Record time

And just like that, track season is officially done for the year.

A total of 15 New Rockford-Sheyenne athletes qualified for the North Dakota Class B State Track and Field Meet on May 25-27. Out of the 15, one brought home a state championship along with many broken records.

Yes, you guessed correctly. It was NR-S junior, Kelsie Belquist. And it was not just one, but four state championships.

The NR-S track star had quite a bumpy start. Literally. Belquist's first event on Friday, May 26, was the 300-meter hurdle prelims. Belquist zoomed out of the starting blocks and leaped over the first hurdle like it was nothing, but hurdle number two is where she had to – quite literally – "tuck and roll."

She had tripped over the hurdle and hit the ground. However, typical of any great champion, Belquist didn't let a little adversity keep her from greatness. She got up, started running again, and swiftly moved back into the lead to take first place in her heat with a time of 45.86 seconds.

This little "bump" in the road didn't seem to bother Belquist whatsoever. She continued on like nothing had happened, and still ran her best times following that event.

"Honestly it all happened so fast I barely had time to think," said Belquist about the moment. "But what I can remember is thinking 'oh crap.' I thought I went out of my lane, but one of the flag officials was yelling I was good, so I just kept running."

Belquist then went on to set a new Class B girls' record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.23 seconds. Grace Zimmerman of Hazen set this record in 2018 with a time of 56.50. Belquist also broke the NR-S school record in the girls' 400-meter dash, which was set by herself in 2022 with a time of 56.44 seconds.

Next up were the 100-meter hurdles. Belquist yet again took first place with another Class B girls' record and a NR-S school record with her time of 14.08 seconds. Whitney Carlson of Carrington set the Class B girls' 100-meter hurdle record back in 2005 with her time of 14.33 seconds. Belquist broke her own NR-S school record time of 14.77 seconds that was set back in 2022.

Belquist's final event of the day was the 200-meter dash, and this one was particularly special. She ran the event in 23.99 seconds to become the first-ever North Dakota female athlete to run the 200-meter dash in under 24 seconds. Needless to say, she advanced to the finals with a new Class B record, an overall girls' record, an MDU Resources Community Bowl record and a NR-S school record.

"It never really occurred to me that nobody had done that," said Belquist. "After they said that ... I got a little teary eyed because it was so unexpected and a huge accomplishment."

The previous record holder for the Overall girls record in the 200-meter dash was Morgan Milbrath of Minot High, set back in 2010. Laura Roesler of Fargo South set the MDU Resources Community Bowl record back in 2010 with her time of 24.01 seconds. The other records Belquist broke in the 200-meter dash were her own.

Belquist went on to excel in finals on day three, defending all four of her state championships from 2022 – earning her the title "State Champ x4," yet again.

In the finals of the 300-meter hurdles, Belquist ran a personal best time of 41.48 seconds, another history-making performance that sent records tumbling.

"With Kelsie, the only record we were really looking at was being in the 41's for the 300 hurdles," said Elliot Belquist, Kelsie's dad and head coach of NR-S Track and Field. "That was a number she had been working toward all year and to see her finally achieve it was sure a special moment."

In the finals of the 200-meter dash, Belquist had bettered her time from the day prior by four hundredths, completing the event in 23.95 seconds and breaking her 1-day-old records.

It was an amazing weekend for Belquist, who's beginning to earn some serious recognition in the world of Track and Field. And she's got dreams and goals that go far beyond state championships.

"Everyone obviously has dreams and I think that one of mine would be trying to make it to the Olympics," said Belquist. "It seems far-fetched now, but so did running a 23 in the 200! I have been talking to a few colleges and I am excited to see where that takes me. I plan on continuing track in college and hopefully taking it further."

Meanwhile, NR-S freshman Ava Peterson was the other NR-S girl to add points to the Rockets' final score of the day. Peterson competed in the Class B girls' javelin event and took fifth place with a throw of 110 feet, 6 inches.

Also competing on the girls' side were Emmie Belquist, Lucy Meier, Katie Allmaras and Jaida Schumacher. E. Belquist competed alongside her sister, Kelsie, in the 300-meter hurdles and took 17th place overall with a time of 48.86 seconds. E. Belquist, Meier, K. Allmaras and Jaida Schumacher all made up the girls relay teams: the 4x100, the 4x200 and the 4x400.

Although the girls' relay teams did not make finals, they performed well. See their full results on page A7.

Overall, the Rockets girls' team finished in third place with a total of 44 points. Central McLean and Central Cass both tied for first place with a total of 46 points.

On the boys' side of things, NR-S junior Connor Knatterud was the top placer. Knatterud competed in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. He took sixth place overall in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.37 seconds and 11th place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.85 seconds.

Knatterud also ran as the anchor in the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x200-meter relay alongside Porter Granger, Trevor Waldo and Easton Benz.

In the prelims of the 4x100-meter relay, the boys broke the NR-S school record with a time of 44.31 seconds. The record was set back in 2022 by Granger, Knatterud, Benz and Kaden Jensen with a time of 44.55 seconds. The boys' 4x100-meter relay team took fourth place in finals with a time of 44.62 seconds.

As for the 4x200-meter relay, the boys ran a new NR-S school record time of 1:33.76 during the prelims on Thursday afternoon to take first place in their heat. With this time, the boys moved on to compete in the finals on Saturday, where they took seventh place overall with an even better time of 1:33.10. The NR-S school record for this event was set back in 1989 by Scott Heckaman, Jeff Ingwaldson, Scott Bekken and Mike Enockson with a time of 1:34.50.

