Bulldog Track Team Blows Away the Competition to Win Both NEC Titles

The MHS boys’ and girls’ track teams blew past the competition on their way to capturing both Northeast Conference team titles. 
“It doesn’t happen too often when the boys’ and girls’ teams from the same school win both titles. It was pretty exciting for us,” said Milbank’s head coach, Eric Townsend. “We knew both teams had a great chance to win the meet, but scoring that many points is very impressive. Combined, our teams had close to 400 points, which is unheard of. Usually around 150-160 points will win the meet. Both teams scored over that!”

Townsend went on to say, “We told the athletes going in that … it was all about places. The higher point total is a testament to the athletes finding ways to score points. With the windier conditions, attaining season bests was pretty tough, however, both teams achieved close to 30 season-best scores.”

For the boys team, Max Lightfield, Bennett Schwenn, and Nick Batchelor were multiple individual winners. Lightfield won both the 110 and 300-meter hurdles races. Schwenn won the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the long and triple jump for four conference titles. Batchelor earned NEC titles in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200-meter runs and the 3,200 meter relay to also win four titles. The boys 400 and 3,200-meter relay teams each earned first place, and Ryker Trevett won the shot put.

For the girls team, Milbank won nearly every relay race — the 3,200-meter, 800-meter, 400-meter, and 1,600-meter. Ashlyn Batchelor was a multi-conference winner. She won the 1,600-meter, 800-meter, and 3,200-meter races. She was also a member of the winning 3,200-meter relay team. Madi Thue earned the NEC title in the 400-meter dash. Greta Snaza won first in the pole vault.

Complete results for Milbank:
Varsity Girls Team totals – Milbank, 174; Aberdeen Roncalli, 136; Hamlin, 105; Groton Area, 79; Redfield, 62; Webster Area, 53; Clark-Willow Lake, 49.5; Deuel, 33.5; Sisseton, 22; Britton-Hecla, 18.
100-meter dash prelims– 5. Laney Forrette, 12.96; 6. Siera Wenzl, 13.09; 9. Jacy Dexter, 13.69.
100-meter dash finals – 3. Laney Forrette, 13.05; 7. Siera Wenzl, 13.45.
200-meter dash – 3. Madi Thue, 27.26; 6. Laney Forrette, 27.53; 7. Siera Wenzl, 27.57.
400-meter dash – 1. Madi Thue, 1:04.71; 2. Amaya Street, 1:05.46; 3. Maurina Street, 1:06.05.
800-meter run – 1. Ashlynn Batchelor, 2:29.69; 2. Ellie Neugebauer, 2:34.96.
1600-meter run – 1. Ashlynn Batchelor, 5:36.85; 7. Tyra Berry, 6:14.81; 8. Maiah Brown, 6:22.08.
3200-enter run – 1. Ashlynn Batchelor, 12:15.91; 5. Kynlee Speidel, 13:59.69; 6. Tyra Berry, 14:12.94.
100-meter hurdles prelims – 5. Elsie Seffrood, 17.84; 10. Nadia Schneck, 18.73; 11. Ashlyn O’Farrell, 19.85.
100-meter hurdles finals – 4. Elsie Seffrood, 17.85.
300-meter hurdles – 4. Elsie Seffrood, 54.76; 6. Ashlyn O’Farrell, 55.89; 8. Tatum Berry, 57.30.
400-meter relay – 1. Milbank (Laney Forrette, Rachel Schulte, Siera Wenzl, Jacy Dexter), 53.06.
800-meter relay – 1. Milbank (Laney Forrette, Rachel Schulte, Siera Wenzl, Madi Thue), 1:52.46.
1,600-meter relay – 1. Milbank (Madi Thue, Ellie Neugebauer, Amaya Street, Maurina Street), 4:24.78.
3,200-meter relay – 1. Milbank (Ellie Neugebauer, Amaya Street, Maurina Street, Ashlynn Batchelor), 10:36.37.
1,600-meter spring medley relay – 4. Milbank (Jacy Dexter, Nadia Thue, Emily Van Hoorn, Maiah Brown), 4:58.32.
High jump – 8. Rachel Schulte, 4-7; 10. Claire Snaza, 4-5; 15. Elsie Seffrood, 4-3.
Pole vault – 1. Greta Snaza, 9-0; 5. Jacy Dexter, 7-6; 6. Maggie Kruger, 7-6.
Long jump – 9. Tatum Berry, 13-10.50; 13. Savanna Osowski, 12-05.50; 16. Aubrey Fraasch, 11-10.
Triple jump – 8. Tatum Berry, 29-06.25; 10. Savanna Owowski, 28-7.75; 11. Ellie Neugebauer, 28-00.50.
Shot put – 9. Averie Engebretson, 27-8; 11. Amelia Pederson, 26-7.5; 14. Casside Seezs, 25-5.5.
Discus – 4. Averie Engebretson, 83-3; 9. Amelia Pederson, 78-5; 19. Casside Seezs, 62-7.

