Rocketing to state track

NR-S athletes add five state qualifications at North Central Region meet

Kyrie O'Connor | May 30, 2022

Kyrie O'Connor count

Paige Knatterud hands off the baton to NR-S senior, Kennedy Demester, during the 4x200-meter relay. The relay team finished in sixth place with a time of 2:01.50.

Kyrie O'Connor count

Freshman, Brody Weisenburger, throws shot during the North Central Region meet on Saturday, May 21. Weisenburger threw a total of 26'11.5", taking 26th place overall.

Kyrie O'Connor count

Kelsie Belquist embraces her sister, Emmie, after completing the 4x400-meter relay race, taking first place and earning a chance to compete at state track.

The final regular season track meet of the 2022 season has come to an end. A total of 23 Rocket athletes and three Warwick athletes competed at the North Central Region track meet in Rugby on Saturday, May 21.

Of those 23 NR-S athletes, nine have earned a chance to compete at the State Track meet on May 26-28. Those athletes are: Katie Allmaras, Kelsie Belquist, Emmie Belquist, Easton Benz, Porter Granger, Kaden Jensen, Connor Knatterud, Lucy Meier and Ava Peterson.

At this meet, the relay races were the main focus. NR-S track coach, Elliott Belquist, wanted the Rockets to be able to compete in a few more events at state track, and that's exactly what he got. Top three placings at the North Central Region meet were guaranteed spots at State Track.

Granger, Benz, C. Knatterud and Jensen made up both the boys' 4x100-meter relay and the boys' 4x200-meter relay team. The boys placed second in both of these events, just under a second shy in both the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x200-meter relay to the Rugby relay teams. These boys also competed in the 4x400-meter relay, where they took fourth place behind Gabe Allmaras, Harrison Lies, Jadyn Vollmer and Kayl Sieg of Harvey/Wells County.

The Rockets' 4x800-meter relay team was made up of Lucas Yri, Vincent Ruppell, Bradyn Collier and Keaton Cudworth. This relay team took sixth place, with a time of 10:13.04.

Jensen and C. Knatterud also competed alongside one another in the 100-meter dash. Before the start of the event, Jensen and C. Knatterud were made aware that Madden Thorson of Harvey/Wells County wasn't competing, so they were considered as two of the top three runners in that event. Thorson recently underwent surgery, so he was unable to compete in the region meet.

Jensen and Isaac Friese of Harvey/Wells County finished the race nearly at the same time, but Friese beat Jensen with a time of 11.92 seconds to take third place, and Jensen took fourth with a time of 11.95 seconds. Once they were standing at the finish line, Jensen and Friese both looked at each other and grinned, because they knew just how close that race was. C. Knatterud came in seventh place with a time of 12.27 seconds.

Sportsmanship in the North Central Region is impeccable. Bottineau senior, Trasen Pollman, was seen patting multiple competitors on the back after the 100-meter dash, including his old classmate, Jensen. Pollman came in behind Jensen in the 100-meter dash, taking fifth place with a time of 12.14 seconds. Pollman and his teammates in the 4x400-meter relay also attended the state track meet on May 26-28, so Transcript readers will hear about this New Rockford native yet again in the June 6 edition of the New Rockford Transcript.

The final state-bound event for the Rockets was high jump. Granger competed in this event, and tied for second place with Erik Foster of Rugby, obtaining his personal best jump of 5'8".

K. Belquist competed in the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles, taking first place in both events with times of 25.70 seconds in the 200-meter dash and 14.93 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. K. Belquist also set the North Dakota Class B North Central Region records in both the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles. K. Belquist set the previous record in the 200-meter dash in 2021 with a time of 26.01 seconds. Kylie Engebretson of Velva-Drake/Anamoose had held the record in the 100-meter hurdles since 2012, with a time of 15.97 seconds.

K. Belquist also competed alongside Meier, K. Allmaras and E. Belquist in the 4x400-meter relay race. Usually, K. Belquist runs as the anchor of the relay races, but coach Belquist had other plans for this meet. Coach Belquist told E. Belquist, that Kelsie would gain a big lead as the third runner and that Emmie would need to hold that lead as the final runner. And E. Belquist did just that. The entire Rocket team was standing near the finish line cheering her on, in hopes that the Rugby competitor wouldn't pass her. The girls' 4x400-meter relay team took first place with a time of 4:21.79. At the end of the race, K. Belquist embraced her sister with a hug, congratulating her on finishing the race in first. Meier also embraced E. Belquist with joy.

The final event that the Rockets girls added to the state-qualification list was javelin. Peterson and K. Allmaras were top-10 placers in the event. K. Allmaras placed eighth with a personal best of 85'7". Peterson, however, took third place with a throw of 97'6", earning a chance to compete at state.

