Gabrielle McLaurin/Photo by Noah Clooten
The Devils Lake track and field teams competed in two track and field meets on the road over the span of two days last weekend.
After a lukewarm performance in Friday’s Packer Relays in West Fargo, where the boys placed 14th out of 16 teams and the girls placed 10th of 17, the Firebirds found success in the Bottineau meet on Saturday. The boys came in second and the girls came in third, with numerous high placements and personal records set. Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich and North Star also competed on Saturday.
Some of the highlights in Friday’s meet came from Sara Kraft, who took second in the long jump, and Joel Nelson, who tied for third in the high jump. One of the girls’ relay teams, comprised of Gabrielle McLaurin, Bella Tangedal, Ella Wass and Kraft, placed third in the 4×200. On the boys’ side, Bryar Exner, Nelson, Gerardo Sanchez and Adam Sobolik came in seventh in the 4×400.
Sobolik also placed seventh out of 59 finishers in the 800-meter dash.
Then on Saturday, the boys’ team put up a score of 134, placing them only behind the host, Bottineau, among the 12 teams that competed.
Bryar Exner placed sixth in the 100-meter dash and seventh in both the 200 and 400. Noah Azure came in seventh in the 800 and fourth in the 1600.
Rylan Day and Aiden Ackerman were two of only four contestants in the 3200, but they placed first and second, respectively.
Marquese Dubois took home a second-place finish in the javelin with a score of 135-08.
LA/E/M was right behind Devils Lake in third place, with a score of 95. Cody Amble won the 100 and 400, while Nick Kingzett won the pole vault with a score of 11-06. Kingzett and Amble both placed top-five in the long jump as well. Amble came in second in the triple jump.
The North Star boys tied for seventh in the meet with 22 points. Four-sport sensation Dane Hagler won the high jump, while his brother Hunter came in third. Dane also placed second in the long jump and fourth in the high jump. Mikais Yoder finished second in the 1600.
On the girls’ side, Devils Lake’s score of 55 put it third, behind first-place Bottineau and second-place LA/E/M, the latter of which had 76.
The team of McLaurin, Tangedal, Wass and Kraft found success again in the 4×200, a day after their third-place finish. They came in first this time. They also placed second in the 4×400, while the team of Raeleigh Myklebust, Chassidy Rodacker, Ealynn Yoder and Maria Riojas came in third in the 4×100.
The relay runners thrived in other events as well. McLaurin placed second in the javelin, while Kraft recorded a second-place mark in the long jump and triple jump. Tangedal finished second in the 400-meter dash, and McLaurin was third in the 200. Wass placed first in the 300-meter hurdles.
Even some seventh graders had success: Tenley Triepke placed third in the 800-meter dash and Riley Schmiess finished second in the 3200.
For LA/E/M, the quartet of McKenna Schneider, Meredith Romfo, Drew Rostvet and Ella Goodman placed first in the 4×100 relay and second in the 4×200. Schneider and Romfo came in first and third, respectively, in the javelin.
Olivia Lorenz and Goodman were first and second, respectively, in the pole vault.
Romfo also placed sixth in the 200, while Schneider was seventh in the 100. Taya Feist came in fourth in the 800, and Lorenz finished fifth in the 1600 and third in the 3200.
Meggy Hetletved placed third in the 100-meter hurdles and second in the 300-meter hurdles. Goodman and Feist also came in fourth and fifth in the latter hurdle event.
North Star was seventh in the girls’ standings with 39 points. Gianna Ahlberg placed second in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the triple jump. Kristine Erickstad placed third in the 300-meter hurdles. Erickstad was also eighth out of 39 finishers in the 100-meter dash.
The weekend showdowns came ahead of the first track meet held in Devils Lake this year. The Firebirds are set to compete alongside LA/E/M, North Star, New Rockford-Sheyenne, Nelson County and Warwick, among others, in the Ray McDaniel Meet at Joe Roller Field at 4 p.m. on Monday.
