High jump championships, just like football and basketball, must run in the Deng family bloodline.
Four Winds senior Marial Deng, a part of the New Rockford-Sheyenne track and field team, grabbed a region high jump championship on Saturday as one of four Rockets to win their events. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Deng Deng, who won a high jump state championship as a senior. Both Dengs are set to play on the UND football team in the fall.
NR-S took second on the boys’ side and third on the girls’ side at the North Central Region track meet at Johnsen Field in Rugby on Saturday. Benson County performed well, too, with a fifth-place boys finish and second-place girls finish.
North Star was one of the other teams in the meet. The boys took seventh and the girls took eighth.
All teams trailed Rugby, which won the boys’ and girls’ championships. There were 12 placing teams on the boys’ side and 11 on the girls’.
Rockets’ boys and girls finish in the top three
It was a solid showing for Elliott Belquist’s squad. It was a good weekend for the Belquist family in general, as his oldest daughter, Kelsie, became a Big Ten champion in the 300-meter hurdles on Sunday.
NR-S junior Emmie Belquist, the youngest kid in the family, won region championships in two events. She was crowned in the 400-meter dash and 300-meter hurdles. Her 400 time — 59.47 — was a personal best. She also placed second in the 200-meter dash and fourth in the 100-meter hurdles.
Jaida Schumacher added a first-place high jump finish (4’8’’) to help the Rocket girls place third overall with 95 points.
The boys were led by sophomore Koy Zieman, who won both the 400-meter dash and triple jump. His 40’2’’ triple jump was a personal best. Zieman also placed second in the 200-meter dash.
Deng won the high jump with a mark of 6’0’’ on the dot. It was his third high jump title of the season and sixth of his high school career.
Fellow Four Winds senior Francis Bellile placed second in the shot put with a season-best 44’0’’.
Senior Jackson Schumacher added a second-place mark in the javelin, throwing a personal-best 146’0’’.
The boys scored 123 points to place second overall.
Benson County girls place second, boys fifth
The Benson County girls had a productive day at the arena.
They were highlighted by three region championships: junior Evyn Jacobson in the 800-meter dash, sophomore Addisyn Faul in the 100-meter hurdles and sophomore Lacie Fautsch in the shot put.
Faul (15.74) and Fautsch (36’1’’) set personal bests in their respective events.
Benson County also had five second-place marks. Faul was second in the 300-meter hurdles, while Fautsch placed second in discus.
Jacobson (1600-meter run), senior Aubrey Kenner (javelin) and senior Kale Williams (pole vault) all placed second as well.
The Wildcat girls scored 121.5 points for a second-place finish.
For the boys, senior Grant Engebretson won the pole vault with a mark of 12’0’’. He also placed second in discus and fourth in long jump.
Junior Brayden Herman came home with third-place finishes in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs.
The Wildcats also had a relay team finish second in the 4×800. Three quarters of the group was made up of Hermans, with Brayden, Damien and Ben. Seventh-grader Brecken Swanson rounded out the group.
The Benson County boys totaled 65 points, placing fifth overall.
North Star boys finish seventh, girls eighth
The North Star girls had two region championships, while the boys didn’t have any, but the boys placed higher as they competed in more events.
Eighth-grader Genevieve Ahlberg and freshman Claire Jorde won the high jump and triple jump, respectively, for North Star. Jorde set a personal best with a mark of 36’2.5’’.
The girls placed eighth overall with 27 points.
Sean Freund had the best finish for the North Star boys, placing third in the javelin with a personal-best 139’10’’. He also placed fourth in discus.
The boys racked up a few other top-eight finishes to score 36 points overall and come in seventh place.
Warwick girls compete
Warwick didn’t place, but it did have three girls competing.
Junior Isabella Baer placed 14th in the shot put and 25th in discus.
Freshman Jordan Malnourie finished 19th in the javelin and 37th in shot put.
Seventh-grader Micka Arlante came in 37th in discus and 40th in shot put.
The Class B state track meet will be held May 21-23 at MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck.
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