High School Track & Field: Roncalli boys, Ipswich girls win again

IPSWICH - For the second time in three days, the Aberdeen Roncalli boys and the Ipswich girls found themselves in the winner's circle at a track meet.

Fresh off team titles in Groton on Tuesday, the squads outscored the competition during the Tiger Relays in Ipswich on Thursday.

Roncalli won the boys' division by 51 points while Ipswich dominated the girls' competition by 52 points.

Roncalli racked up its point total despite winning just two events on the day.

“We kind of nickle-and-dimed them. We didn't necessarily win a ton of events,” said Roncalli boys' coach Terry Dosch.

The Cavaliers won the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays and received contributions from a variety of athletes.

“We had some freshmen and sophomore kids that I thought ran really well today,” Dosch noted.

Roncalli also landed another berth in the state meet when Andrew Holmstrom qualified in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Holmstrom qualified in the 110-meter high hurdles on Tuesday. His teammate Christian Cox has also qualified in the 300 hurdles.

Dosch said one of the goals on the day was getting some work done.

“You always want to do your best, but we tried to make it a bit of a work day,” Dosch said. “We got a lot of positives and it gave us things to build on.”

Double individual winners on the boys' side included Miller's Grant Lockner in the hurdles, Kristian Borah of Mobridge-Pollock in the 100-meter dash and long jump, and Donnie Decker of James Valley Christian in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs.

Aberdeen Christian placed in five different events in the boys' division, including a school-record performance by Seth Lundeen in the 3,200-meter run. Lundeen also placed in the 1,600-meter run and the 3,200-meter relay.

“He gets in there and competes,” said Christian coach Matt Scott. “He's not afraid to ruffle a few feathers.”

The Ipswich girls swept all five relay races to fuel their run to the team crown. The Tigers also received a first place finish from Taylor Loken in the 3,200-meter run.

Double individual winners in the girls' division were Emma Steers of Miller in the hurdle races, Jussy Tuscherer of Northwestern in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run, and Redfield-Doland's Maddie Mack in the long jump and triple jump.

Roncalli was fifth in team points and received major contributions from younger members of the squad.

“We didn't have a full squad, but I was very excited about so many different positive things that happened today,” said Roncalli girls' coach Mark Stone. “A lot of younger kids took big steps today. It was our best day in terms of the progress we made.”

Aberdeen Christian placed in a pair of events, led by a school record and personal best attempt from Jenny Palmer in the shot put.

“She was in there competing against some really tough competitors and not shying away from it,” Scott said.

All of the Aberdeen coaches could not say enough good things about the effort Ipswich made in moving the meet from Saturday to Thursday.