"The 4x200 boys' relay was one that surprised me after they broke it," said Head Coach Elliot Belquist. "They were a few seconds away from it coming in, and knew they needed a good race to do it. Easton had a minor setback with an injury leading up to the meet, but he sure gutted it out and they performed well to get that record."

Waldo, the lone senior for the Rockets, competed alongside Knatterud in the 100-meter dash. With a time of 11.49 seconds, he took 18th place overall. Waldo also competed in the Class B boys' long jump along with Granger. Waldo jumped a total of 19 feet, 8.25 inches to take 19th place. Granger jumped a total of 17 feet, 11.5 inches and finished in 32nd place.

Also competing for the boys' team were Lucas Yri, Thomas Allmaras, Easton Simon, Jackson Schumacher and Bennett Meier.

Yri, T. Allmaras, Simon and Jackson Schumacher made up the boys' 4x400-meter relay team. The boys finished in 21st place overall with a time of 3:59.06. Jackson Schumacher, B. Meier, Simon and Yri ran the 4x800-meter relay and took 22nd place with a time of 9:24.87.

The boys' team tied for 23rd place with Ellendale after earning 10 points.

At the end of the third day, awards were handed out to the senior athletes of the year and coaches of the year.

New Rockford-Sheyenne head coach Elliott Belquist was awarded with the Class B girls' track and field coach of the year.

"To get those awards speaks highly of the people surrounding you," said Elliot. "I have great coaches working with me and without them we wouldn't have the team we do. NR-S track is turning heads around the state and that is what I am most proud of. We have a nice young team, and if we can keep that all interested and hungry, I feel like we have a chance to do special things in the future."

About the season overall, Belquist added, "We felt like we had a very good season with both boys and girls. Had great participation and the kids were hungry to improve each and every meet."

NDHSAA Class B State Track & Field Meet

May 25-27, 2023

at MDU Resources

Community Bowl

in Bismarck

Class B Girls' Team Scores

Central McLean 46, Central Cass 46, New Rockford-Sheyenne 44, Bowman County 38, Carrington 38, Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark 36, Oak Grove Lutheran 35, Hatton-Northwood 32, Lisbon 31, Rugby 30, Beulah 25, Shiloh Christian 25, Kindred 23, Bottineau 21, Oakes 19, Killdeer 17, Southern McLean 16, Hazen 15, Grafton 14, Hettinger County 14, Drayton/Valley-Edinburg 14, Kidder County 13, Kenmare-Bowbells 13, Dickinson Trinity 13, Velva-Drake/Anamoose 12, Ellendale 10, May-Port-C-G 10, Grant County/Flasher 9, Edgeley/Kulm 8, Garrison 8, Northern Cass 9, Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich 8, Enderlin 8, Griggs-Midkota 6, Richardton-Taylor 5, Surrey 4, LaMoure/Litchville-Marion 4, Pembina County North 4, Hillsboro/Central Valley 3, North Star 3, Trenton 3, New Salem-Almont 3, Powers Lake-Burke Central 2, Rolette/Wolford 2, Benson County 1, Wyndmere-Lidgerwood 1, Sargent County 1.

NR-S Girls' Individual Results

200-Meter Dash: Kelsie Belquist (1st), 23.94

400-Meter Dash: K. Belquist (1st), 56.23

100-Meter Hurdles: K. Belquist (1st), 14.36

300-Meter Hurdles: K. Belquist (1st), 41.48; Emmie Belquist (17th), 48.86

4x100-Meter Relay: Lucy Meier, Katie Allmaras, Jaida Schumacher, E. Belquist (10th), 51.97

4x200-Meter Relay: L. Meier, K. Allmaras, Jaida Schumacher, E. Belquist (13th), 1:49.79

4x400-Meter Relay: E. Belquist, L. Meier, K. Allmaras, Jaida Schumacher (15th), 4:20.07

Javelin: Ava Peterson (5th), 110-6

Class B Boys' Team Scores

Kindred 124, Bowman County 101, Hillsboro/Central Valley 86, Carrington 36, Shiloh Christian 35, Dickinson Trinity 32, Lisbon 29, Hazen 23, North Star 22, Harvey/Wells County 17, May-Port-C-G 17, Rugby 16, Oak Grove Lutheran 15, Garrison 15, Northern Cass 14, Powers Lake-Burke Central 14, Central Cass 13, Grant County/Flasher 11, Killdeer 11, Beulah 11, Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark 11, Sargent County 11, New Rockford-Sheyenne 10, Ellendale 10, New Town 9, Central McLean 8, Glen Ullin/Hebron 7.5, Edgeley/Kulm 5.5, Stanley 5, LaMoure/Litchville-Marion 5, Griggs-Midkota 4, Southern McLean 2, Standing Rock 2, Grafton 2, Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 2, Velva-Drake/Anamoose 2, Heart River 1, Larimore 1, Hettinger County 1.

NR-S Boys' Individual Results

100-Meter Dash: Connor Knatterud (6th), 11.37; Trevor Waldo (18th), 11.49

200-Meter Dash: Knatterud (11th), 22.85

4x100-Meter Relay: Porter Granger, Waldo, Easton Benz, Knatterud (4th), 44.62

4x200-Meter Relay: Granger, Waldo, Benz, Knatterud (7th), 1:33.10

4x400-Meter Relay: Lucas Yri, Thomas Allmaras, Easton Simon, Jackson Schumacher (21st), 3:59.06

4x800-Meter Relay: Jackson Schumacher, Bennett Meier, Simon, Yri (22nd), 9:24.87

Long Jump: Waldo (19th), 19-8.25; Granger (32nd), 17-11.5