Varsity Boys Team scores – Milbank, 218.5; Aberdeen Roncalli, 85; Webster Area, 83.5; Hamlin, 74; Clark-Willow Lake, 68; Groton Area, 66; Sisseton, 50; Britton-Hecla, 33; Deuel, 32; Redfield, 16.
100-meter dash prelims – 2. Bennett Schwenn, 11.17; 4. Sawyer Gauer, 11.44; 8. Michael Karges, 11.60.
100-meter dash finals – 1. Bennett Schwenn, 10.99; 3. Sawyer Gauer, 11.31; 8. Michael Karges, 11.90.
200-meter dash – 1. Bennett Schwenn, 22.27; 4. Sawyer Gauer, 23.09; 6. Dustin Gertsema, 23.26.
400-meter dash – 3. Kaden Krause, 54.46; 12. Karson Weber, 1:00.89.
800-meter run – 1. Nick Batchelor, 2:01.18; 5. Payton Brown, 2:17.33.
1,600-meter run – 1. Nick Batchelor, 4:48.58; 5. James Batchelor, 5:12.82; 9. Grant Van Peursem, 5:31.67.
3,200-meter run – 1. Nick Batchelor, 10:53.98; 4. James Batchelor, 11:43.93; 6. Isaac Johnson, 12:11.35.
110-meter hurdles prelims – 1. Max Lightfield, 17.64; 4. Mason Cordingley, 19.94; 5. Sammy Femling, 22.04.
110-meter hurdle finals – 1. Max Lightfield, 16.63; 4. Mason Cordingley, 19.58; 5. Sammy Femling, 20.19.
300-meter hurdles – 1. Max Lightfield, 43.62; 7. Sammy Femling, 52.50; 8. Mason Cordingley, 52.55.
400-meter relay – 1. Milbank (Dustin Gertsema, Sawyer Gauer, Karson Weber, Michael Karges), 46.35.
800-meter relay – 2. Milbank (Dustin Gertsema, Sawyer Gauer, Michael Karges, Kaden Krause), 1:39.14.
1,600-meter relay – 4. Milbank (Kaden Krause, Max Lightfield, Payton Brown, Karson Weber), 3:55.42.
3,200-meter relay – 1. Milbank (Kaden Krause, James Batchelor, Payton Brown, Nick Batchelor), 9:06.03.
1,600-meter spring medley relay – 5. Milbank (Aiden Foell, Carter Bowsher, Maddox Hanson, Grant Van Peursem), 4:20.50.
High jump – 8. Carter Bowsher, 4-11; 9. Aiden Foell, 4-11.
Pole vault – 2. Karson Weber, 11-0; 4. Jayden Johnson, 10-6; 7. Jack Sandvig, 10-0.
Long jump – 1. Bennett Schwenn, 22-2; 4. Eli Johnson, 18-6.25; 8. Stevie Ash, 17-6.
Triple jump – 1. Bennett Schwenn, 45-5.25; 10. Eli Johnson, 35-10; 11. Stevie Ash, 34.9.25.
Shot put – 1. Ryker Trevett, 50-1.25; 6. Jace Rufer, 39-1; 7. Connor Bender, 37-6.50.
Discus – 5. Connor Bender, 100-8.5; 7. Marshall Voeltz, 97-11; 16. Jace Rufer, 76-1.