Photo by Noah Clooten
Both the New Rockford-Sheyenne and Benson County track and field teams had strong showings at the Minot State CNDC Indoor on Friday.
Out of 15 places in the girls’ competition, Benson County and NR-S came in third and fourth, respectively. Out of 17 boys teams, NR-S and Benson County placed fourth and sixth, respectively.
Rugby won the girls’ competition, while Southern McLean won the boys’. Warwick was also represented but didn’t record an official team score.
For the third-place Benson County girls, freshman Addisyn Faul placed second in the 400-meter dash. Faul also came in fourth in the 55-meter hurdles.
Junior Aubrey Kenner and sophomore Evyn Jacobson came in second and fourth, respectively, in the 800-meter dash. Jacobson also placed second in the 1600.
Eighth-grader Kami Arnston placed ninth out of 64 finishers in the 200-meter. Sophomore Kaitlyn Maddock and eighth-grader Jaycee Maddock finished 23rd and 39th, respectively, in the same event.
Freshman Hailey Baker placed third in the pole vault. The 4×160 relay team of Kenner, Arnston, K. Maddock and Shayna Gossen came in fifth out of 17 finishers.
Gossen, a senior, also placed sixth in the triple jump, 14th in the long jump and 21st in the 55-meter dash.
Meanwhile, the NR-S girls, one spot behind Benson County, were led by Emmie Belquist. The sophomore placed second in the 55-meter hurdles, and third in the long jump and 200-meter dash. She was also part of the 4×400 relay team that came in first place, alongside Jaida Schumacher, Kaci Weisenburger and Ava Peterson.
The Rockets had two in the top 10 of the 55-meter dash, with eighth-grader Neecie Swart sixth and freshman Schumacher ninth. Schumacher also placed one spot behind Belquist in the 200-meter, with a fourth-place finish.
Eighth-grader Isla Jacobson came in third in the 800-meter. The 4×160 relay team of Peterson, Paige Knatterud, Weisenburger and Swart finished fourth.
Peterson, Weisenburger, Jacobson and Swart all set personal records in the triple jump as well.
On the boys’ side, the fourth-place Rockets were fueled by a host of both NR-S and Four Winds students.
Senior Porter Granger enjoyed a successful day. He placed second in both the 55-meter dash and the long jump. He was also part of the 4×160 relay team that came in second place, alongside Koy Zieman, Jackson Schumacher and Marial Deng.
Zieman, a freshman, also placed fourth in the 55-meter, fifth in the 200-meter and eighth in the triple jump.
Deng, a Four Winds junior and brother of last year’s high jump champion Deng Deng, placed fifth in Saturday’s high jump. He also came in sixth in the 55-meter.
Fellow Four Winds student Francis Belille came in third out of 81 places in the shot put.
For sixth-place Benson County, senior Carter Engebretson was the champion of the shot put. Engebretson was also the running back for the nine-man state champion NR-S/Maddock football team, a state finalist wrestler for Harvey/Wells County, and now an indoor shot put champion for Benson County. That’s three significant athletic achievements for three different team configurations over the course of a school year.
Engebretson’s score was 49-03.50, a personal record.
Senior Holdyn Jacobson placed second in both the 800 and the 1600. Junior Grant Engebretson placed second in the pole vault and fourth in the triple jump. Sophomore Brayden Herman was third in the 3200-meter. The 4×800 relay team of Keaton Sabbe, Corbin Knatterud, Brody Sabbe and Herman placed third.
NR-S will now go to Hazen on Tuesday for the Hazen Bison Stampede and Fessenden on Thursday for the HWC Early-Bird. Benson County will also be competing in the HWC Early-Bird.
Also happening last Friday, over in Grand Forks, was the Red River Valley Conference Indoor. Nelson County came in sixth out of 10 teams in the boys’ competition and ninth out of nine teams in the girls’. Hillsboro/Central Valley won both.
Nelson County junior Tyler Cree-Beglau won the boys’ 1500-meter and placed third in the 600-meter. He also finished fourth in the high jump. Junior Miles Fincher came in third in the long jump and fourth in the 60-meter hurdles.
On the girls’ side for the Chargers, sophomore Dagan Slade won the shot put for the second time this season. She set a personal record this time of 42-10.50.
Next up for Nelson County is Thursday’s HWC Early-Bird, alongside NR-S, Benson County, Langdon Area/Munich and Warwick, among other teams.
