TRACK AND FIELD: STATE EXPECTATIONS
JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER
Rylee Peters was eight years old when Raygen Diede qualified for her first State Track Meet — the discus competition of 2018.
In the years since, both have grown up a bunch.
Diede, who just finished her senior year at Menno, has been among Class B’s top throwers in both the discus and the shot put while Peters, who will be an eighth grader at Freeman Public in fall, has quickly emerged as a star on the rise in the hurdles.
Now, the promising rookie 12-year-old and seasoned veteran 18-year-old will join their respective teams and compete together on track and field’s biggest stage — the 2022 State Track Meet. The all-class affair will begin Thursday afternoon and conclude Saturday afternoon at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
And not only do Peters and Diede represent the spectrum of experience, both are in a position to finish strong and end up on the podium, with a medal around their necks.
“This is really what I’ve been waiting for — what I’ve been looking forward to,” said Diede, who has Class B’s top throw in the discus at 130-9 and is sitting third in the shot put at 38-7 ¾. “There are a lot of different emotions. It is sad; I look back on all my years of competing and how I’ve grown throughout my career, and what has brought me here, but I’m also really excited.”
For Rylee, this brand-new world that is the state meet comes to her naturally. Her mom and coach, Jenny, qualified for her first state meet as a hurdler at Tripp-Delmont her seventh-grade year, as well.
“And she made it to finals and got seventh,” said Peters, who has clocked Class B’s sixth-best time in the 100 hurdles at 16.44 and the 10th-best time in the 300 hurdles at 49.72 — a race she ran for the first time at last week’s Region 5B competition. “So my goal is to be like her and make it to finals; after that I really don’t care because I’ll be top eight. I just want to improve and do my best.”
That sentiment is probably true of the nearly 50 student-athletes from Freeman Academy/Marion, Freeman Public and Menno who will run, jump, vault and throw alongside the best track and field athletes in the state over the course of three days.
And Diede and Peters certainly aren’t the only ones in line for hardware. The local contingent is made up of numerous contenders for a top finish that will give fans from Freeman, Marion and Menno plenty to watch, and likely cheer about, in Sioux Falls. Here’s a closer look.
FA/Marion
Freeman Academy/Marion’s boys 4×800 relay has been out front all season long and takes the top Class B time into this week’s state meet. The team of Quincy Blue, Malachi Myers, Tavin Schroeder and Thalen Schroeder’s top clocking of 8:32.74 is seven seconds better than the next best time posted by Frederick Area. And a win and place on the podium at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays earlier this month may be a sign of things to come, which would be a great way to start this year’s state meet.
The 4×800 relay final is the first event of the day on Thursday.
“That’s a strong event,” says coach Suzanne Koerner, who will also watch the FAM boys aim for a strong finish in the medley relay as Liam Ortman, Taylor Goodwin, Blue and Thalen Schroeder have the second-best time in the field at 3:47.69 — a fraction of a second slower than Tri-State’s incoming best of 3:47.03.
FAM is also looking to score points from Thalen Schroeder in two open events — the 800, where he is second in the field; and the high jump, where he is third.
Thalen’s younger brother, Tavin, is also ranked in the top eight in both the 1600 and 3200, and Dylan Johansen is on the cusp in both the discus and the shot put.
If everything goes well, Koerner says, the FAM boys could pile up some points.
“If we can be in that 30 to 35 range, that’s going to be a really good meet,” says the coach. “I think that’s doable. I think it would be disappointing if we didn’t reach 30 points.”
Not to be outdone by the boys, the Bearcat girls are taking some firepower to Howard Wood Field, as well.
The 4×800 team of Estelle Waltner, Emma McConniel, Sonora Myers and Jada Koerner goes into state eighth in the field of 24, and the medley relay team of Alivea Weber, McConniel, Waltner and Koerner has the fourth-fastest time in the Class B field.
Koerner and Waltner both bring top-eight times into the open 800 — Koerner is third and Waltner is eighth in the field — and Koerner has the third-best time in the 3200.
Menno
One year ago the Menno girls made school history with a third place finish at state — the best ever for a girls team. With a loaded field, that probably won’t happen again in 2022, but look for the Wolves to score some points in Sioux Falls this week.
“We’re thinking top six,” says Ryan Liebl, who coaches the girls. “It’s not going to be easy, but we’re just going to go out there, compete, have some fun and make the most of it, just like last year.”
Diede is Menno’s best chance for big points, and she’s eager for the final competition of her prep career.
Winning “is the whole goal,” she says, “but at the same time, I just want to go out there and do my best.”
Her biggest competition?
“Myself,” she says.
And Diede says she doesn’t feel the pressure she felt last year, when the Wolves as a team were counting on her to score points that would help them reach their goal of top three — which she did.
Diede — who threw the discus at state as an eighth grader before missing the cut as a freshman and never getting the chance as a sophomore because of Covid-19 — finished second in the shot put and third in the discus last season.
“Last year I was in a similar situation, but almost with more pressure, because we were going for school history, and our coach put that on us when we arrived in Rapid,” she said.
And this year she’s coming off a fourth-place finish at the all-class discus competition at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays in the same venue where she’ll be competing this week.
