Ella Bryan stirs up some dust while long jumping. Tonsager photo

Broncs Compete in Last Chance Meet and Set State Qualifiers

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On Tuesday May 19th, the Broncs attended their last regular season track meet in Rapid City, known as “The Last Chance Invite” which is so named as it is considered the last qualifying meet to punch a ticket to the state competition for our local teams. The Broncs had a great meet with a select few competitors trying to qualify to move on to state.

Coach Wattier reports, for the boys, Chris Jewett ran a PR in the 200 of 24.95, Caeyn Howard and Johnny Estrada both ran PRs in the 400, and Caeyn Howard moved to the 10th spot on the schools top 10 list with a time of 52.72. Clifford Torberson ran a PR in the 1600, Thad McKenney ran a nice PR in the 3200, Corbin Rowe threw a PR in the javelin of 107’4” which moves him up a spot to 7th on the schools top 10 list, and Johnny Estrada had a PR in the long jump. The boys 4×4 relay of Gavin Pearson, Slater Humbracht, Raif Parmeter, and Caeyn Howard ran a huge seasons best time of 3:33.45 which moves them to 6th all time in school history! Finally our boys 4×8 relay consisting of Lennon Clarkson, Griffen Biehl, Thad McKenney, and Nathan Hudson ran a seasons best time of 8:56.97.

For the Lady Broncs, Berklee Nore had a huge PR in the 100, previously she had run 13.98, Tuesday she ran 13.33! Mya Nowowiejski ran a PR in the 200 of 26.21 seconds, Betsy Moore took a full second off her best 300 hurdle time for the year running a 50.73 which moves her up a spot to 7th all time in school history! Rhys Pearson ran a smoking fast 800 time of 2:16.63 breaking her own school record by almost 2 full seconds and, “putting her in the mix with the best girls in the state in the 800,” states Coach Wattier.

Isabela Torberson and Abbey Clendening both ran nice PRs in the 1600, Misty and Layla Drieling both ran great PRs in the 3200. Misty moves into the 9th spot on the schools top 10 list with a time of 12:57.37. Ella Bryan had a PR in the long jump of 15’8” and the girls 4×4 relay of Rhys Pearson, Jaz Olson, Mikka Dunavant, and Berklee Nore ran the teams fastest 4×4 for the season with a time of 4:13.57. This moves them to 3rd all time in school history! The girls 4×8 relay consisting of Emersyn Carmichael, Misty Drieling, Isabela Torberson, and Layla Drieling also rans a seasons best time of 10:32.10, “missing the top 10 list by less than a second!” states Coach Wattier.

State track and field will be held in Sioux Falls at Howard Wood Field on May 28-30th. The Broncs had the following qualifiers; for the boys, Gavin Pearson in the 400 meter dash, Joseph McLennon in shot put and discuss, Gabe Raba in Shot put and discuss, Aiden Keil in High Jump, and the Boys 4×200 relay, Boys 4×400 relay, Boys 4×800 relay teams. For the Lady Broncs, qualifiers were, Mya Nowowiejski in the 200 meter dash, Rhys Pearson in the 800 meter, 1600 meter, and 3200 meter runs, Ansley O’Brien in the 100 meter hurdles and High Jump, Berklee Nore in high jump, Mikka Dunavant in triple jump and the Girls 4×100 relay, Girls 4×200 relay, Girls 4×400 relay, ,Girls 4×800 relay, Girls Sprint Medley Relay teams. South Dakota Public Broadcasting Sports will have live streaming available for the 2026 SDHSAA Track & Field state championships, May 28-30, 2026.

 

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