By Rich Winter

605 Sports

SIOUX FALLS — As Spearfish’s Jaden Guthmiller settled into the blocks Saturday for the Class AA 100-meter dash final he did so with the knowledge that his left hamstring was dicey at best. 

Guthmiller shot out of the blocks, got out strong, wobbled a bit at the 70-meter mark but held on to win the race (:10.79).

“I knew I was struggling with a hamstring so my goal was just to get out into my drive phase,” Guthmiller said. “I tried to do that without extending my legs and used my quads as much as I could.”

Guthmiller tied the Class AA meet record (:10.49) on Thursday and on Saturday he held off Sioux Falls O’Gorman’s Jade Anstine (:10.66) and Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Chris Stanford (:10.68).

On Saturday at the 70-meter mark Guthmiller felt his left hamstring give a bit.

“Right at that point of my race I could feel it and I just gritted through it and got done,” he said. 

Saturday’s effort allowed the South Dakota state record holder (:10.45, 2022) to repeat as AA champion in the 100-meter dash. He says the fans and the emotion helped him fall in love with sprinting. 

“Everyone cheering for you and showing up to watch you is the best feeling in the world,” he said. “All of those fans going crazy like that is really unmatchable. 

Guthmiller will now turn his attention to collegiate track where he will run for the University of South Dakota. 

“For a while I was dead set on going to South Dakota State University but the moment I walked onto the Vermillion campus I knew it was the place,” he said. “The coaches, the team, it was a great feeling there and it just felt like family.”

Guthmiller said he plans on studying Exercise Science while at the University of South Dakota.