Deng Deng became one of the prime athletes to watch in the state of North Dakota this winter sports season. He dominated in Four Winds/Minnewaukan’s first season competing in Division A, and was the second player in school history to be named Mr. Basketball.
But as his high school career comes to an end and he nears his upcoming football career at the University of North Dakota, he’s trying out something new: track and field.
“It’s just amazing how focused he’s become,” FW/M basketball coach Rick Smith said. “And now he’s in track… He’s never done track in his life.”
FW/M doesn’t have its own track and field team, but the school co-ops with New Rockford-Sheyenne. Deng, as inexperienced in the sport as he may be, is a natural athlete who’s built up muscle through proper workouts and nutrition. Given his success as a basketball player and a wide receiver, a prowess in track almost seems like a given. It provides him an outlet to keep training, too, in the downtime between the end of his high school basketball career and the start of his college football career.
Deng made his track debut on March 16 in The Fighting Hawk Classic, on the campus that will be his new home in a few months. He competed in three events: the 60-meter dash, the 4×200 relay and the long jump.
In the 60-meter, he came in 17th place out of 113 finishers. Only the top eight advanced to the finals; Deng’s time of 7.48 was short of eighth-place Aaron Prestwich’s 7.28.
In the relay, Deng competed alongside Thomas Allmaras, Porter Granger and Connor Knatterud. The quartet placed third out of 17 teams with a time of 1:37.30.
Then in the long jump, Deng finished 19th out of 64 participants with a jump of 17’ 11.75’’. NR-S finished tied for 13th place out of 17 teams overall in the meet. Though Deng was able to flash some of his raw talent, he had to get used to the level of competition.
“The first one was a learning track meet for him,” Smith said.
But Deng came back for the second track meet of his life on March 23 and already reaped improved benefits. In the Great North Regional Open held at North Dakota State University, he won two events outright and did well in two others.
First in the 60-meter, Deng came in fifth out of 109 runners with a time of 7.42. It earned him a spot to the finals, where he finished sixth out of eight. The winner of the event hailed from NR-S, as Knatterud recorded a 7.19 mark.
Deng won the long jump, beating 56 other contestants. He jumped 21’ 2.75’’ — more than three feet longer than at the previous track meet. The second-place winner was another student from NR-S, Porter Granger, with a jump of 20’ 5.75’’. Deng and Granger were the only two athletes to jump more than 20 feet.
That’s a far cry from 19th place.
Deng’s quartet won the 4×200 relay, this time going alongside Knatterud, Easton Benz and Granger. Deng was fourth in the lineup and crossed the finish line with a group time of 1:34.76 — four seconds faster than the second-place Carrington team.
Deng also came in eighth out of 90 finishers in the 200-meter dash. It was, all in all, a successful day for Deng and his team; his natural speed and athleticism allowed him to fit right in with all the other contestants who have likely been doing track and field for much longer than he has.
His performance drastically improved NR-S’s overall results, too, as the squad placed second out of 19 teams on the day.
“Just an amazing athlete. And that’s just his second track meet,” Smith said, emphasizing how new this is to Deng. “I don’t know what he’s gonna do by the end of the year.”
Deng’s third track meet came last Thursday at the CNDC Indoor. He won the long jump again with a distance of 21’1’’. He beat 49 other jumpers and was, once again, one of only two participants to jump more than 20 feet.
He also tried high jump for the first time and won that as well with a height of six feet on the dot. He placed first out of 23 finishers. The second-best mark was 5’10’’, while the third-best was 5’6’’.
Deng competed in another relay — this time the 4×160 instead of 4×200. Deng, Granger, Benz and Bennett Meier placed second out of 19 groups. NR-S was eighth out of 16 teams overall in the meet.
Deng’s speed should come as no surprise given that he’s committed to play Division 1 football as a wide receiver. His quick success as a jumper is more of a pleasant surprise, although anyone who’s seen him dunk a basketball probably isn’t too shocked by the high jump marks.
All of this has helped diversify his already impressive portfolio.
“He had an amazing year in football and basketball,” Smith said. “And I think track, he’s gonna excel extremely well, also.”
