By Rich Winter

605 Sports

SIOUX FALLS — Sioux Falls Christian senior Isaac Davelaar has run a lot of relays at the state track meet. Entering Thursday’s 2023 state meet, the Dordt bound runner had never contested the 3,200-meter relay at a state meet. 

With Davelaar anchoring Thursday, Sioux Falls Christian won in 7:54.51, breaking Madison’s 37-year old meet record in the process. 

“The 3,200-meter relay is special to me because it is a distance runners event,” Davelaar said. “The guys that run in this race we’ve trained a lot together in both cross-country and track.”

Sophomore Bennett Wassenaar ran the opening leg Thursday, his first time on the track since April 27 while recovering from a hip injury. Wasenaar handed it to junior Alex Oberloh who moved the stick around but could not get ahead of Milbank. 

Sioux Falls Christian’s Davis Buck got the baton, immediately passed Milbank and broke the race open giving Davelaar about a 20-meter lead for the anchor carry.

“We’ve been running together for a long time and we have two seniors so we all wanted to give maximum effort and set a record that will take some time to break,” Davis Buck said. 

Davelaar broke the race wide open on the first lap of his two-lap anchor finishing about 11 seconds faster than the 1986 Madison team (8:05.78, Kirstein, Venekamp, Lammers, Heckenliable). 

Milbank ran 8:04.75, finishing second and also running under the previous meet record.

On running Davelaar Thursday, Sioux Falls Christian coach Luke VanderLeest did not hesitate. 

“Isaac had never run this event at the state meet and we figured why not give the senior a shot at a 37-year old state meet record,” Vanderleest said, 

Track fans might be talking about the 2023 Sioux Falls Christian 3,200 meter relay for a few years. At the 2023 Howard Wood Dakota Relays the Chargers set a meet record of 7:56.90. 

Two days before that race Bennett Wassenaar suffered that hip injury. Davelaar, who was scheduled to run the Howard Wood special event 800-meter run about 90 minutes after the 3,200 meter relay volunteered to anchor knowing the effort might slow his time in the special. 

“I ran at Howard Wood and today for the 800 guys and the SFC 3,200 meter relay guys,” he said. 

Late on Thursday the quartet of Jahaeim Reuer, Johnny Skyberg, Noah Schroder and Davis Buck broke Mount Vernon Plankinton’s meet record (3:35.68 - 2018 - Tobin, Hastings, Rihanek, Glanzer) winning the race in 3:33.75.