Despite weather that hasn't been the most cooperative, the Garretson Blue Dragon Track & Field team has stayed busy, heading first to Salem then to Canton to compete last week, and to Chester on Tuesday. In all three meets, the boys' 3200m relay team snagged first place.
On Tuesday, April 23, Garretson athletes hit the Gene Danielsen Field in Salem for the Danielsen Relays, competing against 14 schools to take the top of the podium.
The boys' 3200-meter relay accomplished just that, taking home first place with a time of 8:54.29. The team consisted of Carter Siemonsma, Collin Olson, Blaine Trower, and Josh Gilbert.
Siemonsma also came away with a 2nd place medal in the 800-meter run, finishing in 2 minutes, 10.21 seconds.
Taking 3rd place were the girls' and boys' medley teams and the 3200-meter girls' relay teams. In the 1600m medley, the team consisting of Tyler Erickson, Ramsey Schweitzer, Collin Olson, and Josh Gilbert finished at 4:10.68 and the team consisting of Jordyn Williams, Harper Andera, Tayler Benson, and Addison Hove finished with a time of 4:51.62. The 3200m relay, Andera, Emma Hanson, Annalise Hoeck, and Hove crossed the finish line with a time of 11:20.96 to claim their 3rd place medal.
Other medalists were Williams, who finished 4th in the 100-meter dash, and Trower, who completed the 400-meter run in 4th place and took home a PR.
Tyler Edmundson finished 5th in Javelin and 6th in shot put.
Nate Roberts crossed the finish line in the 3200-meter run for 6th place and the 1600m run in 8th place. Sebastian Deyoung was not far behind Roberts, taking 8th place for the 3200m run.
In 7th place were Ava Peters in the 400m run, Hove in the 1600m run, and the 800m relay team consisting of Hannah Frewaldt, Benson, Peters, and Andera.
The boys' 800m relay team consisting of Erickson, Schweitzer, Ian Buettner, and Lucas Gonzalez took home 8th place.
Less than 48 hours later, the team traveled down to Canton for the Terry Bong Relays, competing against Beresford, Dell Rapids, Canton, Lennox, Tri-Valley, and West Central along with Alcester-Hudson, Chester, and Freeman. There, the athletes had a difficult time cracking the top 3, but put their best foot forward and came away with some wins.
Again, the 3200m relay team of Siemonsma, Olson, Trower, and Schweitzer finished first, crossing the line with an 8:58.69 finish. Freshman Aiden Johnson had a PR and his first medal in the Long Jump, finishing 2nd with a jump of 19 feet, 11 inches. Williams again shined in the 200m and 100m dash, taking home 2nd place and 3rd place, respectively, with times of 27.85 seconds and 13.37 seconds.
Andera finished the 800m run in 3rd place with a PR time of 2:40.78, and Peters took 6th. Both are up and coming 7th graders who have been seeing plenty of success so far this year.
Also in the top three were the boys' 1600m relay and the boys' 1600m medley, finishing with times of 3:43.64 and 3:49.04, respectively. Those teams had Trower, Siemonsma, Olson, and Schweitzer in each.
Edmundson accomplished PRs in both the javelin and discus, taking home 4th and 5th place in those two events, while Cortney Rogich took home 8th place with a PR in the shot put. Treyton Decker took 8th in the discus, which was also a PR for him.
Deyoung grabbed a 5th place finish in the 3200m run. The girls' 1600m medley team of Peters, Madison Waltman, Emma Hanson, and Hoeck brought home a 5th place medal, as did the boys' 800m relay team of Caiden Maack, Erickson, Buettner, and Gonzalez.
The final event to crack the top 8 finishers was the girls' 1600m relay team of Williams, Hove, Peters, and Andera, which finished 6th.
On Tuesday, April 30, the team was originally slated to head to Baltic, but a last-minute cancellation had them pivoting and heading to Chester to compete against Colman-Egan, Dell Rapids St Mary's, Chester, Howard, and Baltic. The smaller field of competition meant several Blue Dragons placed highly.
The boys' 1600m relay team continued to do well and again brought home the gold, this time clocking in at 9:03.64. The team consisted of Siemonsma, Trower, Gilbert, and Schweitzer as Olson took a bye from the competition.
Trower also found the top of the podium as he claimed first in the 400m run, coming in at 53.34. Siemonsma took home first place in the 800m run with a time of 2:14.39.
In second place were Williams in the 100m dash, Roberts in the 3200m run, the boys' 1600m relay, the girls 3200m relay, and the girls 1600m medley. Williams finished with a time of 13.21 seconds while Roberts took a PR and finished in 11:49.68. The boys' 1600m team with Trower, Siemonsma, Gilbert, and Schweitzer finished in 3:48.09. The girls' 3200 relay of Hove, Benson, Peters, and Andera had a time of 10:51.53 and the medley team, Williams, Benson, Peters, and Andera had a time of 4:42.89.
Several athletes placed third, with Hove taking the bronze in 1600m with a PR time of 5:59.84 and Edmundson with a shotput throw of 37'8". Third also went to the boys' 800m relay team of Maack, Erickson, Buettner, and Gonzalez with a time of 1:50.49 and the girls' 1600m relay team of Hoeck, Alyssa Olson, Alexis Christensen, and Emma Hanson with a time of 5:09.93.
This coming weekend, athletes will either be participating in the Howard Wood Relays or the Parker Invite as they begin looking towards the end of the season. Next Thursday will be the Big East Conference Meet in Baltic, with start times slated for 12:00 p.m.
