – 2:02.42 (PR); 3 Cloy McVey – 2:08.33

Girls 800m Run: 2 Adie McVey – 2:24.82; 3 Karlie Bosma – 2:29.68; 4 Sophia Johnson – 2:30.07 (PR)

Boys 1600m Run: 1 Cloy McVey – 4:27.74 (PR); 2 Leo Aesoph – 5:06.63; 3 Jackson Schmidt – 5:13.56; 4 Andrew Stensaas – 5:30.88 (PR)

Girls 1600m Run:  3 Kelsey Schmidt – 5:16.21 (PR); 4 Allison Loewe – 5:56.82 (PR); 5 Kamille Schmidt – 6:04.92 (PR); 6 Lucy Carlson – 6:07.77 (PR)

Boys 3200m Run:  3 Landon Strasser – 10:38.18; 4 Maverick Horst – 11:16.77 (PR)

Girls 3200m Run: 2 Kelsey Schmidt – 11:40.43

Boys Discus Throw: 2 Nate Haar – 132-05;  3 Jevyn Lefers – 128-02; 4 Jacob Richert – 117-10; 5 David Bartscher – 107-10

Girls Discus Throw: 2 Addison Martz – 114-07; 3 Madison Baehner – 70-04; 4 Natalie Andernacht – 67-00 (PR); 5 Sydney Johnson – 65-05

Boys High Jump: 1 Layton Smith – 6-03.00 (PR); 2 Teegan Musser – 6-01.00; 3 Tate Gerdes – 5-11.00; 4 Maverick Stockwell – 5-07.00

Girls High Jump: 2 Holly Gillick – 4-09.00; 3 Ryan Hanssen – 4-07.00; 4 Jaelyn Fergen – 4-07.00 (PR)

Boys Javelin Throw: 3 Brennan Juffer – 139-10; 4 Emory Lefers – 125-04; 5 Corban Hanneman – 120-08; 6 Eli Highum – 116-02

Girls Javelin Throw: 3 Lilly Meyer – 95-04; 4 Ryan Hanssen – 94-05; 5 Addison Martz – 92-05; 6 Mia Hanisch – 81-03

Boys Long Jump: 2 Jaxson Bittner – 19-11.00; 3 Teegan Musser – 19-10.25; 4 Layton Smith – 19-07.25

Girls Long Jump: 11 Jaelyn Fergen – 13-09.25

Boys Pole Vault: 3 Elijah Johnson – 9-09.00; 4 Noah Wood – 9-03.00; 5 Kedren Fergen – 9-03.00; 6 George Scott – 6-09.00

Boys Shot Put: 1 Jevyn Lefers – 47-11.50; 2 Emory Lefers – 47-02.00; 3 Nate Haar – 46-03.00; 4 Leif Karlson – 34-09.50

Girls Shot Put: 2 Addison Martz – 36-10.50; 3 Mia Hanisch – 31-03.00;  4 Sydney Johnson – 30-03.00; 5 Kassidy Williamson – 21-01.00

Boys Triple Jump: 1 Tate Gerdes – 40-05.00; 2 Noah Sitter – 31-01.25

Girls Triple Jump: 10 Tori Gerdes – 30-05.00

Relays

Boys 1600m Sprint Medley (Johnson, Andrew Stensaas, Bisschop, Jackson Schmidt) – 5th, 4:17.14

Girls 1600m Sprint Medley(A. Timmermans, J. Fergen, Haven Larson, Schmidt) – 5th, 5:08.44

Boys 4x100m Relay – 2nd, 44.74

Boys 4x400m Relay – 1st, 3:35.43

Boys 4x800m Relay – 2nd, 9:00.52

Girls 4x800m Relay – (Larson, Josephine Plucker, Lucy Carlson, Allison Loewe) 4th, 11:30.34