SIOUX FALLS – Whether it was winning an event or two at the O’Gorman Invitational or turning in solid times and distances at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays, Aberdeen Central track and field athletes made the most of their opportunities on Friday.

“Basically today was about competing from where we were two weeks ago,” said Central girls’ coach Jim Appl.

The Golden Eagles boys had a first place finish on the day as the team of Avery Ligon, Karson Borge, Eli Biegler and Colby Dauwen won the sprint medley relay at O’Gorman.

Central boys’ coach Greg Murley believes that the medley squad can reduce its time and be a state place winner.

He said the Eagles had a good day at O’Gorman.

“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores that we think are going to fill the void for us in the future here,” Murley said. “They were able to get some good competition at a really big meet. Had some great performances with our kids.”

Evan Sichmeller finished second in the pole vault at O’Gorman. Murley was also pleased with David Van Veen in the 3,200-meter run at Howard Wood. He finished 16th with a time that was not far off the old Central record. He said it’s difficult “keeping your mind focused for nine and half minutes. Most adults can’t do that.”

He said the Eagles feature a young squad that is gaining some valuable experience this weekend.

“We brought a ton of kids that this was their first overnight trip to a school event. … Our kids competed well and we got some good experience,” Murley said.

The Central girls also did some big things on the day. Jaidyn Forsyth won the triple jump at O’Gorman meet, while Lauren Joosten was second in the 400-meter dash at the OG meet.

“We’re starting to get some pieces put together where they need to be,” Appl said.

Taryn Hermansen finished fifth in the shot put at the Howard Wood meet.

Appl said that places can be deceiving at such a big meet, pointing out that Juna Ramey ran a time in the 3,200-meter run that was one second off the winning time in the conference meet last season.

Appl said one the biggest highlights of the day is what happened off the track.

“I saw kids really do a nice job of cheering for each other. We were taking care of each other,” Appl said. “We spent a little less time on our phones and little more time worrying about our teammates.”

The Golden Eagles are in the process of getting themselves positioned for next weekend’s Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet.

“We’re happy where we’re setting up for next week,” Appl said. “That’s kind of our goal is to get us in a position where we know where our pieces are going to be, so we know how to enter them for next week.”

Howard Wood wraps up with its second day of competition today.

“We’re excited to compete (Saturday),” Appl said, “and looking forward to what we can get ready for the following week.”

A pair of Mobridge-Pollock athletes won events at the O’Gorman meet. Simon Fried won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 1/4 inch, while Heidi Olson won the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:37.84. Hamlin’s Cristhian Rodriguez won the javelin with a throw of 160 feet, 8 inches.

Hamlin won the boys’ 400-meter relay and Clark-Willow Lake was second in the girls’ 1,600-meter relay at O’Gorman.

To see O’Gorman results, click on the following link:

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/539213/results/all

To see Howard Wood results, click on the following link:

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/527105/results/all