STATE TRACK: MASSEY, WOLVES LOOK TO FINISH STRONG

When 21 competitors and alternates converge on Howard Wood Field this week for the 2024 South Dakota High School Activities Association State Track and Field championships, it will be a end of an era for Menno Public School. That’s because, starting this coming fall, Menno and Scotland are cooperating in almost all athletics — including track and field.

That means the 2024 season will be the last one for the Menno Wolves, who next year will begin competing as the Scotland/Menno Trappers.

“This is the last year for Menno Wolves track, so hopefully we’ll have a good showing,” said Ken Bruckner, the head coach for the boys. And they’re positioned to do just that.

If nothing else, the Wolves will be well represented on South Dakota high school track’s biggest stage when the meet begins Thursday morning, May 23 and concludes Saturday afternoon, May 25.

Between the boys and the girls, Menno will compete in eight of the 10 relays and will also be represented by 10 individuals competing in 14 open events. And that reflects what has been a strong few years for Menno High School track; the girls brought home third place as a team in Class B in 2021 and, last season, the girls were fifth and the boys finished sixth in the final standings.

“It starts at the top,” said Ryan Liebl, the head coach for the girls. “We’ve always had good leaders and the harder they work the harder the younger kids behind them work. They all want the same thing — they all want to get better, and the last four of five years here, we’ve really built it up pretty good.”

“I think it’s as good as it’s been in a long time,” Bruckner said. “This year, hopefully everybody will run well and we can score some points.”

And, as is also the case with track teams from Freeman Academy/Marion and Freeman Public, momentum has been building in the Wolves’ camp.

“It’s effort, it’s quality of kids, but it’s also that, early on in the season the weather was terrible,” said Liebl. “We had cold days, we had windy days, and we kept telling them, ‘Wait until the weather gets nice. You guys are going to be amazed how good you actually are.’ Because we could see how good they were running with the bad weather; once the good weather hit we were going to see some great times, and that’s what happened.”

Liebl said one of the biggest turning points for the entire team came at the Cornbelt Conference meet a few weeks ago when junior Ellyana Ulmer turned in a record-setting performance in the mile. Her time of 5:27.70 broke the old mark of 5:39.42 set by Cherie Amba in 1993 and stunned even her coach.

“We wanted Ellyana to go for the mile record that day and she went and shattered it,” Liebl said. “And she didn’t stay in the 5:30s; she just went right down to 5:27. That’s when everybody was like, ‘OK, now here we go.’ That was the one that made us all realize we were where we wanted to be.”

Ulmer’s school record-setting time has her positioned sixth in the Class B field in the mile, and she is sitting ninth in her other open event, the 800. Ulmer is also the opening carry on the 4×800 relay team that is fifth in the field and is the anchor carry on the medley relay team that goes in ninth. Members of those relay teams also include Ashton Massey, Maggie Miller, Lexie McNinch, Nora Robb, and Zoe Schaeffer.

The Menno girls will also compete in the 4×400, with the team of Kaelie Derby, Robb, Miller and Schaeffer sitting 19th in the field.

Ulmer and Company should pick up some points in most of those events, and the Wolves are counting on even bigger points from another standout who Class B track and field has heard a little bit about — Massey.

The Augustana University-bound standout is coming off a junior season in which she won the Class B 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and triple jump, and also anchored the Wolves’ 4×800 relay to sixth place.

This season has been a continuation of that success, with Massey and her favorite relay team that also includes Ulmer, Nora Robb and Zoe Schaeffer breaking their own school records. Massey also memorably won the all-class 300 hurdles at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays earlier this month and, in addition to top performances in her marquee races, has clocked the second-fastest time in Class B in the 400 and third-fastest time in the open 800 — two races she will not be competing in at state because athletes are limited to four events.

And Massey is, of course, hoping for a repeat triple crown.

She will compete in the 100 hurdles prelim first thing Thursday morning, the triple jump early that afternoon and the 300 hurdles prelim early Friday afternoon. Assuming nothing goes haywire, Massey will battle in the 100 hurdles final at 10 a.m. Saturday and the 300 hurdles final at 1:05 p.m. that afternoon.

Massey brings the best performance into the Class B field in the 300 hurdles and triple jump, but is sitting second in the 100 hurdles to Burke’s Piper Hanson, who has the edge 15.04 to 15.15.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, says Liebl.

“It’s chewing at her a little bit because she doesn’t want to get second,” says the coach, “so she’s working extra hard for it.

“She’ll be ready.”

As for the pressure, Liebl said she is handling it well.

“It helps that we went through this last year,” he said, “so she’s already had that experience.”

“She’s just an incredible athlete.”

The Menno girls will also be represented at state by Kylie Guthmiller in the discus and Schaeffer in the 3200.

“We’re going to be in the hunt for that top six, but it’s going to be tight,” said Liebl. “There are probably eight teams who will be fighting for it, so we need to get our best effort on the track and we’ll see where it comes out after that.”

