Relay-ing the good news

The New Rockford-Sheyenne track and field team made their final trek to Rugby on Friday, May 19 to compete at the North Central Region meet. This was the last meet that athletes could qualify for the Class B State Track Meet on May 25-27, with either state-qualifying times and/or distances or placing in the top three for any event.

The Rockets had a great showing at the meet, with six individual state-qualifiers followed by four girls' relay teams and three boys' relay teams. Four meet records were broken, as well as two New Rockford-Sheyenne school records.

Let's start off with the two events that broke school records. Most readers probably remember the girls' 4x100-meter relay team breaking the school record at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays meet on May 5-6, that was originally set back in 1992 by Nicole Lange, Heather Taverna, Rachel Otto and Bobbi Boyle.

Well, that record was yet again broken. Ava Peterson, Jaida Schumacher, Emmie Belquist and Kelsie Belquist broke the record on May 5-6 with a time of 51.16 seconds. With 31-hundredths to spare, Lucy Meier, Jaida Schumacher, E. Belquist and K. Belquist broke the record with a time of 50.85 seconds. Their time also broke the meet record, which was set by the 4x100-meter relay team from Bottineau in 2021 – Erin Guariglia, Sabra Peterson, Kylie Simpson and Morgan Schweitzer – with a time of 52.16 seconds.

The girls' 4x200-meter relay team also broke both the school record and meet record. The 4x200-meter relay school record was set back in 1988 by Mary Kay Lange, Penny Vorland, Julie Laber and Lana Vorland with a time of 1:47.41. The girls' relay team of Katie Allmaras, Jaida Schumacher, E. Belquist and K. Belquist beat the record by 40-hundredths of a second, with a time of 1:47.01. This time also beat the North Central Region meet record, which was set in 2021 by the same girls who made up the 4x100-meter relay Bottineau team with a time of 1:48.77.

K. Belquist delivered outstanding performance in individual events as well, with first-place finishes in both the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles with state-qualifying times in both. She also set meet records in both events, with a time of 24.43 seconds in the 200-meter dash and a time of 14.65 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. In both events, she broke her own records from last year, which were 25.70 seconds in the 200-meter dash and 14.93 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. Overall, K. Belquist has state-qualified in six individual events – the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and long jump.

Also earning a chance at the state meet in individual events for the girls' team were E. Belquist and Peterson. Peterson had previously state-qualified in girls' javelin at the CNDC Outdoor back on May 9 with a throw of 118 feet, 9 inches. At the region meet, Peterson took first place overall with a throw of 110-9. E. Belquist ran a personal record time of 49.32 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. She finished in second place and earned a spot at the state meet.

The girls' 4x400-meter relay team will also be competing at the state meet. K. Allmaras, Jaida Schumacher, K. Belquist and E. Belquist first state-qualified in this event on April 29 at the Mariya Tate Memorial meet with a time of 4:15.51. K. Allmaras, Paige Knatterud, Peterson and L. Meier made up the 4x400-meter relay team that finished in fifth place overall at regionals with a time of 4:42.03.

Other top placings for the girls' team came from Jaida Schumacher, Lora Wobbema, L. Meier, K. Allmaras, E. Belquist and Peterson.

L. Meier, Jaida Schumacher and K. Allmaras competed alongside one another in the girls' 100-meter dash and placed fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Jaida Schumacher also competed in the 400-meter dash and finished in fifth place with a time of 1:03.70. K. Allmaras threw the javelin a total of 95-1 to finish in seventh place overall.

Wobbema took sixth place in girls' discus with a throw of 86-2. E. Belquist competed in long jump and took ninth place with a jump of 14-6.75 and Peterson placed seventh in girls' triple with a distance of 30-6.

The girls' team finished in third place overall with a total of 80 points.

On to the boys' team.

Trevor Waldo, the lone senior for the Rockets, was the only first place finisher for the boys' team. Waldo took first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.65 seconds and earned a spot at the state meet. Waldo also competed in both boys' long jump and high jump. Overall, he took third place with a state-qualifying jump of 21 flat in long jump and he took fourth place in high jump with a jump of 5-6.

The Rocket boys' 4x200-meter relay team – Porter Granger, Waldo, Easton Benz and Connor Knatterud – state-qualified on May 5-6 at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays meet with a time of 1:35.16. Granger, Malaki Kukowski, Bennett Meier and C. Knatterud ran the 4x200-meter relay at the region meet and took fifth place with a time of 1:39.49.

Granger, Waldo, Benz and C. Knatterud also state-qualified in the 4x100-meter relay at the Bowman County Invite on April 11 with a time of 45.68 seconds. Granger, B. Meier, Lucas Yri and C. Knatterud ran the boys' 4x100-meter relay at the region meet with a time of 47.33 seconds to take fourth place overall.

Also earning state-qualifications for the boys' team were the 4x400-meter relay and the 4x800-meter relay. Both teams took third place overall, making both eligible to compete at the state meet. C. Knatterud, Waldo, Lucas Yri and Benz made up the 4x400-meter relay team that took third place with a time of 3:41.57. The 4x800-meter relay team – Benz, Easton Simon, Yri and Jackson Schumacher – finished in third place with a time of 9:10.38.

Prior to the 4x800 event, Jackson Schumacher competed at a region qualifier meet for golf in Carrington. After state-qualifying for golf with a score of 73, he raced to Rugby to earn a state-qualification in the 4x800-meter relay with his team.

And last, but certainly not least, C. Knatterud earned a spot at the state meet with a third-place finish in the boys' 200-meter dash with a time of 23.56 seconds.