E. Belquist competed in long jump, taking 10th place with a jump of 14'11". She also competed in the 300-meter hurdles, and finished in ninth place with a time of 54.28 seconds.

Meier competed in the 100-meter dash, and took seventh place with a time of 14.09 seconds.

Also finishing in the top-10 for the Rockets, were the girls' 4x100-meter relay team and the 4x200-meter relay team. The 4x100-meter relay team was made up of K. Allmaras, Demester, E. Belquist and K. Belquist. The team placed fifth with a time of 54.30 seconds. Peterson, Paige Knatterud, Demester and K. Allmaras made up the 4x200-meter relay team and finished in sixth place with a time of 2:01.50.

Both the girls' and boys' teams placed seventh overall in the North Central Region.

Madden Thorson of Harvey/Wells County was announced as the North Central Region male athlete of the year and Danielle Hagler of North Star was announced as the female athlete of the year.

Elliott Belquist of New Rockford-Sheyenne and Kim Thorson of Harvey/Wells County were awarded male and female coaches of the year, respectively.

Congratulations to all! Keep an eye out for the state track meet results in the June 6 edition of the New Rockford Transcript.

North Central Region

Saturday, May 21

at Johnsen Field

in Rugby

Girls' Team Scores

Rugby 231, Bottineau 112, Benson County 89, Velva-Drake/Anamoose 76, Harvey/Wells County 71, North Star 60, New Rockford-Sheyenne 46, Rolette/Wolford 22, Northern Lights 17, Glenburn 10, Westhope/Newburg 1.

NR-S Girls' Individual Results

100-Meter Dash: Lucy Meier (7th), 14.09; Paige Knatterud (15th), 15.35

200-Meter Dash: Kelsie Belquist (1st), 25.70*; Addison Wallace, SCR

100-Meter Hurdles: K. Belquist (1st), 14.93*; Wallace (14th), 24.63

300-Meter Hurdles: Emmie Belquist (9th), 54.28; Ava Peterson (14th), 58.20

4x100-Meter Relay: Katie Allmaras, Kennedy Demester, E. Belquist, K. Belquist (5th), 54.30

4x200-Meter Relay: Peterson, Paige Knatterud, Demester, K. Allmaras (6th), 2:01.50

4x400-Meter Relay: Meier, K. Allmaras, K. Belquist, E. Belquist (1st), 4:21.79*

Shot Put: Lora Wobbema (19th), 25'2.5"; Addysen Fandrich (25th), 23'10.5"; Trysta Thumb (28th), 23'2"

Discus: Fandrich (21st), 68'7"; Wobbema (22nd), 68'0"; Thumb (32nd), 56'3"

Javelin: Peterson (3rd), 97'6"; K. Allmaras (8th), 85'7"; Thumb (15th), 71'3"; Demester (20th) 66'5"

Long Jump: E. Belquist (10th), 14'11"; Wobbema (18th), 11'8"; Wallace (21st), 11'1.5"

Warwick Girls' Individual Results

100-Meter Dash: Bella Baer (24th), 16.38

200-Meter Dash: Baer (20th), 34.15

400-Meter Dash: Baer (15th), 1:19.12

Boys' Team Scores

Rugby 213, Harvey/Wells County 171, Northern Lights 65, Bottineau 61, Velva-Drake/Anamoose 58, Benson County 56, New Rockford-Sheyenne 45, North Star 29, Glenburn 21, Rolette/Wolford 14, Dunseith 1.

NR-S Boys' Individual Results

100-Meter Dash: Kaden Jensen (4th), 11.95; Connor Knatterud (7th), 12.27; Bradyn Collier (18th), 13.19; Thomas Allmaras (24th), 14.39

200-Meter Dash: Collier (22nd), 27.57; T. Allmaras (26th), 29.73

400-Meter Dash: Keaton Cudworth (14th) 1:03.10; T. Allmaras (16th), 1:05.13

800-Meter Run: Vincent Ruppell (11th), 2:42.49

4x100-Meter Relay: Porter Granger, Easton Benz, C. Knatterud, Jensen (2nd), 46.85*

4x200-Meter Relay: Granger, Benz, C. Knatterud, Jensen (2nd), 1:37.05*

4x400-Meter Relay: C. Knatterud, Lucas Yri, Benz, Jensen (4th), 3:46.58

4x800-Meter Relay: Yri, Ruppell, Collier, Cudworth (6th), 10:13.04

Shot Put: DJ Mudgett (15th), 33'11"; Brody Weisenburger (26th), 26'11.5"

Discus: Mudgett (17th), 73'7"; Weisenburger (24th), 64'4"

High Jump: Granger (2nd), 5'8"