Track and field season has begun.
While state qualifier games were held in Division A and B boys’ basketball on Saturday, March 14, the track teams were already jumping into the indoor season.
Devils Lake and New Rockford-Sheyenne were two of the 12 teams that competed in the Cobber Indoor at Concordia College.
It was a solid showing for each school’s boys and girls. On the girls’ side, Devils Lake’s Sara Kraft and NR-S’s Emmie Belquist both had first-place finishes. The Devils Lake girls also took first place as a team.
Boys
Team results
Team scores were not officially listed on athletic.net.
However, the Devils Lake team Facebook page wrote that the boys took third place with 118 points.
Highlights
Devils Lake junior Finley Wirth had a strong showing. He placed third in the 200-meter dash (24:34) and fourth in the 55-meter (6:90). Both times were personal bests.
Junior teammate Aiden Ackerman finished second in the 3200-meter (11:41.70) and ninth in the 1600 (5:19.71).
The Firebirds had relay teams finish second in the 4×200 and 4×400.
Senior Christian Buchli placed second in the 55-meter hurdles with a 10.21, his personal best.
Jeff Sommer and Aiden Stiven both finished in the top 10 of the shot put, which had 61 finishers.
Freshman Isaac Kraft set personal bests in the triple jump (33’5.25’’) and long jump (17’8.25’’), finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Sophomore Billy Enget placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 33’9’’, also a personal best.
For NR-S, Koy Zieman took top-10 finishes in the 200-meter and 55-meter — both crowded fields. Zieman posted times of 24:75 and 7:06, respectively.
Rockets freshman Gabe Smith finished sixth in the 1600-meter with a personal-best 5:06.97.
Girls
Team results
While official scores were not recorded on athletic.net, the Devils Lake team Facebook page wrote that the girls placed first with 139 points.
Event champions
Kraft, a Devils Lake junior who’s been to the state track meet each of the last four years, got her season started with a first-place finish in the indoor long jump.
She posted a distance of 18’1.5’’, which was not only her personal best but a school indoor record. The previous best was Rhonda Hall’s 17’4’’ in 1988.
Kraft also won the triple jump (33’11.5’’) and the 55-meter hurdles (9.50, personal best).
The quartet of Aubrie Lebrun, Tenley Triepke, Riley Schmiess and Scarlett Leiphon took first in the 4×800 relay (10:59.75).
Leiphon also took first in the 3200-meter run, although she was the only contestant. She ran a personal-best 13:06.23.
For NR-S, junior Belquist took first in the 400-meter dash (1:02.47, personal best).
Jaida Schumacher, Belquist, Ava Peterson and Kaci Weisenburger teamed up to finish first in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:51.35. The mark was an indoor school record. They beat out three Devils Lake groups, who finished third, eighth and 11th.
Other highlights
Devils Lake freshman Raeleigh Myklebust took seventh in the 200-meter (28.96) and 11th in the 55-meter (8.01). Her 55-meter time was a personal best.
Sophomore Ella Wass added a ninth-place finish in the 400-meter (1:08.44).
Juniors April Miller and Kinley Johnson had a good day jumping.
Miller took second in the triple jump (32’1.75’’, personal best). She also finished third in two events, with a personal-best 4’7’’ in the high jump and a 14’10.75’’ in the long jump.
Johnson set personal bests in all three jumping events. She took fourth in the high jump (4’5’’), sixth in the triple jump (28’11.5’’) and 11th in the long jump (13’6.75’’).
In the 400-meter dash, Belquist’s event championship was supported by three of her teammates finishing in the top five. Schumacher, Peterson and Weisenburger placed second, third and fifth, respectively. Peterson and Weisenburger set personal bests — 1:05.83 and 1:07.74, respectively.
NR-S freshman Isla Jacobson added a third-place finish in the 800-meter with a time of 2:43.21.
Up next
Devils Lake has four more events scheduled for the 2026 indoor season. The next one is the Mike Grandall Invite, set for Friday, March 20 at the Fritz Pollard Athletic Center in Grand Forks.
NR-S will also be competing in the Mike Grandall Invite — as will Langdon Area/Munich, amongst a host of others.
Leave a Reply