BROOKINGS – Area athletes won four individual events while Aberdeen Christian had a pair of top-five finishers at the Scott Underwood Invitational track and field meet in Brookings on Monday.

Among the first-place winners in the boys’ division were Webster’s Drew Reetz and Hitchcock-Tulare’s TJ Salmen. Reetz captured first place in the pole vault with a height of 14 feet, while Salmen took home first place in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of :42.91. Salmen also finished third in the 110-meter high hurdles.

In the girls’ division, Hamlin’s Gracelyn Leiseth won the shot put with a throw of 50-feet 2.75-inches, and Miller’s Ally Mullaney won high jump with a leap of five feet.

Aberdeen Christian was led by Abe Kretchman and Shawnteah La Croix.

Kretchman placed fourth in both the long jump and triple jump, and Knights coach Sam Bjorkman felt the senior turned in a solid performance.

“Abe competed well. He started the 4×1 and ran a solid 200 as well,” Bjorkman said. “He found his rhythm in the triple jump and really laid down his first solid marks of the year there. Really happy for him.”

On the girls’ side, La Croix placed fifth in the 100-meter dash. The freshman continues to impress many, including Bjorkman, who noted La Croix tends to get better as the race goes on.

“Shawnteah ran well,” Bjorkman said. “It’s great to get to run the 100-meter for her as she is someone who tends to keep accelerating throughout much of that race.”

Milbank Area had several individuals who placed in the boys’ division, as well as taking third in the 3,200-meter relay. The Bulldogs’ Jayden Johnson placed second in the pole vault, while James Batchelor took fourth place in the 3,200-meter run.

The Miller Rustlers had a trio of third-place finishers, including Alex Schumacher in the 1,600-meter run, Pierce Baumberger in the 3,200-meter run, and Isaak Hunter in the 300-meter hurdles. Faulkton’s Daniel Stoll placed fifth in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.

Other top-five individual finishers include Deuel’s Ricky Berndt (second) in the 1,600-meter run, Warner’s Hunter Cramer (second) in the 110-meter hurdles, Clark-Willow Lake’s Tyson Huber (tied for second) in the high jump, Webster’s Jaiden McCreary (third) in the pole vault, and Great Plains Lutheran’s RJ Perry (fifth) in the shot put. Hamlin’s team of Luke Fraser, Gavin Prouty, Rylan Thue, and Zac VanMeeteren placed third in the 400-meter relay and fourth in the 1,600-meter relay.

In the girls’ division Hamlin’s Kami Wadsworth finished second in the shot put.

Milbank Area’s Jacy Dexter took home a second-place finish in the pole vault, while the Bulldogs placed fifth in the 1,600-meter relay. Webster had a pair of second-place finishers, with Erin Sannes finishing runner-up in the high jump and Elliott Steiner finishing second in the triple jump.

Other top-five finishers included Hitchcock-Tulare’s Avery Miles (fifth) in the 800-meter run, Redfield’s Camryn Rohlfs (fourth) in the long jump, Great Plains Lutheran’s Halle Bauer (fifth) in the 1,600-meter run, and Clark-Willow Lake’s Valley Roebke (fifth) in the high jump.

Miller’s 400-meter relay team of Mullaney, Tyra Gates, Morgan Kolda, and Jaden Werdel took third place.

Bjorkman was pleased with how Christian performed as a team, as well as how the event was run.

“Overall, I’m quite happy. It was such a well-run meet in an amazing facility,” Bjorkman said. “It’s so similar to running outdoors, which is great this early in the season and with the weather always being an important variable to work with.”

Bjorkman also said he was glad to see several personal records from his athletes, but knows there is still much to improve on.

“We had some decent exchanges in the 4×1’s. We just wanted to get a decent first run in,” Bjorkman said. “There are some good time improvements that can come from honing those as everyone knows. (The) other thing (is that) we just need to keep having practice.”

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

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/487657/results/all