For some, it was the unknown of what to expect coming back from injury, for another it was the unknown of competing in an event for the first time.

Whatever the background, area athletes found ways to get their track and field seasons off to a solid start during the Fuller Invitational indoor meet Monday at the Barnett Center.

Aberdeen Christian sprinter Ben Rohl was competing for the first time since fracturing his ankle last fall in football.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Rohl said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be hurting or how it was going to feel.”

Rohl won the 55-meter dash, his only event on the day.

The senior said he knew after running the prelims, he would be just fine for the final.

“I felt great after that race,” Rohl said, “so I knew the second one was going to be just as good.”

Webster’s Annie Witt missed most of last season after dislocating her elbow in the pole vault. The senior was back in action on Monday and won the event.

“For it being my first meet coming back, I’m happy,” she said.

Witt finished runner-up at the state wrestling tournament last month. She said that wrestling and track and field share quite a few things in common.

“I’ve noticed a lot of similarities because you have to wait for your weight (in wrestling) and you have to wait your for event (in track), you’re on your own, but you still have your teammates, and it’s very mental,” Witt said. “It’s all mental. Very mental for both.”

Ellendale, N.D., runner Kali Norton is also trying to battle back from injuries. The sophomore has dealt with bunions which led to plantar fasciitis.

Norton won both the 200-meter and 400-meter on Monday. She said she likes the longer race better.

“I really like the 400. There’s more technique to it,” Norton said. “You kind of have to run a certain way.”

Norton missed qualifying for state last season by a mere two-hundredths of a second. She has used that as motivation heading into this season.

“It motivated me a lot to work harder in the off season and just take practices a lot more serious,” Norton said. “It’s just given me another boost to do better this year.”

Aberdeen Christian’s Shawnteah La Croix is using her appearance in last year’s state meet as a springboard to this season. The eighth-grader won the 55-meter dash and was second in the 200-meters on Monday.

“Since I did good during state and I could accomplish that in my first season, then I could come back and do better knowing that I actually have more in me than I think,” La Croix said.

She already has a goal in mind for the upcoming season.

“Since last year I made it to state for the 200, we have a school record of 26 something, so my goal is to hopefully beat that record,” La Croix said. “I think I have to shave off a second or so.”

A school record is also on the mind of Ipswich’s Carson Gohl, even though he is just starting out in the shot put. The senior won the event on Monday in his first ever attempt at the event.

“I was going to try it last year. I just never got around to it,” Gohl said, “and I was like you know what, I’m going to do it this year first meet, see what I do.”

What he did was top the rest of the competition with a throw of 44 feet, 1 1/4 inch. Now he has his sights set on something even better.

“My goal right now is our school record which is 50 something,” Gohl said. “I think I can get it. If I put in some work, I think I can get it.”

The multi-sport standout, who is headed to Dakota Wesleyan to play football next season, also ran a leg on the winning 1,600-meter relay team, was fourth in the 55-meters and eighth in the long jump.

He compared the feeling of throwing upstairs in the shot put area to running on the track below.

“It’s more relaxed up in the ring,” Gohl said. “I like that, but I like the rush of the sprinting events, too, so I’m kind of stuck in the middle.”

Abby Cox of Oakes, N.D. was also a double individual winner taking the long jump and triple jump.

Ipswich’s Emily DeRaad won the 800-meter run and ran on the winning medley relay squad, while teammate Marley Guthmiller won the 55-meter hurdles and also ran on the medley relay team.

Christian also received a first place finish from Abe Kretchman in the long jump.

First-year Christian coach Sam Bjorkman was pleased with what he saw out of the Knights in their initial competition.

“We’ve been working the last few weeks since the season started, but until you get out on the track it’s kind of hard to know exactly where you’re at,” Bjorkman said, “and so it was really about laying down a baseline that we can work off of for the next nine weeks.”

The Knights will now have a break before starting their outdoor season. Bjorkman said Monday’s meet will serve as a good measuring stick of what the athletes need to work on.

