BISMARCK — Class A schools from the East Region put up another strong showing on day two of the North Dakota State Track and Field Championships on Friday at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.
The day's highlights included wins by West Fargo's Cailey Moton in the girls discus throw, Wahpeton's Ethan Manock in the boys discus throw, Grand Forks Red River's Logan Arason in the boys javelin throw, and another Roughriders win in the girls 4x800-meter relay final.
Several East Region athletes also qualified for Saturday's track event finals after preliminaries in six events were contested Friday.
Team scores after day two have Bismarck Century sitting atop the boys standings with 63 points while Bismarck leads the girls teams with 44 points.
Following the Patriots on the boys side is second-place Bismarck with 46 points and Williston with 38 points in third place. Fargo Davies is second on the girls side with 29 points while West Fargo sits in third place with 28 points.
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Moton followed up a fifth-place finish in Thursday's girls shot put final with the victory in the discus Friday. The Packers' junior had a mark of 121 feet, 10 inches to clinch a new personal best and top second-place Bismarck junior Tayla Andersen by six inches.
You could call it an upset of sorts, as Moton entered the weekend with only the ninth-best seed mark in the competition.
"It just took mentality," Moton said. "I knew that I had to work when I was coming in, so I just tried to push and just forced myself to throw a good one."
Given the strength of the competition, Moton herself wasn't so sure a state championship was on her bingo card this weekend.
"It feels amazing," Moton said. "Honestly, I wasn't completely sure it was going to happen. But I knew if I pushed myself, I was going to do great. So it feels good."
Wahpeton sophomore Scout Woods — who entered the weekend with the top seed mark of 131-5 — finished in third place with a throw of 119-8 to follow up her win in the girls shot put Thursday. Fargo North senior Emma Osier finished off the podium in eighth place with a 113-0.
As Woods claimed victory in the girls shot put, the Huskies picked up another win in the field Friday with Manock standing atop the podium in the boys discus final.
The Wahpeton senior tossed a 153-9 to beat out Century senior Jacob Burckhard, who had a runner-up throw of 151-7. Arason finished third in 151-0.
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Manock's victory was one of redemption after finishing second behind Arason in last year's finals.
"I don't think it's really hit me yet, but it feels good," Manock said. "Last year, to get second, I wanted to come into this and just go for it. To put a throw out there that got me into the finals and then get one out there that got me to the top."
Once he reached the finals flight, Manock — who held the second-best seed mark at 167-8 — said the mentality was simply to pick his spot and send it.
"I knew I had to pick a spot out there and I knew I could get a little bit more out of the throw," Manock said. "I wasn't too worried going into the finals, I just had to get one out there."
On the flip side, it was an agonizing defeat for Arason, who was the top seed in the boys discus and entered the finals with the lead. After the Red River senior failed to surpass Manock's winning mark on his final attempt, he could only watch and put his hands on head.
But mere hours later, Arason redeemed himself and became a state champion at long last, winning the boys javelin on his final throw to beat out Davies senior Eli Hayes with a winning mark of 191-10 inches to cap his senior season with a new personal best.
"I got second place last year and third place as a sophomore and I've been throwing javelin since I was a seventh-grader," Arason said. "So it feels good to finally complete my dream of being a state champion. My sister was a state champion and it's a blessing to follow in her footsteps.
"It means so much to me," he said. "I've worked so hard throughout the years and I didn't (personal best) this year, but I was very consistent and my coach always said, 'You're ready for a big one.' And I believed in my coaches and trusted what they said. I hit the big one and it was a good time."
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Hayes had a runner-up mark of 182-4 while Red River senior Quinn Nelson finished in third with a 177-3. Manock came home fourth for Wahpeton while Davies sophomore Gunnar Majerus was fifth.
The Roughriders claimed the girls 4x800-meter relay in 9:31.78. Senior Lauren Dosch batted lead-off for Red River before senior Emily Nelson and junior Morgan Hartze held down the middle two legs. Junior Jocelyn Schiller was the anchor for the Roughriders, who crossed ahead of Watford City with a second-place time of 9:49.57.
Century finished third in the relay, followed by Valley City in fourth and Bismarck St. Mary's in fifth.
The East Region also saw top finishers in the boys high jump, girls triple jump, boys and girls 1,600-meter finals and the boys 4x800-meter relay.
In the boys high jump, Valley City senior Aiden Jacobson finished third clearing 6 feet, 2 inches. West Fargo Sheyenne senior Kasen Baer was fourth with the same mark while Fargo North's Trey Knoke reached the podium with a seventh-place finish at 6-0.
The East claimed five of eight podium spots in the girls triple jump, with Davies juniors Cayla Sailer and Onya Kretchman finishing second and third. Fargo South's Axumite Wren James came home fourth, followed by Davies sophomore Addison Tandeski in fifth and West Fargo senior Samantha Gustafson in seventh.
Valley City junior Reagan Berg finished second in the girls 1,600-meter run while Davies junior Cierra Bornemann earned a seventh-place finish.
In the boys 1,600, Grand Forks Central senior Quinn Roehl was second followed by Devils Lake senior Brady Goss in third. Fargo North junior Owen Sondag, Davies senior Drew Rempher and Red River senior Jonah Dafoe were sixth, seventh and eighth.
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The North Dakota state track and field meet concludes Saturday with opening ceremonies at 9:15 a.m. and field events beginning at 9:30 a.m. Track finals will commence at 11 a.m.
