STATE TRACK: MOMENTUM, FRIENDSHIPS FUELING FA/MARION, FHS
It was a race that, days later, the coaches were still talking about.
It also reflects the momentum and friendships that track teams from Freeman Academy/Marion and Freeman Public are taking into this week’s South Dakota High School Activities Association’s State Track and Field championships in Sioux Falls.
It happened last Thursday afternoon, May 16 at the Dan Clarke Relays hosted by Hanson and featured the Bearcats’ and the Flyers’ 4×400 relay teams in the final race of the day. Side-by-side they ran through the first, second and third legs, and as FA/Marion’s Keaton Preheim and FHS’s Tate Sorensen approached the tape, it was eithers to win. In fact, the finish was so close that runners from both teams had conflicting opinions about whether Preheim edged Sorensen or Sorensen edged Preheim.
“It was magic, and I don’t know that we could ever recreate that again,” said Suzanne Koerner, head track coach for the Bearcats. “We did not honestly expect to be up there with them. It’s never been our strongest relay and our strategy going in was to improve our time to get it secured for state, because there’s a lot of leapfrogging that happens in that last week of competition, and you can’t be safe at 17th or 19th going into that last-chance meet.
“And they just went with it.”
Not only did the FAM boys improve their time, they did so by nine seconds — a huge margin in a race like the 4×400.
And they won, finishing in 3:33.40 to the Flyers’ 3:33.42.
“I pretty much consider it a tie,” Koerner laughed. “It ranks up very high with anything I’ve ever coached before. It was amazing.”
“Anyone that was at that track meet, they saw an incredible race,” said Amy Sorensen, co-head track coach at Freeman Public with Michael Freeman. “When they finished, everyone was looking at each other. Keaton looked at Tate and said, ‘I think you got me.’ Tate looked at Keaton, ‘No, I think you got me.’ Liam Ortman was like, ‘No, Freeman got us.’ It was back and forth. Teams were loading the bus and Keaton and Tate were standing outside waiting for the announcement, and then they said it. Two one hundredths of a second. It was an incredible race; just special. And the things they said to each other afterwards — the support — just phenomenal.”
That 4×400 race in Hanson last week perfectly represents an energy that will be carried on to Howard Wood Field by track teams from both Freeman Academy/Marion and Freeman Public — which includes the Flyer girls — when the state meet begins Thursday morning, May 25 and concludes Saturday afternoon, May 27.
Between the two schools, the Bearcats and Flyers are sending 11 relay teams and 16 individuals competing in 25 events to Sioux Falls, with many of those poised to turn in podium-worthy performances.
“These are some incredible kids,” said Sorensen. “I love the camaraderie between Freeman Academy/Marion and Freeman Public. Those kids, they love each other and support each other. Like I said, that finish in the 4×400 — you couldn’t have asked for anything better. Even as the third runner was coming in and Tate and Keaton were lined up, they gave each other a fist-bump before they took off.
“It was something.”
Here’s a closer look at what to expect from both teams at Howard Wood Field this week.
FA/MARION
With a number of girls just missing out on the Top-24 Performance List used by the SDHSAA to set the state meet field, Freeman Academy/Marion’s eyes will be squarely on the shoulders of the boys — and there’s going to be plenty to take in.
So much so, that the Bearcats will be in the hunt for what will likely be the strongest team finish in program history.
FA/Marion has qualified all five of its relay teams, with 4×400 going in third in Class B, the 4×800 going in sixth and the medley going in eight. And the 4×100 and 4×200 are just outside of the top eight incoming times, both positioned ninth. Those relay teams are comprised of a combination of Domani Butler, Jackson Donlan, Finley McConniel, Liam Ortman, Keaton Preheim, Tavin Schroeder, Dominic Sperling and Karter Weber.
And individually, the boys are stacked.
Marion junior Finley McConniel goes into the meet with Class B’s top time in the 3200 and is second in the 1600. Classmate Keaton Preheim goes in with the second-fastest time in the 100 and is third in the 300, and senior Tavin Schroeder is sitting third in the 3200 and eighth in the 1600. Should those places remain exactly as they are when the events are over (highly unlikely), those three runners alone would score the Bearcats 39 team points.
All three are products of extremely hard work, with McConniel coming on especially strong as of late.
