Wylee Delorme, Drew Hofstad, Joel Nelson/Photo via Devils Lake Track and Field Facebook page
Heading into the final few track and field meets of the season, the Devils Lake squad found some of its greatest success this past week.
Between two days of road meets, the boys combined for seven state-qualifying marks, while the girls also added three. Previously, only Oliver Wirth had qualified (high jump).
In the Bottineau South Quad on Thursday, three boys qualified for long jump: Wylee Delorme, Drew Hofstad and Joel Nelson. All three were starters on the championship basketball team. They joined Wirth, also a member of the basketball team, in qualifying for a jumping event.
The next qualifier also involved Delorme and Hofstad. Combining forces with Reggie Cavanaugh and Leo Franco, they won the 4×100 relay and qualified for state in that event. Adam Sobolik rounded out the boys’ success on Thursday, qualifying in the 400-meter dash and finishing in second place.
On the girls’ side, April Miller qualified in the triple jump. The team’s Facebook page noted that she held the school record for about eight minutes.
The reason Miller didn’t break the school record was because her own teammate, Sara Kraft, happened to break it in the same event. Kraft posted a mark of 36’ 0’’, giving her a first-place finish.
Overall on the day, the boys’ team came in first out of three teams, and the girls came in second out of four.
The boys’ run stayed alive on Friday in the Gelaine Orvik True Team Invitational in Fargo. Hofstad recorded yet another state-qualifying mark, tying for second place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.34.
Braxton Rance added his talents in the shot put, qualifying with a new school record of 51’ 9.25’’. Interestingly enough, the record had previously been held by Devils Lake’s current head football coach, Todd Lambrecht, back in 1990.
Each Devils Lake team only placed sixth out of seven teams in the event. But it capped an eventful couple days of success, at the perfect time for this group given that the season is nearing its end.
The Firebirds were scheduled to compete in their first home track and field meet last Monday, but it was canceled due to weather. They’re still set to finally have a chance at a home meet next Monday.
The East Region meet is on May 17 at North Dakota State University, and the state track meet is scheduled for May 23-25 at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck.
