By Matt Gade

605 Sports

CUSTER — With just three weeks left of the 2025 spring track season, Custer standout jumper Kincade Lehman is taking in his final meets of his Wildcat career.

“I kind of want to just stay in the moment, you know, enjoy this because I have two meets left in the season, then I'm off to college,” Lehman said following his last jump in the Black Hills Conference meet on Tuesday in Belle Fourche. “Obviously, I like track. It's a fun sport, and I like all my friends that are in it, so I definitely want to keep enjoying it.”

Coming into the season, Lehman was the defending Class A state champion in the boys' long jump and finished second in the triple jump.

To start the season, Lehman started his senior season with a bang. 

Lehman jumped a personal best of 46-08.25 in the triple jump at the Laura Chord Memorial Relays in Newcastle, Wyoming.  

In just his second meet of the year, Lehman jumped 48-07.25 at the Douglas Early Bird to set a new state record. Breaking the previous mark held by Bud Hamilton of Hot Springs (47-11.5) set in 1991.

Then on Tuesday, Lehman leaped into the top-5 all-time in the boys' long jump with a 23-08.5 mark to tie for fourth place with Scott Jorgenson, of Brookings, set in 2007. The all-time record is 24-00.75 set in 2022 by Aberdeen Central’s Sam Rohlfs. 

“It's crazy for sure. You know, I jumped 22-09, I think, at the Douglas Early Bird. So I never thought I was going to, you know, keep improving,” Lehman said. “For my goal this year was 23 and I just went beyond that. So I'm definitely happy with my season so far.”

Custer's Kincade Lehman jumps 23-08.5 in the long jump during the Black Hills Conference track and field championship meet on Tuesday in Belle Fourche. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

Lehman said he attributes a lot of his success this year to shorter, but more intense and focused practices.

“We're not doing as many reps as many, have as long of workouts,” he said. “We're just doing high, max effort workouts that are pretty short. It just brings the best jumping out of us while we're not getting tired.”

Lehman said he’s definitely noticed his legs and body aren’t as tired this far into the season as years past. 

“It's definitely a big thing for me. My freshman, sophomore year, I just did triple jump, long jump every single meet, and by the end of the season, I was tired, I was burnt out,” he said. “So definitely jumping either long jumping one meet, triple jumping the next, or just not jumping all and running. I mean, it's definitely helped me keep my legs, keep them energetic, I guess, healthy. So it's definitely working better.”

He said being able to keep his legs fresh from week to week and not overdo it is why he thinks he’s continually getting better throughout the season.

Lehman, who said he plans on competing in college but hasn’t decided where, said he’s focused on his goal of winning gold in both the long and triple jumps this year with just the Last Chance Qualifier meet left before the state meet on May 29-31 in Sioux Falls.