“He had a major breakthrough a couple of weeks ago when he ran the two-mile at Alcester,” said Koerner, who is working with assistant coaches Billy Beseman and Jerico Shape. “He led the whole race, and in about the fifth lap, he just took off. And ever since then he’s been on fire. In our last meet he improved his mile PR by, I don’t know, 19 seconds? Like, who does that?”
Preheim has come on, too, not only in his speed but in his will to win.
“He’s the kind of guy you always want as the fourth leg of a relay,” the coach says, “not just because he’s the fastest one, but he doesn’t want anyone to beat him. And that’s what you need. If somebody is next to him he will fight and never give up.”
As for Tavin, “he competes well at the big events,” Koerner says. “He’s never had a state meet where he hasn’t surprised me. Sometimes he struggles with some health issues, but he’s feeling pretty great right now. He has to just learn to relax a little bit; sometimes he tries too hard. I think when he runs a little more for the joy of it — and to naturally let it happen — it goes better for him.”
And all three have hardware to their names, including a third- and fifth-place finish for Schroeder and McConniel at last fall’s State Cross-Country Meet. And last year at the state track meet, Schroeder finished second in the 3200 and third in the 1600, Preheim was sixth in he 100 and eighth in the 200, while McConniel locked up eighth in the 3200.
The Bearcats will also be represented in Sioux Falls this week by Domani Butler in the 300 hurdles, Jackson Donlan in the high jump, Schroeder in the 800 and Karter Weber in the triple jump.
“The whole outlook of the season has changed for me,” said Koerner. “Early on I wasn’t even thinking about who might be able to get to state; we had a lot of things to work out.”
Now? Well, the other night before bed Koerner said she counted up potential points — “and I counted a lot of points.”
And her message to the boys going into Sioux Falls?
“Stay in the moment. One thing at a time. And root for each other. Hopefully we can do some good things.”
SETTING THE FAM FIELD
Domani Butler (9)
• 300 hurdles – 13th in field, 43.70 (Incoming best: Luke Campbell, Viborg-Hurley, 39.82)
Jackson Donlan (10)
• High jump – 17th in field, 5-10 (Incoming best: Daniel Mitchell, Gregory, 6-7)
Finley McConniel (11)
• 1600 – 2nd in field, 4:34.87 (Incoming best: Silas Holdeman, Mitchell Christian, 4:29.95)
• 3200 – 1st in field, 10:01.48
Keaton Preheim (11)
• 100 – 2nd in field, 10.98 (Incoming best: Christopher Lee, Colman-Egan, 10.95)
• 200 – 4th in field, 23.14 (Incoming best: Lucas Flemmer, Dell Rapids St. Mary, 22.30)
Tavin Schroeder (12)
• 800 – 12th in field, 2:04.59 (Incoming best: Lincoln Woodring, Northwestern, 1:57.47)
• 1600 – 8th in field, 4:41.77 (Incoming best: Silas Holdeman, Mitchell Christian, 4:29.95)
• 3200 – 3rd in field, 10:11.72 (Incoming best: Finley McConniel, Freeman Academy/Marion, 10:01.48)
Karter Weber (10)
• Triple jump – 11th in field, 40-9 (Incoming best: Iker Diaz Montilla, Burke, 43-10 ¼)
4×100 relay: Dominic Sperling, Liam Ortman, Butler, Donlan (tentative)
• 9th in field, 45.44 (Incoming best: Ipswich, 44.11)
4×200 relay: Sperling, Ortman, Weber, Preheim
• 9th in field, 1:34.06 (Incoming best: Ipswich, 1:31.30)
4×400 relay: Weber, Ortman, Donlan, Sperling (tentative)
• 3rd in field, 3:33.40 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 3:29.29)
4×800 relay: McConniel, Ortman, Donlan, Schroeder (tentative)
• 6th in field, 8:39.25 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 8:14.39)
Medley Relay: Sperling, Preheim, Weber, McConniel
• 8th in field, 3:47.39 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 3:41.46)
FREEMAN PUBLIC
One year ago, the track season at Freeman Public was speeding to an exciting conclusion highlighted by a girls 4×100 relay team that just about upset Colman-Egan at the state meet. Only an anchor carry from speedy junior Daniela Lee lifted the C-Hawks to a slim victory over the Flyers.
Lee is back for one more state meet, but so are the Freeman girls, and the entire Flyers track program appears to be riding the momentum from last season’s inspiring finish in spite of what was a stop-and-go first part of the season.
