Milbank Takes NEC Track Title for 11th Year in a Row

The Northeast Conference track and field meet was hosted by Milbank on Thursday, May 14. “I am so proud of how we competed,” commented the Bulldogs head coach Eric Townsend. “Both teams had an outstanding day. The boys team brought home another NEC team title. They have won every NEC team title dating back to 2016. They scored 161.5 points to win by over 50 points.”

The girls team scored 145 points and placed second behind Clark-Willow Lake. “We knew coming in that it would be a tough task to defeat CWL as they are a very deep and talented team, but the girls competed very hard,” said Coach Townsend. Together, both teams produced a total of 42 season bests.

Boys Team Rankings: (1) Milbank –161.5 points  (2) Deuel –110  (3) Groton Area – 91 (4) Webster Area – 81  (5) Britton-Hecla – 65  (6) Clark-Willow Lake – 64  (7) Hamlin – 58  (8) Sisseton –51.5  (9) Aberdeen Roncalli – 50.5  (10) Redfield – 37.5

Girls Team Rankings: (1) Clark-Willow Lake –190 points  (2) Milbank –139 (3) Groton Area –81  (4) Deuel –73  (5) Deuel –68  (6) Webster Area –55-5  (7) Aberdeen Roncalli –44  (8) Sisseton – 26.5  (9) Redfield –21  (10) Hamlin –18

Townsend also noted several athletes either improved their status or made the varsity high school all-time honor roll. Harley Zemlicka flew through the 110-Meter Hurdles in 15.01 – the fourth best time in school history.  He was also the winner in that event at the meet.  Lawson Novy placed second in the Shot Put at the meet, and he moved up a spot to No. 8 all-time for MHS with his  toss of 51′ 1″.  “Lawson has developed into one of the top throwers in Class A,” said Coach Townsend. Novy also placed first in the Discus at the meet with his throw of 156′ 4″.

The 800-Meter Relay Team, made up of Lady Bulldogs Violet Johnson, Zayda Townsend, Haylen Schneck, and Ella Koplin, secured  the ninth-fastest time in school history at 1:49.77. They collected third place at the meet.  Z. Townsend also improved her No 2  all-time 400 Meter Dash time. She clocked in at 1:00.28 to take 0.1 second off the school record. Bree Townsend improved her own school record in the Javelin She tossed it 98′ 9 at the meet to finish in  third place. 

More Top Place Winners for the Bulldogs at the NEC Meet: Sam Rick took first place in the Long Jump and the Triple Jump. The Bulldog Relay team that included Liam Street, Cade Grabow, Garrett Weber, and Harley Zemlicka took second. J. Scoular was third in the 3200-Meter Run. Street was third in the 400-Meter Dash. Liam Heller was third in the 1600-Meter Run. Bennett Hunt was third in the 110-Meter Hurdles. Street, J. Scoular, Beckham Berry, and Heller took third in the 3200-Meter Run.

More Top Place Winners for the Lady Bulldogs at the NEC Meet: Anna Neugebauer took first place in the Discus and second place in the Shot Put competitions.The Bulldog Relay team composed of Koplin, Schneck, Aria Prasnicki, and Z. Townsend earned second place. Paola Culhuac Segundo finished third in the 3200-Meter Run. Jacy Dexter, Johnson, Susie Schuneman, and Bree Townsend claimed third place in the 400-Meter Relay. Culhuac-Segundo, Alexa Martinez, Ainsley Brown, and Sophie Gruba captured third place in the 3200-meter Relay.

What’s next?  The Milbank track teams will compete in the Last Chance meet at Tri-Valley High School on Thursday May 21.  The South Dakota High School State Track and Field Meet will be held May 28-30 in Sioux Falls.