NR-S junior thrower, DJ Mudgett, came in one place shy of state-qualifying in boys' discus with a fourth-place distance of 120 even. Mudgett also took sixth place in boys' shot put with a throw of 42-5.

Other top 10 placers for the boys' team were Benz, Simon, B. Meier and Thomas Allmaras.

Benz competed in the 100-meter dash and finished in fourth place with a time of 11.94 seconds, and T. Allmaras placed seventh overall in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.82 seconds. Simon and B. Meier each brought home an eighth-place finish, with Simon in the 800-meter (2:26.30) and B. Meier in high jump (5-4).

Overall, the boys' team took seventh with a total of 65 points.

At the closing of the meet, awards were given out to the North Central Region senior athletes of the year, as well as the coaches of the year. Janikka Miller of Rugby was named the girls’ senior athlete of the year, whereas Gabe Allmaras of Harvey/Wells County was named the boys’ senior athlete of the year. NR-S head coach, Elliott Belquist, received the girls' coach of the year award and Rugby coach, Scott Grochow, was named the boys’ coach of the year.

The Class B State Track and Field Meet will take place on May 25-27 at the MDU Resources Community Bowl located on the Bismarck State College campus. Full results from this event will be included in the June 5 edition of the New Rockford Transcript.

North Central Region

Friday, May 19

at Rugby

Girls' Team Scores

Rugby 214, Bottineau 150, New Rockford-Sheyenne 80, Benson County 75, Harvey/Wells County 64, Velva-Drake/Anamoose 56, Rolette/Wolford 32, North Star 27, Northern Lights 14, Glenburn 13, Westhope/Newburg 9, Dunseith 1.

NR-S Girls' Individual Results

100-Meter Dash: Lucy Meier (5th), 13.53; Jaida Schumacher (7th), 13.69; Katie Allmaras (8th), 13.80; Paige Knatterud (16th), 14.48; Karsyn Wetzel (20th), 14.84

200-Meter Dash: Kelsie Belquist (1st), 24.43*; L. Meier (12th), 29.72; Wetzel (16th), 30.52; P. Knatterud (17th), 30.74; Trysta Thumb (27th), 34.30

400-Meter Dash: Jaida Schumacher (5th), 1:03.70

100-Meter Hurdles: K. Belquist (1st), 14.65

300-Meter Hurdles: Emmie Belquist (2nd), 49.32*

4x100-Meter Relay: L. Meier, Jaida Schumacher, E. Belquist, K. Belquist (1st), 50.85*

4x200-Meter Relay: K. Allmaras, Jaida Schumacher, E. Belquist, K. Belquist (1st), 1:47.01*

4x400-Meter Relay: K. Allmaras, P. Knatterud, Ava Peterson, L. Meier (5th), 4:42.03

Shot Put: Thumb (13th), 27-1; Lora Wobbema (17th), 25-2; Addysen Fandrich (21st), 24-10; Ava Bullinger (40th), 20-5

Discus: L. Wobbema (6th), 86-2; Fandrich (18th), 72-10; Thumb (19th), 72-7; Bullinger (38th), 53-2

Javelin: Peterson (1st), 110-9*; K. Allmaras (7th), 95-1

Long Jump: E. Belquist (9th), 14-6.75

Triple Jump: Peterson (7th), 30-6

Boys’ Team Scores

Rugby 188, Bottineau 102, Harvey/Wells County 96, Benson County 81, Velva-Drake/Anamoose 78, North Star 66, New Rockford-Sheyenne 65, Northern Lights 25, Glenburn 14, Rolette/Wolford 10, Dunseith 1.

NR-S Boys’ Individual Results

100-Meter Dash: Trevor Waldo (1st), 11.65*; Easton Benz (4th), 11.94; Porter Granger (11th), 12.25; Thomas Allmaras (19th), 12.74; Malaki Kukowski (23rd), 12.90

200-Meter Dash: Connor Knatterud (3rd), 23.56; T. Allmaras (17th), 26.44; Vinnie Ruppell (25th), 28.24; Aaden Benson (26th), 28.86; Kukowski, SCR

400-Meter Dash: T. Allmaras (7th), 58.82; Kason Nass (16th), 1:06.69; Benson (17th), 1:07.40

800-Meter Run: Easton Simon (8th), 2:26.30; Thaddison Wobbema (17th), 2:57.51; Jackson Schumacher, SCR

1,600-Meter Run: Ruppell (14th), 6:09.55

4x100-Meter Relay: Granger, Bennett Meier, Lucas Yri, C. Knatterud (4th), 47.33

4x200-Meter Relay: Granger, Kukowski, B. Meier, C. Knatterud (5th), 1:39.49

4x400-Meter Relay: C. Knatterud, Waldo, Yri, Benz (3rd), 3:41.57*

4x800-Meter Relay: Benz, Simon, Yri, Jackson Schumacher (3rd), 9:10.38*

Shot Put: DJ Mudgett (6th), 42-5; Brody Weisenburger (21st), 34-0; Layton Jacobson (29th), 30-6; Kolton O’Connor (31st), 30-3; Chaztin Wobbema (39th), 26-4

Discus: Mudgett (4th), 120-0; Weisenburger (26th), 81-2; O’Connor (31st), 70-7; C. Wobbema (32nd), 69-10; Jacobson (34th), 66-5

Javelin: Weisenburger (21st), 83-10

High Jump: Waldo (4th), 5-6; B. Meier (8th), 5-4

Long Jump: Waldo (3rd), 21-0*; T. Allmaras (16th), 17-9; Kukowski (19th), 17-3.5

Triple Jump: Granger (13th), 34-6