“We’ve been at this since the second week of March,” said Sorensen. “We had way more indoor practices than we cared to and some windy, windy track meets. Obviously not ideal, but pushing into May we were absolutely locked in.”
That is showing itself through what is a strong slate of state meet events and the potential to turn in some head-turning performances.
Between the boys and the girls, the Flyers are competing in seven relays, with six of those posting top-eight times in Class B going in. That includes the boys’ 4×100 relay team that finished second at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays earlier this month — they’re fifth in the state-meet field — and the boys 4×200 relay team that is sitting second in Class B. Both sprint relays are made up of Chris Aasen, Rocky Ammann, Luke Peters and Tate Sorensen.
The boys 4×400 is sitting fourth in Class B, while the girls 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 relays are fourth, sixth and fifth, respectively. Those teams are made up of Vaida Ammann, Zenovia Butler, Cadence Hofer, Peyton McCune and Makenzie Scharberg.
The Flyers and their fans will also keep their eye on Rylee Peters, a freshman who was second in the 100 and 300 hurdles last season and third in both races as a seventh grader.
“Her track career has been remarkable, but she has had to get over some hurdles (figuratively) this year,” said Sorensen. “She just needed to remember that these are races she has run since she was 12. She’s seen some competition locally and we just needed to remind her that she needs to run her race and keep her focus on what she knows she can do, and not overthink it.”
And that may be getting through.
Peters last week achieved one of her goals by breaking the school record in the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.22 — a record that has been held since 1990 when Dawn Farden clocked a 47.42.
“It’s good for her to be pushed,” Sorensen said. “She’s just a freshman and she has lots of track ahead of her — lots of goals yet to be reached.”
Peters is also part of the 4×100 relay that, on the same day that Peters set the school record in the 300 hurdles, tied the school record of 52.06 set in 2010 by Allison Wynia, Kristina Nash, Carli Lager and Taylor Waltner.
In addition to Peters, this year’s record-setting team includes Zenovia Butler, Vaida Ammann and Makenzie Scharberg and is further proof that the Flyers just keep getting better — and are highly motivated.
“They’ve got goals; they’ve had them since last year when state ended,” Sorensen said. “It ended on a high note but there’s still that missing piece of what could have been, and they’ve felt that this year. It’s lit a fire, and like they have said, we’re not finished.”
The same holds true with the boys, who after a successful showing at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays, said they were happy but not satisfied.
“For them to say something like that, it just lets us know that they are working toward something,” Sorensen said. “They want to be on that (team) podium, and I feel that they’re locked in to get there.”
Eyes this year will also be on Rocky Ammann, a senior who goes into the state meet second in the pole vault and is part of three relay teams. Sorensen noted that Ammann passed on two open events in which he was one of the top contenders — the 200 and the javelin — to be part of the relay teams instead.
“Two things I’ve seen with Rocky,” said Michael Freeman, who is in his first year as a track coach at Freeman Public. “The first thing is maturity, as a runner and as a person. And then, of course, his athletic ability.”
“And he’s used it this year in all the things he’d done and tried,” said Sorensen. “His leadership in all those events has been amazing, and when it came down to having to choose four, for him to choose relays over his open events, that show’s a lot of character and — like Coach Freeman said — maturity.”
The Flyers will also be represented in a host of other open events.
For the girls, Butler will run in the 100, freshman Cadence Hofer is a triple qualifier in open events and will compete in the 300 hurdles, long jump and triple jump, and Scharberg — also a freshman — will run the 100 and compete in the long jump.
On the boys side of the ledger, senior Jorgen Baer will once again compete in the pole vault — the University of Mary-commit (Bismarck, N.D.) tied for eighth as a sophomore in 2022 and last season tied for sixth — and also the triple jump. Eighth grader Brayden Mangel will run the 800, eighth grader Lane McCune will compete in the 1600 and 3200, sophomores Peters and Sorensen will represent the Flyers in the 200 and 400, respectively; Sorensen goes into his race with the seventh-best time in Class B.
All of this comes at the end of what has been another energizing season for Flyers track and field fueled by team camaraderie, friendship and encouragement. That cocktail has produced too many memorable moments to name just one.
“Where would you like to start?” says Freeman.
The Flyers’ successful season has been built, not on team championships at track meets or dominant performances, but rather on personal growth, satisfaction and pleasant surprises.
