By Matt Gade

605 Sports

SPEARFISH — With the AA West River Preview meet slated for this Friday at Sioux Park in Rapid City, these three Spartan girls look to be back near the top of their events heading into the 2026 season. 

Spearfish's Peyton VanDeest competes in the 3200 meter run on the second day of the South Dakota High School Track and Field Championships last season at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

Peyton VanDeest looks to build on distance running success from cross country into track season

To start the 2025 cross country season, Spearfish junior Peyton VanDeest wasn’t running as well as she would have liked. But the Spartan distance runner closed out the season strong.

Finishing as the Class AA runner-up with a personal best time of 17:24.79. 

VanDeest’s effort earned her the recognition as being selected as the Gatorade South Dakota girls' cross-country runner of the year. 

The 5-foot-11 junior also earned first-team all-region honors this past season by taking second at the Nike Cross Heartland Regional Championships with a time of 17:04.3. 

“The cross country season ended really great. I wouldn't say it was the best start, but the way it finished was really fun. I think I put in a lot of work leading up to the cross country season, so it was really great to see it pay off,” she said of being named the Gatorade girls’ runner of the year. “So I just take that momentum into the cross or into the track season.”

While VanDeest is a distance runner, she said she doesn’t have a favorite race to run. 

Last season, VanDeest finished second in the 3,200-meter run (10:46.41), third in the 1,600-meter run (4:59.92) and fifth in the 800 meters (2:19.33).

“I really like being able to have that versatility and stuff. So I don’t know which one's my favorite, but recently the 800 has been fun,” she said.

This year, VanDeest decided to focus on running and opted out of playing basketball this year. This off-season, VanDeest has competed unattached at a variety of indoor meets.

So far this season, VanDeest has shaved nearly nine seconds off her 800 time post a 2:10.91 on Feb. 7 at the 50th Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.

VanDeest also competed in the Nike Indoor Nationals on March 15, running the 1,500 meters and 1-mile race. 

“It was a really great experience. Being able to compete with those girls at that top level is really fun. It was a good time,” she said.

Heading into this season, VanDeest said her biggest goal is just improvement.

“I definitely want to get PRs in all my main events, you know, shave off a few seconds,” she said. “And I think I’m definitely capable after having this past indoor season. In terms of when it comes to state, and Howard Wood, a couple of titles are definitely on the goal list.” 

Spearfish looking at another potential 1-2 finish in the pole with juniors Reese Nida and Laila Ratzsch

Spearfish's Reese Nida competes at the Black Hills Conference track and field championship meet last season in Belle Fourche. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

Two years ago, Spearfish finished 1-2 in the Class AA girls’ pole vault, led by Reese Nida and Gretchen Adams as the pair both cleared 11’ 7” with Nida winning on attempts.

Nida, who is the Spartans’ school record holder in the girls’ pole vault at 12’ 1”, struggled a bit last season as a sophomore while her teammate Laila Ratzsch emerged as another strong vaulter, clearing 12’ at the West River Last Chance Meet heading into state.

With a top mark of 11-5 last season, Nida is already feeling better about her junior year this spring, having cleared 11’ 9.75” at the Dave Little Alumni Mile Open indoor meet at Black Hills State.

“I did a lot of off-season, like, mental stuff, and just took a lot of time to kind of find my footing again and do all the little things to get back to where I was,” Nida said.

Nida said injuries held her back a little bit last season, but the biggest change this year is that she said she’s having fun again.

“It's a lot of fun. I kind of realized that the sport is like, about having a family and having everyone supporting you, and I'm just trying to get back into it and just have fun with myself and do it for me and not for anyone else,” she said.

With her breakout season last year, Ratzsch's success led the junior to take the sport more seriously, committing to much more off-season training heading into this year.

“I felt really good about how I ended the season, and it just kind of made me realize what I'm capable of, and that if I really work for it, I can progress,” Ratzsch said. “Because I know last year, in the off-season, I didn't do as much work, and so I was like, ‘Well, if I work more at it this off-season, then I could probably go a lot further.’”

At the state meet, Ratzsch cleared 11-6 and finished third based on attempts. While Nida cleared 11 feet and took sixth.

Nida, who used to challenge her teammate Adams, three years older than Nida, said she enjoys having a teammate who can push her not only at meets but also in practice. 

“It's, it's a lot of fun, because we're like, right there, like, neck and neck with each other, so we still push each other, but we're also friends. So it's not like, ‘Oh no, she's beating me.’ We're still good,” Nida said.

During the indoor season, Ratzsch competed unattached along with Nida. So far, Ratzsch has posted an indoor mark of 11' 5.75" while competing at Chadron State College back in December.

Ratzsch said her mark at Chadron was a happy surprise because she hadn’t really done a lot of vaulting prior to the meet. Rather, she’s spent more time working on strength training and sprinting.

“I felt really good about it, especially because, like, I hadn’t been consistently training at that point. So to already get 11-6 in the off-season, I feel like I'll be able to do really good this season,” Ratzsch said. 

Ratzsch said she wants to best her personal record of 12 feet, but isn’t set on a specific height.

In Nida’s eighth grade and freshman years, she and Adams went 1-2, with Adams taking gold the first time and Nida the second. Having been on the team behind Adams and Nida, Ratzsch said she wants to experience a 1-2 finish with Nida, too.

“I wouldn't even care who's one or two, but I think it would be so great for us to be able to make that accomplishment together,” Ratzsch said.

Nida said after last season, she’s ready to be back in the mix for that top spot along with Ratzsch.

“I'm really excited,” Nida said of the season. “I think it's going to be a lot of fun. And we both are going to be here for this year and next year, so we can kind of see how it plays out with both of us being at the top again.”