SIOUX FALLS — Spearfish’s Peyton VanDeest added another impressive distance win to her resume. 

The Spartan junior won the prestigious girls special 800-meter run at the 101st annual Howard Wood Dakota Relays. VanDeest won the race with a personal best time of two-minutes and :09.81 seconds, holding off Waverly, Nebraska’s Emma Steffensen (2:10.18) for the win. 

For VanDeest, it’s another accolade in her budding prep career. VanDeest, who is the reigning South Dakota Gatorade cross-country athlete of the year, is a 19-time South Dakota Class AA state track medalist. 

After Friday, VanDeest can add the Howard Wood Dakota Relays girls special 800-meter run to her list of accomplishments. 

“It’s great,” VanDeest said. “It’s a really special race. The crowd was amazing. It’s something you look forward to and I have been watching this race for many years. So finally being able to do it and coming out with a win is very special.” 

VanDeest, who was running her first 800-meter run during the outdoor season, jumped out to an early lead in the eight-person field and set the pace. 

She clipped an elite group of runners for the victory. Steffensen, Harrisburg’s Brianna Reilly (2:11.79), Northwestern’s Ella Boekelheide (2:11.84) and Sioux Falls Christian’s Ellie Maddox (2:11.98) were all within striking distance coming down the stretch. 

“I haven’t run an open eight this year,” VanDeest said. “But I have done a couple of relays and I knew I was capable of a fast time. So I really wanted to make it an honest race and run it the best way that I could. So if taking the lead is what I had to do, it’s what I was going to do, which is what I ended up doing. Leading it from start to end was not easy, but it was really fun and I am glad I could come away with a personal best and the win.”

The race also featured Sioux Falls Christian’s Sadie Pettengill (2:13.74), Hillsboro, North Dakota’s Claire Grinde (2:14.24) and Bismarck’s Ruby Ihmels (2:21.04). 

VanDeest, who holds five Spearfish High School school records, said it was an honor to compete against the elite field of distance runners. 

“Being able to just be in the race itself and see your hard work pay off and just getting into itself is really amazing and the girls in this race are really special,” VanDeest said. “They are all really great. I know a lot of them personally. So being able to come out and this race with them was really fun.”

Treynor, Iowa’s Cauy Konz won the boys special 200-meter dash with a meet record time of :21.22.