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Yolanda Nabwe, Bernadette Belzer crowned West Region champions

katie ringer, the jamestown sun, n.d.
·7 min read

May 19—BISMARCK — On Wednesday, the air quality index in Bismarck hit a hazardous 563 due to Canadian wildfires.

It was a number that had Jamestown High School co-head track and field coach Ken Gardner a little worried heading into the 2023 West Region Meet Friday.

"I was worried the smoke would have a negative effect but all was clear," Gardner said.

The clean air seemed to agree with those Blue Jays competing at the WDA meet.

On the girls' side, the hurdlers led the way. Bernadette Belzer, Yolanda Nabwe and Julia Skari placed first, third and sixth in the 300. Nabwe and Belzer went 1-2 in the 100 hurdles contest while Skari, finished the straightaway in 16.16 seconds to place fifth. Nabwe's first-place, 14.83-second performance in the 100 set a new JHS record. Nabwe has now twice broken the school record in the event.

The senior's day was far from done.

Nabwe anchored the Jays' 4x100 meter relay team which wound up placing second out of 10 competing teams. The Jays completed the 400 meters in 49.50 seconds. Minot won the 4x100 with a staggering time of 48.23 seconds. As if that were not enough, Nabwe went on to earn a state tournament berth in the 100 meter dash, placing sixth with a time of 13.05 seconds.

Jamestown may not be known for its distance crew this year, the girls still pulled off a seventh place finish in the 3200 meter relay with a time of 11 minutes, 45.61 seconds.

Over at the field events, Allysah Larson cleaned up at long jump. The JHS junior set a mark of 16 feet, 8.5 inches which was far enough to place her third. While Kinley Anderson has already qualified for the State Meet in the shot put, she also managed to take home some WDA hardware. The junior's throw of 36-01 placed her seventh. Anderson will be joined at State by Addison Marker who finished fifth in the javelin with a state qualifying throw of 111-00.

On the boys side, Gardner made note of some excellent performances and personal bests from the Jays, but points were just tough to come by. The team saw a couple of seventh places in the 4x800 and 4x200 both of which were just shy of qualifying for the state meet.

The 2023 Class A State Track and Field Meet is scheduled to begin on May 25 at the Bismarck Community Bowl. The three-day affair will conclude on May 27. The Blue Jays have 11 state qualifiers who will be competing at the state meet. In case of injury, the team will also send an alternate for each of the two relay teams that have qualified.

"We had great weather today," Gardner said. "(Now) we are looking to stay sharp and be fresh for the start of the state track meet on Thursday."

Top finishers / Blue Jay results

Boys

Triple jump: 1. Anthony Brown, MIN, 45-00; 13. Jackson Rose 38-11.50.

Shot put: 1. Jacob Burckhard, BC, 53-05.00; 27. Cody Berreth 40-00; 30. Levi Trevithick 38-05; 35. Jacoby Traut 36-05.

Pole vault: 1. Adam Nychporuk, LEG, 14-00.

4x800 meter relay: 1. Bismarck High (Parker Hintz, Owen Hintz, Austin Wick, Dawson Balzer), 8:11.19; 7. Jamestown (Micah Stoudt, Iddi Ramadhani, Ethan Igl, Brady Harty), 8:36.74.

300 hurdles: 1. Jeran McNichols, BHS, 40.00; 28. Grant Lunde 47.88.

100. Talen Farland, LEG, 10.82; 14. C'Andre Douglas 11.51; 32. Henry Yolain 12.02; 33. Ryan Kallenbach 12.04; 37. Xander Netolicky 12.12; 38. Gradin Thorlakson 12.13.

4x200: 1. Century (Peyton Arndt, Jaxon Birst, Michael Twardoski, Rivers Martin), 1:29.97; 7. Jamestown (C'Andre Douglas, Noah Lynch, Ryan Kallenbach, Henry Yolain), 1:34.44.

1600: 1. Ethan Moe, WIL, 4:12.34; 15. Sam Anteau 4:46.06; 23. Jack Schauer 4:56.47; 30. Raine Job 5:08.67; 34. Jonathan Aguirre 5:24.57.

4x100: 1. Legacy (Talen Farland, Reece Snow, Evan Hoffer, Nathan Mathern), 41.57; 10. Jamestown (Mason Gibson, Jesse Sagaser, Isaac Duven, Xander Netolicky), 46.87.

Javelin: 1. Brett Miller, LEG, 181-07; 12. Jacoby Traut 140-06; 23. Cody Berreth 124-01; 30. Josh Dickerman 99-04; 34. Hayden Neys 84-04.

400: 1. Dylan McGlothlin, LEG, 48.37; 17. Gradin Thorlakson 54.87; 30. Mack Allmaras 59.34; 31. Hezekiah Vander Kooi 59.81; 33. Brodie Scott 1:00.61; 37. Noah Lynch 1:02.45.

110 hurdles: 1. Brooks Turner, BC, 14.04; 12. Tuyikeze Faustin 16.35; 18. Jared Sagaser 19.20; 19. Grant Lunde 19.61.

800: 1. Ethan Moe, WIL, 1:54.43; 19. Micah Stoudt 2:10.59; 30. Iddi Ramadhani 2:18.32; Miles Anderson 2:19.74; 36. Kamden Herzig 2:23.13; 39. Ryley Smith 2:25.90.

