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Records tumble as South Dakota's top athletes converge at state track and field meet

Hunter Dunteman, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·6 min read

May 28—SIOUX FALLS — Alea Hardie came to win, not to set a record.

She did both, anyway.

Hardie, a senior track and cross country athlete at Sioux Falls O'Gorman, left Friday's session of the Class AA state track meet with the new record, timing 10 minutes and 24.42 seconds in the girls 3,200-meter run.

"I just kinda went out a little bit conservative," Hardie said. "I know my goal was just to win it for sure and then any other records were a bonus on top of that."

Hardie's time ended a 17-year-old all-class meet record, topping Sioux Falls Roosevelt's Allison Eckert's 2005 time of 10:38.66.

It's only the second time Hardie — a Nebraska track and cross country commit — ran a 3,200-meter race this year, but she credits her cross country experience for her ability to set a record by such a wide margin.

"I haven't raced it since freshman year, so I haven't had a lot of experience with it but it's worked out well so far," Hardie said. "I've always done cross country, so I've had that longer-distance training, and the mile has always been my favorite event and kind of my specialty, so having that in-between race is kinda right in my hot spot."

Hours after she set the 3,200-meter record, Hardie hit the track again in the Class AA girls 800-meter dash, topping a 2006 all-class record (also set by Eckert) by roughly 1.5 seconds with a time of 2:09.64.

On Saturday, Hardie raced in the Class AA girls 1600-meter run, where she set her third meet record of the weekend with a time of 4:45.33 — more than one second faster than Yankton's Ramsey Kavan's time in 2005.

All three of Hardie's record-breaking times were the fastest across all girls in all classes at the meet, which awarded her the Gold Medal Award.

Hardie wasn't the only athlete to put her name in the state track meet's history books.

Mount Vernon/Plankinton sophomore Berkeley Engelland broke two records over the weekend in the Class A girls 800-meter dash as well as the Class A girls 400-meter dash.

In the 800, she ran 2:12.88, pacing St. Thomas More's Haleigh Timmer's 2018 time by eight-tenths of a second. In the 400, she ran 56.2 seconds, eclipsing Todd County's Caelyn Valandra-Prue's 2017 time by roughly one-fourth of a second.

"It feels good. I was hoping to get the all-class record, but it felt good to get that one too, especially on a day like today where I competed in different events," Engelland said.

Here's a look at other meet and class records set so far:

1600-meter sprint medley — All-class boys meet record

Rapid City Stevens set an all-time meet record Saturday in the 1600-meter sprint medley with a time of 3:32.00, the fastest of all teams across all classes. The time edged Watertown's 2010 run of 3:32.16

800-meter dash — All-class boys meet record

Rapid City Stevens' Simeon Birnbaum ran the second-fastest half-mile in South Dakota's history on Friday at 1:51.03, setting a meet record across all classes. Birnbaum's time topped Sturgis Brown's Jacob Simmons' 2015 time by 1.3 seconds.

Meet officials said Friday's 800-meter dash may have been the fastest overall of all-time in South Dakota, with all athletes in the final finishing in under 1:59. Birnbaum's time sits roughly half-of-a-second short of Jim Reinhart's record 1:50.5 for Sioux Falls Lincoln.

Girls shot put — All-class girls meet record

Hamlin's Gracelyn Leiseth throw of 52 feet and 6.75 inches not only broke the meet record, but an all-time girls record for South Dakota, tournament officials announced. The throw smashed a 2019 record of 47 feet set by Sioux Roosevelt's Jasmine Greer.

Tournament officials announced Leiseth's record-breaking throw bumped her to the top ranking in the nation, up from her prior rank of number 7.

Girls javelin throw — All-class meet record

Harrisburg's Kaitlyn Disbrow won the first-ever girls javelin throw in SDHSAA-sanctioned history with a throw of 124 feet and five inches. The event was only offered to Class AA athletes this year.

Boys javelin throw — All-class meet record

Harrisburg's Carson Barnett won the first-ever boys javelin throw in SDHSAA-sactioned history with a throw of 173 feet and nine inches. The event was only offered to Class AA athletes this year as well.

Boys long jump — All-class meet record

Aberdeen Central's Sam Rohlfs set the meet record Thursday across all classes with a long jump of 23 feet and 5.25 inches, edging a record held by three individuals since 1982, 1990 and 2007 by three-quarters-of-an-inch.

Girls discus throw — All-class meet record

Custer's Kellyn Kortemeyer broke the state's all-time discus record, throwing 165 feet and 11 inches. The meet record had stood since 1980 and belonged to Pierre's Karen McDonald, who threw 151 feet and 11 inches in 1980. McDonald also had the overall state record since 1979 at 163 feet.

400-meter dash — Class AA boys record

Brandon Valley's Julian Watson dashed 400 meters in 48.06 seconds on Friday, eclipsing a Class AA boys record time of 48.39 seconds shared by Brandon Valley's Cam Holmes in 2013 and Sioux Falls Lincoln's Adam Belhaj in 2014.

Watson, who set the state's overall 400-meter record time earlier this year, competed in a preliminary heat and placed third in the 400-meter dash finals on Saturday.

4x800-meter relay — Class A girls record

Sioux Falls Christian and Custer both broke a 2016 Class A girls 4x800-meter relay record Friday previously held by Custer. Sioux Falls Christian placed first with a time of 9:21.54, followed by Custer in second with a time of 9:23.28.

3,200-meter run — Class A boys record

Belle Fourche's Sawyer Clarkson timed 9:24.35 in the Class A boys 3,200-meter run on Friday, pacing a 2021 record of 9:28.37 held by Sioux Falls Christian's Isaac Davelaar. Clarkson's time, which was 19 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, was the fastest among all boys in all classes at the meet.

4x100-meter relay — Class A girls record

West Central edged into the record book Thursday with a Class A girls 4x100-meter relay with a time of 49.04 seconds. The record was previously held by St. Thomas More's 2016 time of 49.19. The Trojans ran seven-tenths of a second faster than Ethan/Parkston in the preliminary races, and will compete again Saturday in finals.

4x200-meter relay — Class A girls record

The same group of West Central girls as above also set the Class A girls 4x200-meter relay record on Saturday with a time of 1:42.91, the fastest of all girls across all classes in that race. Their time knocked 1.3 seconds off of Sioux Falls Christian's 2014 time.

1600-meter run — Class A boys record

Sioux Falls Christian's Isaac Davelaar ran a 4:17.27 in the 1600-meter run on Saturday, sneaking past St. Thomas More's Luke Julian's time of 4:17.37 in 2016.