By Rich Winter

605 Sports

What feats of greatness will emerge from the Howard Wood Dakota Relays this weekend?

A year ago Spearfish’s Jaden Guthmiller broke the Howard Wood Dakota Relays record and South Dakota state record in the 100-meter dash (:10.45). Simeon Birnbaum broke the South Dakota state record in the 3,200-meter run (8:55). Sioux Falls O’Gorman’s Alea Hardie broke the Howard Wood 1,600-meter run record (4:53.60), Hamlin’s Gracelyn Leiseth the Howard Wood shot put record (48-11) and the Sioux Falls Christian girls broke the Howard Wood record in the Class A 3,200-meter relay (9:30.67). 

With the meet starting Friday afternoon here is a look at some of the athletes and storylines for track and field enthusiasts to follow. 

• Simeon Birnbaum, Rapid City Stevens: Will be running in the special event 800-meter run on Friday. He already holds the South Dakota state record (1:50.12). Parkston’s Alex Muntefering holds the Howard Wood Dakota Relays 800-meter run record (1:52.46). Birnbaum isn’t slated to run the 3,200-meter run on Friday night and that means he will be fresh for the 1,600 meter run on Saturday. The oldest record in the Howard Wood Dakota Relays records is the 4:09.74 1,600-meter run that Lincoln’s Jim Reinhart ran in 1973. 

• Gracelyn Lesieth, Hamlin: The Hamlin senior set the Howard Wood Dakota Relays shot put record last year (48-11) and she holds the South Dakota state record at (52-6.75). Earlier this year the University of Florida bound senior broke the state discus record at 171-8. The Howard Wood Dakota Relays record in the girls discus is 167-00 set in 2019 and Leiseth will be aiming to add her name to that ledger as well. 

• Spearfish’s Jaden Guthmiller: As junior he won the Howard Wood Dakota Relay 100-meter dash meet and state record of (:10.45). He’s been quick this spring (:10.50) and will be aiming to repeat as 100-meter dash champion.Jaden Guthmiller, Jovi Wolf and Blake Boyster will all be looking for wins in the sprints and relays this weekend - Rodney Haas - 605 Sports
  

• Sioux Falls Christian relay teams: The Sioux Falls Christian relays teams are better than ever in 2023. Earlier this week Sioux Falls Christian coach Luke Vander Leest’s biggest headache was figuring out which athletes to run in what relays. The Sioux Falls Christian track teams, boys and girls entered the Howard Wood Dakota Relays with top Class A times in the 400-meter relay, 800-meter relay, 1,600 meter relay, 3,200 meter relay and sprint medley relay. The Charger track teams could win a lot of relays trophies and Class A meet records are not out of the question. 

Sioux Falls Christian's Ellie Maddox is part of Class A relay and distance dominance for Sioux Falls Christian - Photo by Rodney Haas

• Boys high jump: It is always fun to see athletes from the smaller schools doing well against the bigger schools at this meet. Gregory’s Daniel Mitchell has the top high jump (6-6) entered into the Howard Wood high jump while Sanborn Central/Woonsocket’s Jeff Boschee has the second highest jump.

• Colman-Egan’s 800-meter relay: The Hawks are always in the thick of things at the biggest meets and 2023 is no exception. The Howard Wood record in this event is 1:47.61 set by Parker in 2017. The Colman-Egan girls have already run 1:46.74 this season. 

• Class B girls 3,200 meter realay could go down: Another Class B girls record that looks to be in jeopardy is the 3,200 meter relay record set by Deubrook Area (9:56.04) in 2019. The 2023 Deubrook Area girls team ran 10:02.04 entering the meet. 

There is something extremely special about the Howard Wood Dakota Relays. It isn’t a state meet but it’s a gathering of track and field enthusiasts from multiple states and is the biggest track meet most of the participating youth will ever run in. 

Over the next 48 hours we will see records broken, hearts broken and jaw-dropping personal bests. New athletes will step forward and others will cement their place in Howard Wood Dakota Relays history forever.