“I think it just clarifies where we need work,” Bjorkman said, “clarifies the technical stuff that we can be focusing on over the new few weeks.”

By the time Christian competes again, they will have a much bigger squad. The Knights finished sixth in the State B girls’ basketball tournament and seventh in the State B boys’ basketball tourney. The majority of those athletes did not compete on Monday.

“I’m looking forward to integrating our basketball teams back into it, because most of what we had today was sans girls and boys’ basketball athletes,” Bjorkman said. “Once we bring them back into the fold, I’m excited.”

Participating Teams: Aberdeen Christian, Ellendale, Ipswich, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, Leola, Milbank Area, Oakes, Standing Rock, Webster.

BOYS’ DIVISION

55-Meter Hurdles: 1, Carter Geditz, Ipswich, :08.64; 2, Lance Parks, Ipswich, :09.27; 3, Trey Skoglund, Oakes, :09.74; 4, Elijah Gonzalez, Ellendale, :10.24; 5, Greg Fuher, Ellendale, :11.31; 6, Porter Glynn, Ellendale, :13.48.

55-Meter Dash: 1, Ben Rohl, Aberdeen Christian, :06.63; 2, Ty Kadlec, Ipswich, :06.69; 3, Colby Sylte, Ipswich, :06.82; 4, Carson Gohl, Ipswich, :06.99; 5, Hans Lapka, Leola, :07.00; 6, Trevor Heinz, Ipswich, :07.05; 7, Abe Kretchman, Aberdeen Christian, :07.07; 8, Tate Mart, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :07.13.

200-Meter Dash: 1, David Schmitz, Oakes, :25.07; 2, Kyreece McGaughy, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :25.26; 3, Abe Kretchman, Aberdeen Christian, :25.53; 4, Hans Lapka, Leola, :25.96; 5, Tate Mart, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :26.30; 6, Drew Kidder, Standing Rock, :26.35; 7, Carter Ptacek, Oakes, :26.59; 8, John Luger, Standing Rock, :26.82.

400-Meter Dash: 1, Max Musland, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :57.52; 2, Walker Larson, Aberdeen Christian, :58.59; 3, Brandon Peters, Oakes, :59.06; 4, Trevor Beyers, Ipswich, :59.47; 5, Jack Bommersbach, Ellendale, :59.50; 6, Drew Kidder, Standing Rock, :59.96; 7, Brayden Steffes, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 1:05.14; 8, Tristen Loeks, Oakes, 1:05.83.

800-Meter Run: 1, Theo Thurber, Ellendale, 2:15.48; 2, Joey Heim, Oakes, 2:16.31; 3, Aidan Thurber, Ellendale, 2:16.56; 4, Ian Beyers, Ipswich, 2:20.48; 5, Lance Bradley, Standing Rock, 2:21.00; 6, Tayne Dunse, Webster, 2:21.38; 7, Trey Dunse, Webster, 2:22.42; 8, Brady Pfaff-Christianson, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 2:24.84.

1,600-Meter Run: 1, Maxwell Kulesa, Ipswich, 5:28.40; 2, Dylan Wald, Ipswich, 5:34.27; 3, Xavior Kadlec, Ipswich, 5:34.56; 4, Roddeck Schmitt, Oakes, 5:37.58; 5, Jarret Kelly, Standing Rock, 5:45.00; 6, Jace Duffy, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 5:49.19; 7, Brady Pfaff-Christianson, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 5:53.81; 8, Cody Mayer, Oakes, 5:55.12.

Shot Put: 1, Carson Gohl, Ipswich, 44-1.25; 2, Colton Spitzer, Leola, 43-10.75; 3, Zach Geditz, Ipswich, 43-3.25; 4, Jordan Nierman, Ipswich, 40-2; 5, Dustin Wurtz, Leola, 39-7.75; 6, Marcus Henry, Standing Rock, 38-8.25; 7, Scott Wagner, Ellendale, 38-3.50; 8, Wyatt Braun, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 38-3.50.

