Two school records fall in Pierre

There is a new Custer High School record holder in both the boys long jump and girls javelin throw following competition at the American Legion Relays Monday in Pierre. The meet was moved from last weekend due to inclement weather.
Carter Tennyson is the new boys record holder in the high jump, clearing 6-4 (and nearly 6-6) to surpass the previous record of now-Custer High School track team volunteer coach Chris Stiefel, which was 6-3 and had stood since 1997. The leap was also good for first place at the meet.
“We were thrilled he broke the school record. It looked like he had 6-6, which would be really good,” Custer head coach Karen Karim said. “He’s consistent in his jumps. It wasn’t a fluke.”
Tennyson’s height puts him ranked second in the state in Class A to date.
Brook Bennett is the new record holder in the girls javelin, with a top toss of 100-7, good for third place in the meet in addition to the school record. She broke the record of 97-7 held by Laney Carlin.
Both athletes set the school record despite a strong wind at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field.
“It was really windy but it was warm,” Karim said. “The wind had an impact on some times and running events.”
Since the meet ended up being held on a Monday many schools dropped out, essentially turning the meet into a Class AA school meet along with the Wildcats and Stanley County.
“It was a good meet for us competition-wise,” Karim said. “It was good to race against and see people we don’t compete against every week. It shows our kids they can compete with those ‘AA’ schools.”
Custer’s other championships on the day included Cade Lehman winning the long jump with a top jump of 21-7 1/4.
“He equaled his long jump. He’s very consistent,” Karim said “He’s competing well.”
Lehman was also a part of the championship-winning 1600 relay team, as he joined forces with Danny Immormino, Mical Grace and Drew Lehman to post a time of 3:34.88.
The final boys championship came from Robbie Emery, who cleared 13-9 to claim gold in the pole vault.
On the girls side, Ciana Stiefel made it a Wildcat sweep of the pole vault when she cleared a top height of 12-1. Her sister Tenlee was second in the same event with a top height of 9-3.
Jojo Larsen claimed a pair of silver medals at the meet running the 100 in a time of 12.38 and 26.29 in the 200.
Third-place finishes for the girls included Emily Borkowski in the shot put with a personal record of 35-5 1/2, Torri Virtue in the discus with a top throw of 100-1, the medley relay team of Addie Sander, Taylor Busch, Brit Wheeler and Larsen in a time of 4:28.12 and the 3200 team of Hailey Woodward, Kelsey Stiefel, Busch and Wheeler in a time of 10:26.25.
“I needed to see some athletes race so we can start to see who we want to run what and how we want to run our relays,” Karim said, saying the medley team was put together with the goal of running a state-qualifying time.
Borkowski placed fourth in the discus with a best throw of 99-6 1/2 and Virtue was fourth in the shot put with a best throw of 34-0 1/4, while Kiran Pesicka was fifth in the 800 at a personal record time of 2:37.54 and Sander was fifth in the pole vault with a top height of 7-9.
Sixth-place finishes included Woodward in the 400 at 1:09.36 and the 1600 relay team of Sander, Woodward, Pesicka and Kelsey Stiefel at a time of 4:41.78.
In seventh was Keira Alfson in the 800 in a personal record time of 2:41.08 and Katelyn Nelson in the discus at 91-10.
Rounding out the girls placings was Sierra Swanson in the 1600 in eighth at 6:01.83.
For the boys, Grace was third in the 300 hurdles at 45.19, as was the team of Drew Lehman, Jackson Wiles, Sean Shipp and Sam Gaulke in the 3200 relay at 8:30.11.
Drew Lehman picked up a third-place finish in the 400 at 52.8, while Danny Immormino was fifth in the 100 at 11.48.
The Wildcats got a couple of eighth-place finishes, including Grace in the 100 hurdles at 17.75 and Noah Tainowitz in the pole vault at a top height of 9-9, which was also a personal record.
“We saw some things from some of our athletes that bode well for the future,” Karim said. “Kids are starting to figure things out and the training is coming together.”
The Wildcats competed in the Northern Hills Qualifier in Belle Fourche yesterday and will, weather pending, compete in the Black Hills Track Classic in Sturgis Saturday. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. The meet represents the last chance for athletes to become qualified to compete in the following weekend’s Howard Wood Dakota Relays in Sioux Falls.