By Rich Winter

605 Sports

With all the weather related track cancellations South Dakota seems to have, somehow the runners, jumpers and throwers find their way to peak performances in May. 

Track and field teams aren’t just born, they are built, sometimes from the ground up. Kids aren’t just handed the reins to be a sprinter or a 400-meter runner or even distance runner. Coaches try kids out until they find their niche and then the coaches and athletes fine tune those skills together, sometimes working for years and sometimes not agreeing on a specified distance.

We are coming down the stretch of the track season and with the meets getting bigger it is more about maximizing the talent you have to score as many points as possible. 

Sometimes the team title comes down to the athlete that was eighth in the long jump, or came from way behind to nip a runner to gain an extra point.

The extra runners or fill-in runners reminded me of one of my favorite memories of the 2024 Howard Wood Dakota Relays.

The Brandon Valley girls set the state record in the 3,200-meter run last week 8:59.50. The old record was 9:01.19 set by Yankton and their superb anchor Ramsey Kavan in 2005. 

Those kinds or records don’t fall very often, partly because of the greatness of the effort and waiting for an opportunity with optimal weather conditions doesn’t happen every weekend. Conditions looked great at Howard Wood where the Lynx had an opportunity to potentially go for that state record. Mia Wentzy and Addison Scholten from that relay participated in the 800-meter special event.  

Running without their top two runners was problematic for the Lynx but also gave us a first look at the next wave of talent coming at Brandon Valley. The Lynx opened the Howard Wood 3,200-meter relay with their two most experienced runners, Sarah VanDerBerg and Lily Rude. Both runners were exceptional but so were the Spearfish runners through the first two legs. 

Emma Tidemann provided the third Leg and she handed the baton to Ellie Anders who was shoulder-to-shoulder with Spearfish’s Kori Keil during a tremendous anchor carry. Entering the homestretch, Keil, the more experienced runner, edged out in front. 

Surely the Brandon Valley seventh grader hadn’t saved enough or hadn’t trained hard enough. Would she have enough moxie to handle such a big moment

Like a true veteran, Anders  gathered herself, measured her opponent, and then dug in for the stretch run of her life. While Anders isn't a household name yet she looks like she's been learning from some very talented high schoolers that already have a rich tradition in the mid-distance races.

As track season closes, pay attention to those athletes that are clawing and scratching and fighting for every point. Keep an eye on the coaches and where they put their athletes to maximize points but also counter other coaches.