Sara Sletto looking for two state championships in one week
Nov. 17—JAMESTOWN — Two is always better than one — especially when it comes to state championships.
Sara Sletto is the only athlete at Jamestown High School to be vying for two state titles this fall.
"I am hoping for two big Ws for sure," Sletto said.
Sletto was the first girl in head football coach Bill Nelson's eight years to make the varsity football roster.
She also has been playing volleyball since August and has been suiting up for the varsity squad since midway through the year.
After going 7-2 through the regular season, the football team pulled off a pair of wins in the Class A playoffs to land in the 2022 Class A Dakota Bowl.
"I was immediately nervous as we walked in," Sletto said of how she was feeling before the state championship game. "It was the feeling you get in your stomach where you are queasy but it was in my legs. I didn't feel my legs at all. Even when we got out on the field, I was still so nervous."
Sletto ended up drilling 4 of 6 extra points through the four quarters of play to help the Jays secure a 46-28 win over Fargo North. Through 12 games Sletto was 38-for-55 for a 69.09 PAT percentage.
Sletto originally joined football to better herself for the 2023 soccer season, a common goal amongst the female kickers.
Former Kindred kicker Jordyn Sunram now plays for the University of Jamestown's women's soccer team. Sunram kicked at the 2021 Dakota Bowl, helping the Vikings to a 37-14 win over Hillsboro/Central Valley.
Sletto, Sunram and Velva-Drake's Violetta Sola have all been rostered on teams who have played in a Dakota Bowl. Sletto and Sunram are the only two on record to score at least one point in a state championship game.
"I really did enjoy football," Sletto said. "The boys kept it interesting."
Sletto said she is definitely entertaining the thought of playing both football and volleyball again next year but will have to wait to determine what the sports schedules and her school schedule look like at that time.
After competing in the Dakota Bowl, Sletto drove back to Jamestown from Fargo where she stayed the Friday night before driving to Dickinson Saturday to play and support the volleyball team in the final round of the WDA tournament.
The Jays fell 3-2 to Century in the WDA championship match and are the No. 2 seed heading into the 2022 Class A State Tournament.
Jamestown's state tourney is scheduled to kick off with Fargo South at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Bismarck Events Center.
"I am feeling really good," Sletto said. "The volleyball team played really well this weekend and I think that will spill over into this tournament."
Sletto has not seen too much varsity time this season but in the time she has been on the floor, she has managed to collect a kill and record four digs.
"I am just excited to be with my teammates," Sletto said. "I really missed them when they left on Wednesday night and I didn't get to see them until Saturday morning. It sounded like they had a lot of fun and I am just excited to be a part of that."
If the Jays make the volleyball state championship, it will be the first time the team has been there since 2017 and it would be the second state championship experience in eight days for Sletto.
"I didn't think that playing two sports would have gone this smoothly," Sletto said. "It wouldn't have been possible without the teammates that I had. All of the volleyball girls supported me and watched the game from Dickinson.
"The football boys supported me too," she said. "They didn't really give me an opportunity to kick the game-winning point because they had an amazing season and an amazing game. That's all on them — I'm just happy to be a part of it."
