SIOUX FALLS – A pair of seniors finished off their high school careers on top of the podium after winning Class A State Track and Field championships at Howard Wood Field on Saturday. Hamlin’s Gracelyn Leiseth and Aberdeen Roncalli’s Jayden Munroe won state titles for the second straight day.

Leiseth, the state’s all-time record holder in both the shot put and discus, added one last title by winning the shot put with a throw of 50 feet, 8 inches.

“It was a good day,” Leiseth said. “I hit 50 about three times, so I was happy with that.”

Leiseth was overcome with emotion following her final attempt at the high school level.

“It’s bittersweet. I was tearing up at the end because,” Leiseth said before pausing to collect her thoughts, “my last throw in high school, but it’s good, it’s good.”

Leiseth will be heading off to compete at the University of Florida next season, but said she will keep tabs on what is going on back in her home state.

“I’ll keep track,” Leiseth said. “I’ll look at it for sure.”

Munroe won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 6.5 inches. While the second state championship was meaningful, it was hard top his triple jump title, which produced the top distance in all three classes.

“It feels good, not as good as (Friday) because I won MVP and everything,” Munroe said, “but it still feels good because it’s my first time at state for long jump.”

Munroe said there is one thing he will recall about his high school competition.

“Definitely my MVP medal. That was pretty cool,” Munroe said. “I got the best jump out of all of them. That was pretty cool. I’ll remember that.”

Munroe, who is from the Bahamas, entered the Roncalli program learning about the sport of track and field, and finished as a state champion in two events.

“Jayden is such an impressive athlete. Good young man,” said Roncalli horizontal jump coach Chris Uhler. “He just works hard. He’s definitely gifted athletically, but the work ethic that he puts in, the time he puts in, the care that he shows, it’s awesome to work with.”

A pair of area athletes finished runner-up on the final day of competition.

Simon Fried of Mobridge-Pollock ran a personal best on his way to a second-place finish in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.

“I was really just trying to push through this one on the backstretch” Fried said of his race strategy. “I feel like running 800s really helped me with that with my endurance and stuff.”

The junior said a key to the race is to go all out, even if the strides get broken up.

“You just have to make sure you go hard between all the hurdles,” Fried said. “It doesn’t matter if you stutter or do anything, you just have to keep going.”

Hamlin’s Kami Wadsworth finished in second place in the shot put behind her teammate Leiseth. It’s something that has become the norm for the past couple of seasons in both shot put and discus.

“It’s good. Me and Gracelyn are best friends,” Wadsworth said. “It’s always fun to stay competitive, always having someone pushing you, so it’s good.”

Wadsworth, who was selected Miss Basketball after leading the Chargers to the State A girls’ championship this past season, finished with a mark of 42 feet, 7.5 inches. The senior was hoping for a farther throw in her final high school competition, but kept things in perspective.

“I was a little upset, knowing me, I’m always competitive, because my one in warmups right before that, I thought it was close to 45,” Wadsworth said. “That was my goal at the end of the season and I fell a little short, but it’s been a great high school career.”

Wadsworth plans to compete in both basketball and track and field at the University of Sioux Falls next season.

Mobridge-Pollock continued to save its best for last in girls’ relays at the state meet. The Tigers finished third in the 1,600-meter relay after entering with the eighth-best time.

“We always seem to run our fastest times at state,” said junior Ryli Thompson. “Every year I feel like every other team runs their fastest times all year, so we always come out from the bottom and work our way up at state.”

Last year that resulted in a state title in the 4×4, but the only remaining runner from that squad is Thompson and even she has a new role.

“We lost our anchor this past year,” Thompson said. “That was a big loss for us, but we still were able to get third.”

Thompson is the new anchor runner and said that leg is much more challenging than other ones.

“It’s different definitely for sure,” Thompson said. “Way more pressure, very tiring running against the best from each team.”

The squad, which featured three freshmen, was able to take six seconds off its time at the state meet. That bodes well for the future.

“Hopefully, we’ll all get faster and be able to run just as good or better next year,” Thompson said.

The Class A Girls Field MVP was Leiseth and the Running MVP was Berkeley Engelland of Mount Vernon-Plankinton. The Boys Field MVP was Chase Maher of Rapid City Christian, and the Running MVP was Isaac Davelaar of Sioux Falls Christian.

To see complete meet results, click on the following link:

https://results.dakotatiming.com/display.html?event_id=1245