Dowling speeds to 400 record with 55.11

State Meet Highlights

 
In South Dakota, the AA, A and B class prelims are held in separate locations and then everyone comes together for the championship finals at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.

Top Performances:

 
- Sophomore Cortney Dowling of T.F. Riggs in Pierre was the star of the AA championships, sweeping the 100 (12.15), 200 (25.37) and 400 (55.11). She became the fastest 400-meter runner in state history with that race. In 2013 she won two out of the three, but added the 400 as a sophomore.

 
- Ipswich freshman Macy Heinz won the Class B 100, 400, 800 and 1600 (12.51/57.10/2:17.09/5:13.53) in a staggering display of range.

 
- Jase Kraft of Wessington Springs went after the Class B record in the 1600 and came up about a half second short with 4:19.00. He also won the 800 and 3200.

 
- The Sioux Falls Christian girls dominated the Class A meet and scored a record in the 4x400 when they ran 3:59.52. They also broke a 30-year sprint medley record with 4:14.72.

 
- Zach Schroeder of Dell Rapids ran 11.06 and 22.82 to sweep the sprints in the Class A meet.

- Annie Kruse of Yankton and Tamara Gorman of Stevens split the AA 1600 and 3200. It was Kruse in front of Gorman 5:05.18 to 5:08.20 in the 1600 and Gorman ahead of Kruse 11:07.58 to 11:23.08 in the 3200.

- Michaela Mayer of Washington doubled in the AA shot and discus with 44-11.25 and 129-10.

- Senior Colette Christensen of Rapid City Central cleared 5-7 to win the AA high jump. She was also second in both the long jump and triple jump.

- Alexis Gannon,  a senior from Brookings was sensational in the horizontal jumps, taking the AA long jump with 18-4.50 and the triple jump with a new state meet record 40-3.75.

- David Mulbah of Roosevelt ran 10.80 to win the AA 100 meters. He was also second in the 200 and the high jump.

- Adam Belhaj of SF Lincoln won the AA 200 in 22.61 and edged out Cam Holmes of Brandon Valley to win the 400 in a meet record 48.39 to 48.40. Belhaj also finished second to Mulbah in the 100.

- Without Addison DeHaven in the meet (presumably because of injury), Jacob Simmons of Sturgis Brown, a junior, easily won the AA 1600 in 4:17.30 and also took the 800 in 1:55.78.

- Jack Lembcke of Roosevelt dominated the AA throws, with 60-0.75 in the shot put and 179-9 in the discus.

Top Teams:
Sioux Falls Lincoln scored 118 points to win the AA boys team championship. Rapid City Stevens scored 101 points to nail down the girls' trophy.

In Class A, Custer's boys and Sioux Falls Christian's girls prevailed. In Class B, Parker's boys got a narrow win and Ipswich triumphed by a wide margin.

Top Competition: The AA girls triple jump featured the two best performers in state history. And Colette Christensen's 40-foot jump seemed like it might hold up as the overall winner. But Alexis Gannon wasn't going to be denied. And she dug deep on her final attempt to come up with 40-3.75 for a dramatic victory.

Record-breaker: Cortney Dowling's 55.11 could be a harbinger of good things to come. It may be unfair to compare her with North Dakotan Laura Roesler, who dominated the scene in that state from 100 to 800. Roesler ran 55.89 as an eighth grader and 2:03 in the 800 as a junior. Dowling hasn't taken up the 800, but her 10th grade 400 compares favorably to Roesler's (55.76) 10th grade 400 best.

Results