North Dakota State Track and Field Championships
MDU Resources Community Bowl, Bismarck
Class A boys
Friday’s final results
Team scores (top 5): 8 events scored
1. Bismarck Century 63; 2. Bismarck 46; 3. Williston 38; 4. Fargo Davies 32; 5. Grand Forks Red River 26
Boys individual top 8
1,600: 1. Ethan Moe, Williston, 4:10.08; 2. Quinn Roehl, Grand Forks Central, 4:14.41; 3. Brady Goss, Devils Lake, 4:18.53; 4. Parker Hintz, Bismarck, 4:18.98; 5. Ivan Askim, Williston, 4:19.23; 6. Owen Sondag, Fargo North, 4:21.66; 7. Drew Rempher, Fargo Davies, 4:22.89; 8. Jonah Dafoe, Grand Forks Red River, 4:24.16
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4x800 relay: 1. Bismarck (Parker Hintz, Dawson Balzer, Tyler Wahl, Austin Wick) 7:54.38; 2. Williston (Hunter Hart, Fynn Krenz, Ivan Askim, Ethan Moe) 8:02.63; 3. Bismarck Century (Josh Berger, Cyan Sorenson, Breydyn Schlabsz, Gavyn Graham) 8:09.26; 4. Fargo Davies (Jaray Touray, Adam Brachman, Nate Anderson, Drew Rempher) 8:11.58; 5. Minot (Carson, Wistisen, Josh Hegstad, Cooper Fjeld, Benjamin Harris) 8:11.72; 6. Bismarck Legacy (Cayden Kraft, Dalton Fleckenstein, Ivar Martell, Chase Knoll) 8:13.10; 7. Red River (Grant Hoffarth, Micah Larsen-Schmidt, Elijah Dafoe, Jonah Dafoe) 8:17.12; 8. Fargo North (Owen Sondag, Elijah Pederson, James Lien, Braxton Middaugh) 8:19.69
Discus: 1. Ethan Manock, Wahpeton, 153-9; 2. Jacob Burckhard, Century, 151-7; 3. Logan Arason, Red River, 151-0; 4. Jake Hettinger, Bismarck, 151-0; 5. Jack Shaffer, Bismarck, 149-7; 6. Joel Edland, Century, 143-78; 7. Jaxon Walz, Century, 143-2; 8. Quinn Nelson, Red River, 143-1
High jump: 1. Brooks Turner, Century, 6-6; 2. Logan Conklin, Minot, 6-4; 3. Aiden Jacobson, Valley City, 6-2; 4. Kasen Baer, WF Sheyenne, 6-2; 5. Ryan Brynjolfson, Century, 6-2; 6. Hudson Sheldon, Mandan, 6-2; T7. Joel Nelson, Devils Lake, and Trey Knoke, Fargo North, 6-0.
Javelin: 1. Logan Arason, Red River, 191-10; 2. Eli Hayes, Fargo Davies, 182-4; 3. Quinn Nelson, Red River, 177-3; 4. Ethan Manock, Wahpeton, 171-8; 5. Gunner Majerus, Fargo Davies, 171-1; 6. Isaiah Schuldheisz, Valley City, 170-1; 7. Preston Lemar, Bismarck, 169-1; 8. Ethan Thomas, GF Central, 169-0
Class A girls
Friday’s final results
Team scores (top 5): 8 events scored
1. Bismarck 44; 2. Fargo Davies 29; T3. West Fargo and Watford City 28; 5. Bismarck Century 27
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Girls individual top 8
1,600: 1. Jaelyn Ogle, Watford City, 5:09.46; 2. Reagan Berg, Valley City, 5:10.10
3. Eva Selensky, St. Mary’s, 5:10.66; 4. Izzy Dahl, Bismarck, 5:14.33; 5. Acey Elkins, Mandan, 5:16.70; 6. Sophia Lade, Minot, 5:18.02; 7. Cierra Bornemann, Fargo Davies, 5:20.30; 8. Cambree Moss, Williston, 5:21.61
4x800 relay: 1. Grand Forks Red River (Lauren Dosch, Emily Nelson, Morgan Hartze, Jocelyn Schiller) 9:31.78; 2. Watford City (Fallon Sampsel, Savanna Olson, Katie Olson, Jaelyn Ogle) 9:49.57; 3. Bismarck Century (Leah Herbel, Haven Fitterer, Addison Heck, Emerson House) 9:50.90; 4. Valley City (Brynn Lueck, Cadence Fetsch, Reagan Berg, Greta Goven) 9:52.65; 5. St. Mary’s (Madeline VerDouw, Ella Selensky, Kylie Wald, Eva Selensky) 9:52.67; 6. Williston (Marenn Larsen, Cambree Moss, Angela Wold, Dru Zander) 9:52.89; 7. Fargo Davies (Kinley Steckler, Ellie Miller, Halle Stephens, Cierra Bornemann) 9:52.99; 8. Bismarck (Taya Fettig, Izzy Dahl, Zoe Reichenberger, Bayla Weigel) 9:54.55
Discus: 1. Cailey Moton, West Fargo, 121-10; 2. Tayla Andersen, Bismarck, 120-4; 3. Scout Woods, Wahpeton, 119-8; 4. Berlyn Lindbo, Legacy, 119-6; 5. Chloe Wolff, Century, 119-2; 6. Raya Rood, Bismarck, 118-10; 7. Talea Furcht, Legacy, 113-2; 8. Emma Osier, Fargo North, 113-0
Triple jump: 1. Rachel Nwankwo, Minot, 39-1.5; 2. Cayla Sailer, Fargo Davies, 37-5.25; 3. Onya Kretchman, Fargo Davies, 37-2; 4. Axumite Wren James, Fargo South, 36-10.5; 5. Addison Tandeski, Fargo Davies, 36-3; 6. Kendra King, Dickinson, 35-9.5; 7. Samantha Gustafson, West Fargo, 35-2; 8. Makayla Wiedenmeyer, Century, 34-11
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