SIOUX FALLS — The Stifel sisters spent plenty of time competing and celebrating on Saturday.

The Custer High School sisters — Ciana, Kelsey and Tenlee — dazzled the crowd at the 100th annual Howard Wood Dakota Relays. The three sisters finished first, second and third in the pole vault, and regularly celebrated with each other as the Howard Wood Stadium crowd roared the higher they cleared the bar. 

“It’s great to be able to share my success with them and celebrate with them,” said Tenlee, an eighth grader. “It means the world to me.”

For Ciana, it was another chapter to her storied Howard Wood Dakota Relays career. She’s the meet record holder in the pole vault at 12-9. She failed to break her record this year, and finished first at 12-6. 

But said her last Howard Wood Dakota Relays was the most memorable, and that’s because the Stiefel sisters were the last pole vaulters still competing. 

“This is by far my favorite one I’ve had yet,” Ciana said. “Even though it wasn't necessarily a PR, I had the most fun I have had at this meet. It’s so cool to be able to jump with my sisters like this and really put on a show for everyone. The crowd got into it. It was great.”

Ciana and Tenlee both cleared 12-6. Kelsey, a sophomore, finished third at 12 feet. Spearfish’s Laila Ratzsch and Sheyenne, North Dakota’s Emma Briggs were the next best finishers at 11-6. 

After the field was whittled down to the final three, the Stiefel sisters both cleared 12 feet and continued to shine at the prestigious track and field meet. 

Ciana and Tenlee both cleared 12-3, setting up a sister vs. sister competition in the finals. Tenlee then rose to the occasion, and cleared 12-6 as both sisters mobbed her on the pole vault pit. 

“Disbelief I think,” Tenlee said about clearing 12-6. “I didn’t even believe it at first. It’s still hitting me now that I actually got 12-6. It’s kind of crazy.”

Ciana and Tenlee missed all three attempts at 12-9, but still drew a round of applause following the special moment for the sisters. 

“It’s so much fun to be able to see their success along with my jumping well and then jumping well and PR’ing,” said Ciana, who will pole vault at the University of South Dakota. “It's just really amazing to watch.”