While unseasonal weather conditions delayed the start of the season for many track and field members, athletes made up for lost time by recording solid times and distances in the limited opportunities that they had.

As the season progressed, the state-leading standards continued to improve each week which leads to the anticipation of what might transpire when the state meet takes place today through Saturday at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.

There will be a total of 2,771 athletes competing from 145 schools.

Here is a glimpse of some of the state’s premier athletes, followed by a projection of what might transpire over the course of the next three days.

LEADING THE WAY

A pair of athletes head into the state meet leading four open events. Josiah Adams of Sioux Falls Christian leads the Class A boys in the 110-meter high hurdles, 300-meter intermediate hurdles, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, while Berkeley Engelland of Mount Vernon-Plankinton tops the Class A girls in the 100, 200, 400 and 800.

A trio of athletes set the standard in three open events. They include distance aces Simeon Birnbaum of Rapid City Stevens in the Class AA boys in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, and Josiah Schroeder of Canistota is in those same races in Class B boys. Ashton Massey of Menno also tops three events: both sets of hurdles and the triple jump in Class B girls.

There are 13 other athletes who lead a pair of open events, including Aberdeen Roncalli’s Jayden Munroe in the Class A boys’ long jump and triple jump, and Hamlin’s Gracelyn Leiseth in the Class A girls’ shot put and discus.

BY THE NUMBERS

The Sioux Falls Christian boys were the top team leader all year long and it should come as no surprise that they finish that way as well. The Chargers lead 10 events in the Class A boys.

Other final team leaders include Rapid City Stevens in Class AA boys (four events), Sioux Falls Lincoln in Class AA girls (six events), Mount Vernon-Plankinton in Class A girls (six events), Viborg-Hurley and Canistota in Class B boys (three events each), and Colman-Egan in Class B girls (six events).

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Each year we attempt to project what might happen at the state meet and who will eventually win state team titles based solely on numbers from the final track and field leaders.

Of course, this is far from an exact science. For starters, some individuals may be a part of five or six events in the leaders and can only compete in four at the state meet. Not only that, but the numbers do not account for things like false starts, disqualifications, injuries and once-in-a-lifetime performances.

That said, here are the projected state champion teams in each of the six divisions:

CLASS AA BOYS: The depth of Brandon Valley appears to give the Lynx the edge here. Brandon Valley is projected to score 102 points. Expect Rapid City Stevens to be right in the mix with a projected total of 92. This is a very slim margin, so things could go either way.

O’Gorman appears to be the front runner of the rest of a balanced pack with a projected score of 84 points.

CLASS AA GIRLS: A pair of squads could break the century mark here.

Sioux Falls Lincoln looks to be the slight favorite and could potentially score up to 117 points. Brandon Valley will be right in the mix with a projected total of 104. If either of those two falter, O’Gorman has the potential to step in with a projected score of 90 points.

CLASS A BOYS: If there is one division that appears to be a lock it is this one.

Sioux Falls Christian is looking at scoring more than 100 points more than any other team in the field. The Chargers are projected to score a whopping 166 points. Nobody else is even close.

Custer is the only other squad that is projected to score at least 60 points.

CLASS A GIRLS: The Sioux Falls Christian girls will look to make it a clean sweep, but their margin for errors is not quite as wide as their male counterparts.

Still, the Chargers look to be in great shape to defend their state team championship with a projected score of 135 points. Mount Vernon-Plankinton is the next closest squad with a projected total of 76.

CLASS B BOYS: Of all of the six divisions, this is definitely the one to keep an eye on.

There are six teams all within about a dozen points of each other.

Viborg-Hurley might have a very slight edge, projected to score 54 points, just ahead of Ipswich with a score of 51. Canistota and Deubrook Area, with projections of 43 points, and Gregory and Wolsey-Wessington with totals of 41, should be right in the conversation. Look for this battle to come right down to the wire.

CLASS B GIRLS: All signs point to Colman-Egan to defend its state championship in this division.

The C-Hawks are projected to score an even 100 points and no other team is even close to that total.

The next closest team appears to be Deubrook Area with a projected team total of 65 points.