By Anne Homan
Layton Smith clears the bar during high jump competition at Regions. Smith will join Cohen Metcalf at State, representing the Orioles in the event.
On Thursday, May 19 the Lennox High School track and field team traveled to Canton to compete in the Region 4A Meet. With strong performances by several athletes, the LHS boys captured the Region team title with 165.5 points, bettering second place Dakota Valley who finished with 125 team points. Elk Point Jefferson and Tea Area tied for third, Beresford fifth, Vermillion sixth, Canton seventh, and eighth Parker.
Helping the Orioles get the team title were a multitude of athletes that claimed the Region title in their individual event.
In the 110 meter hurdles, Layne Kuper grabbed the Region title crossing the finish line in 16.18 seconds in the event. Austin Strasser grabbed second (16.27) and Landon Slack took fifth in the event (17.91). Both Kuper and Strasser will represent Lennox at State in the event. Kuper comes in as the fifth seed and Strasser as the eighth. Kuper and Strasser will also compete in State in the 300 meter hurdles. At Regions, Kuper earned runner-up honors in the event with a time of 43.04 and Strasser took sixth (44.30). Slack also competed (45.44).
Claiming the Region title in the 400 meter dash was the Orioles’ Steven Christion. Christion recorded a time of 51.51 seconds. Christion will compete at State in this event, coming in as the fifth seed. Christion will also compete in the 200 meter dash at State, coming in as the fifth seed. At Regions Christion won the title in the event with a time of 23.56. Ashton Bach (25.00) and Tate Gerdes (26.29) also competed in the event at Regions.
Sam Swanson captured the Region title in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:43.05 in the event. Cloy McVey was close behind earning second place honors with a time of 4:46.61. Chett Jibben (5:18.63) also competed.
Also earning Region Champ honors was Lennox’s Cody Peterson who captured first in the shot put. Peterson threw it a distance of 46’10” to win the event. Jacob Stubbe also competed, earning third place with a throw of 42’4”. Peterson will be the Orioles’ lone representative at State. He enters with the ninth best throw.
Peterson will also represent Lennox at State in the discus competition, winning the event at Regions.
Peterson threw a distance of 149’5”. Also competing at Regions in the event were Stubbe (105’4”) and Nate Hard (95’4”). This throw ranked him third among those competing at State.
In relay action, the boys’ 4x200 meter relay team of Ethan Larson, Braeden Wulf, Cohen Metcalf and Christion won the Region title with a time of 1:33.62. They will be competing at State for the Orioles.
Also competing at State and winning the Region title was the boys’ sprint medley relay. The team of Wulf, Metcalf, Larson and Swanson finished with a time of 3:48.36 at Regions. They will compete at State for the Orioles.
The LHS girls also had some individual Region champions. Alicia Ruud won the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:01.43 in the event. Grace Postma took seventh (1:07.32).
In the 800 meter run, Lennox’s Emily Plucker claimed the Region title with her time of 2:22.97. Josephine Plucker (2:38.09) also competed, taking seventh. E. Plucker and Ruud will represent Lennox in the 800 meters at State. Plucker is ranked third and Ruud is ranked tenth.
The girls’ 4x400 meter relay team of Karlie Bosma, E. Plucker, Dani Highum, and Ruud took first with their time of 4:15.94. The group will compete at State in the event.
Other strong showings at Regions for the Orioles were a third place finish for the LHS girls’ 4x800 meter relay. Team members were Bosma, J. Plucker, Kelsey Schmidt, and Postma. They clocked a time of 10:42.23. The team will compete at State.
The boys’ 4x800 meter relay team of Cloy McVey, Tarles Antoine, Noah Sayler, and Sam Swanson captured runner-up honors with a time of 8:33.69. The team will compete at State.
Schmidt took runner-up honors for the LHS girls in the 3200 meter run with a time of 13:04.45 at Regions. She will also be competing at State in the event.
Wulf earned runner-up honors in the long jump, jumping a distance of 20’8”. Christion (17’9.5”) and Van Houten (17’4”) also competed. He will compete at State.
In the boys’ 100 meter dash, Metcalf finished in the top eight taking fifth place in the event with a time of 12.12 seconds. Bach (12.69) and Carter Van Houten (13.06) also competed.
In the 3200 meter run, McVey took fifth at Regions (11:20.45) and Maverick Horst finished sixth (11:38.46). McVey and Swanson will represent Lennox at State in the event.
The boy’s 4x100 meter relay team of Bach, Braeden Wulf, Van Houten, and Gerdes took fourth place at Regions with a time of 47.45. They will compete at State in the event.
The boys’ 4x400 meter relay team of Larson, Trey Gerdes, Swanson, and Tarles Antoine took fourth with a time of 3:38.45. They will compete at State.
In the girls’ shot put, Lennox’s Myra Whitehead took fifth with a throw of 35’2”. Bella Zimmer (28’10”) and Tiffany Haas (28’7”) also competed. Whitehead will represent Lennox at State in the event.
In the girls’ high jump, Dani Highum took fourth in the high jump, clearing 4’10”. Ryan Hanssen (4’6”) and Madison Johnson (4’4”) also competed. Both Highum and Johnson are competing in the event at State.
In the boys’ high jump, Layton Smith took fifth, clearing 5’8”. Tate Gerdes cleared 5’8” to take sixth. Smith and Metcalf will represent Lennox at State in the event.
In boys’ triple jump, Tate Gerdes took seventh, jumping a distance of 37’11”.
Also representing Lennox at State will be the girls’ 4x800 meter relay (E. Plucker, Bosma, Ruud, and Schmidt); the girls’ sprint medley relay (Highum, Christion, Ruud, and E. Plucker); and Swanson and McVey in the 800 meter run.
The 2022 State A Track and Field Meet will be held at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls beginning Thursday, May 26 and continuing through Saturday, May 28 Thursday’s action will begin at 12:30 p.m. with the last event scheduled to begin at 5:50 p.m. Friday’s action is set to begin at 9 a.m. with the last event set to run at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday’s action is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. with the final event ran at 2:35 p.m.