High Jump: 1, Max Musland, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 5-6; 2, Tyler Hettich, Ipswich, 5-6; 3, Zach Reuschlein, Ipswich, 5-6; 4, Joey Heim, Oakes, 5-1.75; 5, Darrel Yost, Ipswich, 4-11.75.

Long Jump: 1, Abe Kretchman, Aberdeen Christian, 19-8.75; 2, Trevor Heinz, Ipswich, 19-7.50; 3, Jacob Keller, Webster, 19-6; 4, Hans Lapka, Leola, 19-1.50; 5, Lance Parks, Ipswich, 18-7.75; 6, Jaydon Keller, Webster, 18-7.25; 7, Kyreece McGaughy, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 17-11.75; 8, Carson Gohl, Ipswich, 17-11.50.

Triple Jump: 1, Jacob Keller, Webster, 40-5.50; 2, Jaydon Keller, Webster, 40-0; 3, Lucas Gulbranson, Leola, 34-0.75; 4, Evan Podoll, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 31-3.75; 5, Hayden Crissman, Ipswich, 31-3; 6, Kaedon Maunu, Ellendale, 30-0.

Pole Vault: 1, Drew Reetz, Webster, 12-6; 2, Tayne Dunse, Webster, 12-0; 3, Karson Weber, Milbank Area, 10-11.75; 4, Jack Sandvig, Milbank Area, 10-6; 5, (tie) Jaiden McCreary, Webster, 8-11.75, and Max Duerre, Webster, 8-11.75; 7, (tie) Rasmus Loken, Ipswich, 8-0, Brody Davis, Ipswich, 8-0, and Darrel Yost, Ipswich, 8-0.

1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Ipswich (Ty Kadlec, Carson Gohl, Ian Beyers, Turner Thorson), 3:54.47; 2, Ellendale, 4:06.00; 3, Ellendale B, 4:06.86; 4, Aberdeen Christian, 4:07.64; 5, Standing Rock, 4:10.01; 6, Oakes, 4:11.55; 7, Ellendale C, 4:25.83.

GIRLS’ DIVISION

55-Meter Hurdles: 1, Marley Guthmiller, Ipswich, :10.38; 2, Molly Musland, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :10.58; 3, Norah DelaBarre, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :11.24; 4, Josie Knutson, Ipswich, :11.31; 5, Ariel Hagen, Ellendale, :11.57; 6, Kaisa Lematta, Ellendale, :11.68; 7, Jalyssa Ipswich, :11.88.

55-Meter Dash: 1, Shawnteah La Croix, Aberdeen Christian, :07.84; 2, Abby Cox, Oakes, :07.94; 3, Onika Lesko, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :08.01; 4, Brianna Geditz, Ipswich, :08.40; 5, Teegan Fischer, Standing Rock, :08.45; 6, Grace Stroh, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :08.47; 7, Mia Van Eeden, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :08.49; 8, Brooklyn Witkowski, Oakes, :08.76.

200-Meter Dash: 1, Kali Norton, Ellendale, :28.13; 2, Shawnteah La Croix, Aberdeen Christian, :28.85; 3, Onika Lesko, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :30.00; 4, Norah DelaBarre, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :30.04; 5, Brianna Geditz, Ipswich, :31.32; 6, Avery Rotondi, Ellendale, :31.39; 7, Grace Stroh, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, :31.53; 8, Kathryn Kilber, Ipswich, :31.61.

400-Meter Dash: 1, Kali Norton, Ellendale, 1:06.02; 2, Ashley Ptacek, Ipswich, 1:09.34; 3, Kinsey Pedersen, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 1:11.90; 4, Molly Musland, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 1:12.11; 5, Grace Stroh, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 1:13.97; 6, Havanna Gates, Standing Rock, 1:15.13; 7, Lauren Meyers, Aberdeen Christian, 1:15.83; 8, Alana Lebeau, Standing Rock, 1:20.94.