200: 1. Dylan McGlothlin, LEG, 21.38; 23. C'Andre Douglas 23.57; 28. Ryan Kallenbach 23.94; 36. Xander Netolicky 24.42; 42. Isaac Duven 25.04; 43. Mason Gibson 25.49.

Long jump: 1. Hudson Schroeder, BHS, 22-07; 25. Ryan Kallenbach 17-09.50; 31. Cephy Sayler 17-01.50; 34. Grant Lunde 16-08.50; 36. Jared Sagaser 16-02.50.

High jump: 1. Brooks Turner, BC, 6-06.00; 12. Jackson Rose 5-08.

Discus: 1. Jack Shaffer, BHS, 165-03; 31. Cody Berreth 100-02; 33. Jacoby Traut 98-03; 37. Levi Trevithick 90-09; 39. Grady Joseph 84-05; 43. Josh Dickerman 74-08.

3200: 1. Ivan Askim, WIL, 9:35.98; 19. Jack Schauer 11:36.29; 22. Jaydyn Velek 12:36.39.

4x400: 1. Century (Jaxon Birst, Michael Twardoski, Cyan Sorenson, Josh Berger), 3:25.69; 10. Jamestown (Gradin Thorlakson, Brady Harty, Jesse Sagaser, Noah Lynch), 3:40.22.

Girls

High jump: 1. Jordyn Rood, BHS, 5-03; 11. Hayden Olson 4-09; 21. Haylie Hakanson 4-07.

Discus: 1. Tayla Andersen, BHS, 125-09; 15. Brooklyn Busch 101-10; 23. Kinley Anderson 97-00; 26. Addison Marker 93-10; 29. Kendyl Anderson 91-11; 30. Sadie Hager 88-11.

4x800 meter relay: 1. Watford City (Fallon Sampsel, Savanna Olson, Katie Olson, Jaelyn Ogle), 9:40.21; 7. Jamestown (Kyra Hoffer, Kirsten Vander Kooi, Ella Thomas, Abigail Kucera), 11:45.61.

300 hurdles: 1. Bernadette Belzer, JHS, 45.76; 3. Yolanda Nabwe 46.57; 6. Julia Skari 47.53.

1600: 1. Acey Elkins, MAN, 5:13.03; 33. Ella Thomas 7:18.85.

4x100: 1. Minot (Faith Brown, Makayla Whitfield, Rachel Nwankwo, Maicee Burke), 48:23; 2. Jamestown (Allysah Larson, Bernadette Belzer, Julia Skari, Yolanda Nabwe), 49.50.

4x200: 1. Minot (Faith Brown, Eve Knutson, Maicee Burke, Emily Mattern), 1:43.37; 10. Jamestown (Erica Tarr, Mia Kaiser, Hayden Olson, Lacy Dwells), 2:00.75.

100: 1. Faith Brown, MIN, 12.48; 6. Yolanda Nabwe 13.05; 41. Kaiah Nenow 16.06; 42, Rya Gray 16.68; 43. Lacy Dwelle 16.71; 44. Annabelle Webster 17.10.

400: 1. Emily Mattern, MIN, 57.58; 20. Mia Kaiser 1:06.85; 27. Kirsten Vander Kooi 1:10.35; 28. Kyra Hoffer 1:10.42; 30. Erica Tarr 1:12.51.

100 hurdles: 1. Yolanda Nabwe, JHS, 14.83; 2. Bernadette Belzer 15.80; 5. Julia Skari 16.16.

800: 1. Taya Fettig, BHS, 2:23.54; 22. Kirsten Vander Kooi 2:46.67; 30. Kyra Hoffer 2:56.08; 32. Jayla Hoffer 3:10.72.

200: 1. Jazmin Barry, DHS, 25.35; 32. Erica Tarr 29.50; 42. Kaiah Nenow 33.76.

Shot put: 1. Katelyn Rath, BHS, 40-02; 7. Kinley Anderson 36-01; 16. Addison Marker 31-09; 18. Kendyl Anderson 31-06; 28. Brooklyn Busch 29-05; 34. Sadie Hager 27-02.

Triple jump: 1. Rachel Nwanko, MIN, 37-02; 18. Haylie Hakanson 30-06.50; 19. Hayden Olson 30-04.50.

3200: 1. Jaelyn Ogle, WC, 11:15.79; 17. Abigail Kucera 13:51.

4x400: 1. Legacy (Whitney Welk, Alyssa Eckroth, Jemimah Guenther, Aspen Eslinger), 4:10.07; 10. Jamestown (Allysah Larson, Julia Skari, Haylie Hakanson, Bernadette Belzer), 4:26.09.

Long jump: 1. Eden Fridley, BC, 16-11.50; 3. Allysah Larson 16-08.50; 22. Hayden Olson 14-11; 33. Lacy Dwelle 9-08; 34. Kaia Hieb 9-06.

Javelin: 1. Alexis Gerving, SM, 116-09; 5. Addison Marker 111-00; 19. Kendyl Anderson 92-08; 26. Arya Mickelson 82-06; 37. Jordyn Larson 44-06; 38. Cammie Veldkamp 44-04.