New Rockford-Sheyenne’s record relay team/Photo via NDHSAA
Numerous teams competed in the Class B State Meet at Bismarck State College from May 23-25. While Bowman County took home the gold in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions, five teams from the Lake Region were represented and achieved accomplishments in their own right.
There were 40 total team places, with a three-way tie for 40th place on both the boys’ and girls’ sides.
New Rockford-Sheyenne
The Rockets had one of the most successful meets of any team in the competition. The boys placed fifth overall. They were fueled by the contributions of Deng Deng and Connor Knatterud — a first-year track athlete and a veteran track athlete, respectively, who combined forces in a big way.
Deng won the high jump. His 6’6’’ jump made him the Class B high jump champion, and was a better mark than all but two Class A high jumpers. Fellow Four Winds student Dalen Leftbear — also Deng’s cousin — placed seventh in the same event.
Deng more than held his own in the long jump as well, placing second out of 36 contestants. He set a personal record with a mark of 21’10.25’’.
Knatterud, meanwhile, succeeded in a pair of individual events. He placed eighth out of 25 participants in the 100-meter prelims, then fourth out of nine in the 100-meter finals. In the 200-meter prelims, he came in third out of 25, then advanced to the finals, where he placed second out of nine runners.
Deng and Knatterud competed alongside Micah Dutch and Porter Granger in the 4×100 relay. They did well enough in the prelims to advance to the finals, with a 43.90 time, giving them a third-place finish. Then in the finals, they stepped up their game even more and won the whole thing. Their 43.32 time not only won them the 4×100 relay finals, but set a Class B state meet record.
The same quartet competed well in the 4×200 as well. They placed fifth in the prelims and fourth in the finals.
On the girls’ side, Ava Peterson placed seventh out of 21 contestants in the javelin.
Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich
The Cardinals tied for 18th in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions.
Most notably, Meredith Romfo won the javelin with a throw of 136’05’’. She achieved the feat shortly after her softball season ended.
“It’s super crazy,” Romfo told the Grand Forks Herald. “I’m not at all of the track meets. I don’t go to every practice. When the softball season ended, I knew those days [of practice] were going to be very beneficial. I got better every day.”
Her accomplishment continued a long line of Romfos from Langdon having success. Her brothers Grant and Simon play football for the University of North Dakota. Two of her cousins, Theo and Mason, play for the LA/E/M baseball team (and another cousin, Theo’s brother Jack, graduated from Langdon last year).
On the boys’ side, Cody Amble placed third in the 400-meter prelims, then second in the 400-meter finals. He also tied for 10th out of 25 runners in the 100-meter dash.
Benson County
The Wildcats tied for 40th in the boys’ division and tied for 31st in the girls’ division.
For the boys, Logan Fossen placed ninth out of 36 contestants in the long jump. The quartet of Fossen, Grant Engebretson, Macyn Olson and Logan Maddock came in eighth out of 11 teams in the 4×100 relay.
Engebretson also came in 16th out of 22 in the shot put and 11th out of 18 in the pole vault.
For the girls, Aubrey Kenner placed fifth out of 21 runners in the 800-meter dash. She also placed third in the 300-meter hurdle prelims, then sixth out of nine in the hurdle finals. Ella Fossen finished 11th out of 28 in the triple jump.
Benson County also had a group finish 10th out of 23 teams in the 4×800 relay. Evyn Jacobson, Kaitlyn Maddock, Keyara Lundstrom and Kenner combined to post a time of 10:24.15.
North Star
The Bearcats came in 37th in the boys’ division.
Reuben Clay placed seventh out of 22 finishers in the shot put. Dane Hagler was 24th out of 36 in the long jump.
Nelson County
The Chargers tied for 33rd on the girls’ side. Dagan Slade placed third out of 20 shot put contestants.
