By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

SIOUX FALLS — Jaden Guthmiller turned Friday’s deflation into Saturday’s elation. 

The Spearfish junior sprinter broke a meet and school record at the 97th annual Howard Wood Dakota Relays. It came less than 24 hours after Guthmiller was edged by Custer’s Blake Boyster by .05 seconds in an electrifying special 200-meter dash. On Friday, Boyster used a strong closing kick to stun Guthmiller, who dove at the finish line as Boyster edged his West River rival. 

“It’s a lot better of a finish than stumbling across the finish line,” Guthmiller said about Saturday’s win. “It felt a lot better.” 

Guthmiller, the top-ranked sprinter in Class AA, captured Saturday’s 100-meter dash in :10.45 seconds, breaking the previous meet record set by Eden Prairie, Minnesota’s (:10.53) in 2017. It’s also the third-fastest time in state history. 

“It’s crazy,” Guthmiller said. “I wasn’t expecting it.”

Guthmiller, along with every other competitor at Howard Wood, contended with blustery wind conditions at the event. Due to the wind, the 100-meter dash was even flipped and runners ran from west to east in front of the Howard Wood main grandstands. 

“The wind really helps and especially when they flip it,” Guthmiller said. “So that’s a big part of what happened today.”

Guthmiller nipped Harrisburg’s Tim Bishop (:10.55), Luverne, Minnesota’s Ashton Sandbutte (:10.63), Bismarck, North Dakota’s Dawson Hawkinson (:10.66), Belle Fourche’s Aiden Giffen (:10.74), Yankton’s Austin Gobel (:10.77) and Dickinson, North Dakota’s Quentin Lewis (:10.84) for the win.

As opposed to Friday when he got off to a strong start, Guthmiller said Saturday’s wasn’t as sharp out of the blocks. He had to chase down Bishop to secure the record-setting win.  

“It was definitely better yesterday,” Guthmiller said about his start. “But I just stayed with it and tried to stay loose and finish the race.” 

And Guthmiller, who placed fourth last year in the 100, was able to cross off the school record from his to-do list Saturday.

“I was close last year,” Guthmiller said. “So that was kind of my main goal this season is to go and get that this year.”