Sorensen starts dropping names: Lane McCune, Talon Pitchford, Rocky, Riley, Vaida, seventh grader Olivia Schultz; “I could drop a sixth grader name right now,” she says. “Honestly, the whole season we’re like, ‘wow.’ What these kids have been able to do has been pretty incredible.”
“It’s a fairly small group, even though we’ve got a large eighth grade group coming up,” said Freeman. “They are tight-knit, they’re all friends, they encourage each other …”
“The support is there,” said Sorensen. “They’ve been very good about rounding the track, going to field events, finding somebody to cheer on. They’ve been very supportive of each other, even as we’ve put together this state meet and what it will look like.”
The Flyers are hoping all of the work and excitement will pay off this week.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I saw at the beginning of the year compared to now, or even the past couple of weeks,” said Freeman. “They’re just more focused; they know they can compete — and win.”
SETTING THE FHS FIELD
GIRLS
Zenovia Butler (12)
• 100 – 22nd in field, 13.37 (Incoming best: Chloe Raw, Arlington, 12.03)
Cadence Hofer (9)
• 300 hurdles – 20th in field, 50.97 (Incoming best: Ashton Massey, Menno, 45.06)
• Long jump – 23rd in field, 15-8 (Incoming best: Courtney Sees, Avon, 17-5)
• Triple jump – 9th in field, 33-6 (Incoming best: Ashton Massey, Menno, 37-0)
Rylee Peters (9)
• 100 hurdles – 3rd in field, 15.46 (Incoming best: Piper Hanson, Burke, 15.04)
• 300 hurdles – 6th in field, 47.22 (Incoming best: Ashton Massey, Menno, 45.06)
Makenzie Scharberg (9)
• 100 – 14th in field, 13.12 (Incoming best: Chloe Raw, Arlington, 12.03)
• Long jump – 12th in field, 16-6 (Incoming best: Courtney Sees, Avon, 17-5)
4×100 relay: Butler, Peters, Vaida Ammann, Scharberg
• 4th in field, 52.06 (Incoming best: Herreid/Selby Area, 51.47)
4×200 relay: Butler, Peyton McCune, Ammann, Scharberg
• 6th in field, 1:49.98 (Incoming best: Burke, 1:47.95
4×400 relay: Hofer, Peters, Ammann, Butler
• 5th in field, 4:14.40 (Incoming best: Potter County, 4:08.64)
BOYS
Rocky Ammann (12)
• Pole vault – 2nd in field, 12-3 (Incoming best: Rasmus Loken, Ipswich, 13-0)
Jorgen Baer (12)
• Pole vault – 11th in field, 11-3 (Incoming best: Rasmus Loken, Ipswich, 13-0)
• Triple jump – 24th in field, 39-3 ¾ (Incoming best: Iker Diaz Montilla, Burke, 43-10 ¼)
Brayden Mangel (8)
• 800 – 24th in field, 2:08.74 (Incoming best: Lincoln Woodring, Northwestern, 1:57.47)
Lane McCune (8)
• 1600 – 18th in field, 4:53.38 (Incoming best: Silas Holdeman, Mitchell Christian, 4:29.95)
• 3200 – 11th in field, 10:43.60 (Incoming best: Finley McConniel, Freeman Academy/Marion, 10:01.48)
Luke Peters (10)
• 200 – 18th in field, 23.69 (Incoming best: Lucas Flemmer, Dell Rapids St. Mary, 22.30)
Talon Pitchford (11)
• Pole vault – 23rd in field, 9-9 (Incoming best: Rasmus Loken, Ipswich, 13-0)
Tate Sorensen (10)
• 400 – 7th in field, 52.18 (Incoming best: Lucas Flemmer, Dell Rapids St. Mary, 50.50)
4×100 relay: Chris Aasen, Ammann, Peters, Sorensen
• 5th in field, 45.00 (Incoming best: Ipswich, 44.11)
4×200 relay: Aasen, Ammann, Peters, Sorensen
• 2nd in field, 1:32.45 (Incoming best: Ipswich, 1:31.30)
4×400 relay: Ammann, Peters, Aasen, Sorensen
• 4th in field, 3:33.42 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 3:29.29)
Medley relay: Aasen, Mangel, Luke Miller, Brody Sorensen
• 21st in field, 3:54.02 (Incoming best: Deubrook Area, 3:41.46)
