By Kandi Tonsager
The Bronc high school track and field team ends the season with many new school records and state placers.
On Tuesday May 13th in Belle Fourche, the Black Hills Conference meet was held ahead of inclement weather moving in on its originally scheduled date of Thursday May 15th, also moved due to inclement weather was the “Last Chance Track Meet” at O’Harra in Rapid City, so named as it has previously been the last chance to qualify for the state meet. It was held on Thursday May 22nd. The Broncs had some great results in both meets with new school leaderboard spots, school records beat and state rankings improved.
For the boys, Kash Le LaCheur moved into 7th on the school leader board and 11th ranked in state in the 200 meter dash, Tegan Fredrickson moved to 3rd on the leaderboard and 22nd in state rankings, Gavin Pearson moved to 6th place spot on the leaderboard in the 400 meter dash and earns a spot of 13th in state, Lennon Clarkson moved to 5th on the school leaderboard and into 18th in state rankings in the 1600 meter, and the 4×100 relay team of Gavin Pearson, Oden Walding, Caeyn Howard and Kash Le LaCheur moved to number 3 on the leaderboard and earned a ranking of 15th in the state for their last regular season meet.
For the Lady Broncs, 8th grader, Ansley O’Brien moves up to the high school team and steps onto the leader board 100 meter hurdles at 2nd and earns a state ranking of 11th and 4th on the leader board for the 300 meter hurdles earning a ranking of 22nd in the state as well as joining the 4×200 meter relay team with Mikka Dunavant, Mya and Kailey Nowowiejski who move to 2nd on the school leaderboard and earn a state ranking of 2nd. Berklee Nore moves up to the high school team after middle school season as a 7th grader and ties for 6th on the leaderboard in high jump, also earning her a tied spot for a 15th spot ranking in state. Mya Nowowiejski moves to 3rd on the leaderboard in the 400 meter dash and earns a ranking of 23rd in state. Chloe Merjil improves her 5th place spot on the leaderboard in shot put with a throw of 38’8”. Rhys Pearson moves to 1st on the school leaderboard in the 800 meter run breaking the old school record by 1.4 seconds with a time of 2:20.52 and earns an 8th place ranking in state. The 4×100 meter relay team of Ansley, Mikka, Mya and Kailey break the school record with a time of 50.3 for the last meet of regular season.
Broncs who qualified and competed in the State Meet held at Howard Wood field in Sioux Falls on May 29th-31st, 2025 were: Kashton Le LaCheur in the 100 meter dash placing 19th , and the 200 meter dash placing 21st; Gavin Pearson in the 400 meter dash placing 16th and in the 800 meter dash placing 21st; Lennon Clarkson in the 1600 meter run placing 19th and in the 3200 meter run placing 7th making the podium; Tegan Fredrickson in the 300 meter hurdles placing 21st; Aiden Keil qualified in high jump; Gabe Raba placed 9th in discuss with a Personal Record and ranking of number 24 in the state; Joseph McLennon in shot put placing 10th with an almost 2 foot Personal Record and state ranking of number 21. The 4×100 meter relay team of Gavin Pearson, Oden Walding, Kashton Le LaCheur and Caeyn Howard placed 14th; the 4×200 meter relay team of Gavin Pearson, Oden Walding, Kashton Le LaCheur and Tegan Fredrickson placed 17th and the 4×800 meter relay team of Oden Walding, Aiden Keil, Clifford Torberson and Nathan Hudson placed 21st.
For the Lady Broncs, Berklee Nore placed 14th in High Jump; Chloe Merjil placed 15th in Javelin; Ansley O’Brien placed 9th in the 100 meter Hurdles and 14th in the 300 Meter hurdles; Rhys Pearson placed 15th in the 800 meter run and 10th in the 1600 meter run with a PR and state ranking of 15th; Lia Mundt placed 22nd in the 800 meter run with a PR and ranking of number 24 in final state rankings, 9th in the 1600 meter run, and 6th in the 3200 meter run making the podium.
The 4×100 and 4×200 meter relay team of Mikka Dunavant, Ansley O’Brien, Mya Nowowiejski and Kailey Nowowiejski placed 5th in the preliminaries of the 4×100 earning them a spot in the finals where they placed 5th again with a time of 50.87. In the 4×200 they placed 3rd in the preliminaries earning them a spot in the finals where they placed 4th with a time of 1:46.73.
The 4×400 meter relay and sprint medley relay team of Mikka Dunavant, Rhys Pearson, Mya Nowowiejski and Kailey Nowowiejski placed 16th in the 4×400 and 10th in the sprint medley with a season best time of 4:18.38 and an 11th place state ranking overall to end the season. Great job Broncs!
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