800-Meter Run: 1, Emily DeRaad, Ipswich, 2:44.25; 2, Shanna Buttke, Oakes, 2:46.61; 3, Rachel Beaner, Aberdeen Christian, 2:46.85; 4, Egypt Painte, Standing Rock, 2:49.38; 5, Ella Hegg, Webster, 2:50.26; 6, Kathryn Steger, Aberdeen Christian, 2:50.69; 7, Shelby Miller, Ellendale, 2:51.57; 8, Jozi Duffy, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 2:54.49.

1,600-Meter Run: 1, Madisyn Gellhaus, Ipswich, 6:06.86; 2, Gracyn Kadlec, Ipswich, 6:26.75; 3, Egypt Painte, Standing Rock, 6:30.14; 4, Grace Steger, Aberdeen Christian, 6:35.30; 5, McKenna Glynn, Ellendale, 6:38.02; 6, Jozi Duffy, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 6:40.81; 7, Baylee Kulesa, Ipswich, 7:03.19; 8, Tamra Johnson, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 9:06.55.

Shot Put: 1, Mackenzie Thorpe, Ellendale, 31-11.25; 2, Alyx Hoffman, Leola, 30-11.25; 3, Macoya Hansen, Oakes, 28-7.75; 4, Emily Anderson, Leola, 28-3.50; 5, Cassie Quinlan, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 27-10.75; 6, Bailie Johnson, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 27-5.25; 7, Hannah Johnson, Leola, 26-11.25; 8, Kara Kwasniewski, Webster, 26-5.75.

High Jump: 1, Gracie Lange, Ipswich, 4-9.75; 2, Elliott Steiner, Webster, 4-7.75; 3, Kaylin Slivoskey, Ellendale, 4-6; 4, Marley Guthmiller, Ipswich, 4-4; 5, Bailie Kelley, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 4-4; 6, Riley Goehring, Ellendale, 4-4; 7, Kaisa Lematta, Ellendale, 4-0.

Long Jump: 1, Abby Cox, Oakes, 15-9.50; 2, Norah DelaBarre, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 14-7.25; 3, Avery Rotondi, Ellendale, 13-11.50; 4, Bayleann Moen, Webster, 13-5.50; 5, (tie) Mia Van Eeden, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 13-4.75, and Lexi Harris, Oakes, 13-4.75; 7, Kaitlyn Mueller, Leola, 13-0.75; 8, Emily Rosendahl, Oakes, 12-11.50.

Triple Jump: 1, Abby Cox, Oakes, 32-4.25; 2, Bayleann Moen, Webster, 29-8.75; 3, Elliott Steiner, Webster, 28-9.75; 4, Macy Norton, Ellendale, 28-6.50; 5, Ashley Ptacek, Ipswich, 28-4.50; 6, Mia Van Eeden, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 28-4.25; 7, Avery Rotondi, Ellendale, 27-8.75; Molly Musland, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 27-8.25.

Pole Vault: 1, Annie Witt, Webster, 8-11.75; 2, Quincy Olivier, Ipswich, 8-0; 3, (tie) Marley Guthmiller, Ipswich, 8-0, and Erin Case, Webster, 8-0; 5, Emily Richie, Webster, 7-6; 6, Jalyssa Hutson, Ipswich, 7-6; 7, Kathryn Kilber, Ipswich, 6-11.75; 8, Maggie Kruger, Milbank Area, 6-6.

1,600-Meter Relay: 1, Ipswich (Ashley Ptacek, Emily DeRaad, Marley Guthmiller, Vanesa Diaz), 4:48.58; 2, Oakes, 4:56.70; 3, Aberdeen Christian, 5:04.10; 4, Ellendale, 5:08.70; 5, Standing Rock, 5:10.25; 6, Ellendale B, 5:20.95.