“It will be good to have a familiar place to go to, and will help with my confidence,” Diede said. “I’m going to try and relax and enjoy every moment of it.”
Relaxing is something Bridget Vaith will try to do, too, as she works on turning nerves into energy in what will be her first competition at a state meet. Vaith is competing in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and triple jump, where she has the eighth best distance in the field.
“That’s something I’ve been focusing on a lot this year, actually,” said Vaith, who graduated from Menno High School earlier this month. “I don’t want those nerves to stop, because that creates adrenalin, but I’ve been trying to turn the nerves into excitement.”
Vaith will have a counterpart there to help her every step of the way — Ashton Massey, who is competing in the same open events.
Massey, who will be a junior, has come on strong this season and is in line to earn a trifecta of hardware: she comes in ninth in the 100 hurdles, fifth in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the triple jump.
Vaith, who says personal performance goals trump a place on the podium, couldn’t be happier for Massey’s success after her injury-plagued season of 2021.
“My dad always makes a joke; he goes, ‘Aren’t you tired of seeing her back?’” says Vaith, a reference to her teammate consistently getting the best of her in the hurdles. “It’s amazing; she’s grown so much as a teammate and a runner. She works so hard.”
Massey says an ankle injury sustained following the 2021 basketball season had a significant impact on what she was able to accomplish in track — she competed in three relays but no open events last year — and she has thoroughly enjoyed being 100% this spring.
“I think having the whole season to prepare for this has been awesome,” she says. “The coaches have been very, very helpful, and the girls are all so nice, push me and support me, and I try to do the same thing for them.
“Everyone wants the same thing — we all want everybody to succeed.”
Success is certainly on the mind of Owen Eitemiller, who is looking to repeat as the Class B pole vault champion; he and Gayville-Volin’s Andrew Gustad are tied for the incoming best vault at 13-0.
“Hopefully I get another state title,” says the senior-to-be, who is also eyeing a top five finish in the 110 hurdles and is part of two relay teams — the medley and 4×400, where the quartet of Brayden Sattler, Bryce Sattler, Eitemiller and Kadeyn Ulmer have the sixth-best time in the field.
“It’s been a lot of fun this year,” said Ken Bruckner, who coaches the boys. “We have no seniors and the kids who are here want to be here.”
Bruckner believes the track season as a whole has helped prepare his track athletes for the days to come in Sioux Falls.
“Every track meet we go to is like a mini state track meet, because our region and the competition in the area is so tough,” he says. “So we kind of know what to expect and have been building for this.
“And we’ve got a bunch of good leaders this year — Kadeyn Ulmer and Owen and that whole junior class has been really good,” says Bruckner. “They push the kids.”
Freeman Public
Rylee Peters will be one of six track and field athletes from Freeman Public competing in open events at state, and the Flyers will also be represented in three relays: the 4×100, 4×400 and sprint medley.
Among the competitors is Kate Miller, who just completed her junior year and is running track for the first time since she was a sixth grader. Miller is running the open 400 and is part of each of the Flyers’ three relays.
“I just thought it would be really good for me,” she says of her decision to return to track for the first time in five years, which came at the encouragement of her coaches. “They told me it would help me improve in my other sports, and I have actually really, really liked it.”
She’s even found appreciation for the grueling 400.
“I did not want to run it; I told them to put me in anything but the 400, and the first thing they did was stick me in it,” Miller said. “But I’ve gotten better and better and actually really like it.
“It’s pretty brutal, but when you cross that finish line and have that feeling of knowing you just ran that whole lap sprinting, there’s a lot of reward there.”
Miller says she has enjoyed competing with her teammates, especially the younger girls.
“I love how much spunk they have,” she said. “They just want to win so badly. They practice with me and push me to be better. I just love their attitude and the effort they give. It’s so fresh.”
As for the boys, this will be goodbye for Dawson Munkvold and Justin Wollman, who graduated from Freeman Public earlier this month and will each compete in two open events — Wollman the sprints and Munkvold the hurdles. The boys will also be represented at state by Joey Baer in the pole vault.
Jenny Peters, who coaches alongside Chris Maske and Amy Sorensen, appreciates the effort she has seen from all of the track and field athletes at Freeman Public this season, and says those competing at Howard Wood Field this weekend should feel good about it.
“It’s an accomplishment just to make it,” she says. “All the energy and effort this season is what got them to this point. That takes a little pressure off so they can go out there and have fun. The goal is to work hard and try to make it to the finals.”
As for daughter, Rylee, Jenny says the time she has put in and the attention she gives to the sport accounts for much of her success.
“She puts a lot of time in on her own; it’s nice to live close to the track; it’s not uncommon for her to go over there to put a little extra time in on the hurdles. She really wants to perfect her sport; she’s kind of a perfectionist. She’ll do whatever it takes to correct it.”
And if Rylee is looking for advice, who better to give it than somebody who has been there before and is looking for her own success this weekend: Raygen Diede.
“Don’t be nervous; everyone there is under the same kind of pressure as you,” she said. “Enjoy every moment of it. It goes fast and this is the best time of the year.
“Take it all in,” Diede continued. “It’s really cool that you’re going as a seventh grader. I remember my eighth-grade year thinking, ‘Wow, it’s really cool that I’m here.’
“Just go and do your thing.”