While the boys won’t likely compete for a team plaque, they should score some points. Their best chances in open events will come from the following:

• Senior Isaac Fergen, who finished second in the pole vault last season with a 12-0 PR, is this spring sitting fourth in the Class B field with a 12-3 best;
• Sophomore Hunter Yosten, who is also positioned fourth in his best event, the shot put, and will also compete in the javelin, where he is 15th;
• Junior Bryce Sattler, who brings the fifth-fastest clocking into the open 400 and will also compete in the 800, where he is sitting 11th in the 24-runner field;
• And senior Seth Ahalt, who is right on the cusp of cracking the top eight in the discus. He’s sitting 10th.

The Menno boys will also be represented in open events by freshman Micah Goehring in the pole vault and triple jump, and by sophomore Izayah Ulmer in the 1600.

And the Wolves will be looking to win some hardware in the relays, too.

Menno will compete in the 4×200, 4×400, 4×800 and medley relays, with the medley relay team of Fergen, Goehring, Sattler and Ulmer sitting sixth in the field and the 4×800 relay team of Ulmer, Mirik Vaith, Fergen and Sattler positioned eighth.

“They’ve run well all year,” said Bruckner.

Other relay team members include Erick Buechler, Trent Guthmiller, Adam Munkvold, Jaxon Stoebner, and alternate Carter Fischer.

“We’re hoping to pick up some places here or there,” said the boys coach. “We’ve got good kids and a good coaching staff, and we’ll have them prepared.”

SETTING THE FIELD

GIRLS

Kylie Guthmiller (9)

• Discus – 17th in field, 108-7 (Incoming best: Paige Bull, Burke, 142-2)

Ashton Massey (12)

• 100 hurdles – 2nd in field, 15.15 (Incoming best: Piper Hanson, Burke, 15.04)

• 300 hurdles – 1st in field, 45.06

• Triple jump – 1st in field, 37-0

Zoe Schaeffer (9)

• 3200 – 19th in field, 13:06.37 (Incoming best: Emery Larson, Chester, 10:50.28)

Ellyana Ulmer (11)

• 800 –9th in field, 2:26.78  (Incoming best: Ella Boekelheide, Northwestern, 2:15.07)

• 1600 – 6th in field, 5:27.70 (Incoming best: Emery Larson, Chester, 5:05.43)

4×100: Maggie Miller, Nora Robb, Lexie McNinch, Kaelie Derby

• 23rd in field, 54.01 (Incoming best: Herreid/Selby Area, 51.47)

4×400: Derby, Robb, Miller, Schaeffer

• 19th in field, 4:26.29 (Incoming best: Potter County, 4:08.64)

4×800: Ulmer, Robb, Schaeffer, Massey

• 5th in field, 10:10.34 (Incoming best: Lemmon, 9:53.62)

Medley: Miller, McNinch, Robb, Ulmer

• 9th in field, 4:29.42 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 4:22.25)

BOYS

Seth Ahalt (12)

• Discus – 10th in field, 139-1 (Incoming best: Lincoln Koehn, Kadoka Area, 184-2)

Isaac Fergen (12)

• Pole vault – 4th in field, 12-3 (Incoming best: Rasmus Loken, Ipswich, 13-0)

Micah Goehring (9)

• Pole vault – 19th in field, 10-3 (Incoming best: Rasmus Loken, Ipswich, 13-0)

• Triple jump – 22nd in field, 39-7 ½ (Incoming best: Iker Diaz Montilla, Burke, 43-10 ¼)

Bryce Sattler (11)

• 400 – 5th in field, 51.77 (Incoming best: Lucas Flemmer, Dell Rapids St. Mary, 50.50)

• 800 – 11th in field, 2:04.33 (Incoming best: Lincoln Woodring, Northwestern, 1:57.47)

Izayah Ulmer (10)

• 1600 – 13th in field, 4:45.32 (Incoming best: Silas Holderman, Mitchell Christian, 4:29.95)

Hunter Yosten (10)

• Shot put – 4th in field, 49-10 ½ (Incoming best: Ethan Watson, White River, 60-6 ½)

• Javelin – 15th in field, 137-11 (Incoming best: Spencer Melius, Faulkton Area, 170-0)

4×200 relay: Trent Guthmiller, Jaxon Stoebner, Erick Buechler, Gohering (Carter Fischer, alternate)

• 22nd in field, 1:37.08 (Incoming best: Ipswich, 1:31.30)

4×400 relay: Fergen, Buechler, Adam Munkvold, Guthmiller (Fischer, alternate)

• 17th in field, 3:39.65 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 3:29.29)

4×800 relay: Ulmer, Mirik Vaith, Fergen, Sattler

• 8th in field, 8:40.04 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 8:14.39)

Medley relay: Fergen, Goehring, Sattler, Ulmer

• 6th in field, 3:46.60 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 3:41.46)