For the third consecutive year and fourth time in program
history, Spirit Lake
Park stands atop the Lakes Conference
track and field standings after the conference meet Thursday in Storm Lake.
SLP won nine events, earned 23 all-conference honors, and racked up 149 points
en route to the title. Spencer came in second with 102 points, followed by
Western Christian third (78), LeMars fourth (63), Storm Lake
fifth (48), Emmetsburg sixth (43), Estherville-Lincoln Central seventh (37),
and Cherokee eighth (34). Senior Keith Byers was on his “A-game”, winning three
individual races. Byers set the pace in the 800-meters (1:58), 1600-meters
(4:32.83), and 3200-meters (9:56.42) races. Luke Kabele grabbed a pair of
individual titles, winning the 200-meter dash (22.52) and the long jump
(20’2.5”). SLP also received first place finishes from Bryson McCabe in the
100-meter dash (11.65), Kevin Martinson in the 400-meter hurdles (55.75), the
4×200 relay (Austin Folsom, Aric Waltz, McCabe, Martinson; 1:31.56), and the
4×400 relay (Martinson, Kabele, Waltz, Kayne Feldick; 3:25.06), which broke a
conference record set back in 1968.
The girls portion of the Lakes Conference meet was a
two-horse race between Spencer and Spirit
Lake Park,
with the Tigers finishing atop the points standings. Spencer tallied 150
points, with SLP second at 122.5. Western Christian placed third (101), LeMars
fourth (85), Storm
Lake fifth (41),
Estherville-Lincoln Central sixth (39), Cherokee seventh (33.5), and Emmetsburg
eighth (15). SLP ended the night with just two champions, Mikey Heikens in the
800-meter run (2:31.15) and Dondi Schmidt in the 1500-meter run (5:15.26), but
did secure ten spots on the all-conference list.
The Siouxland Conference meet at Sibley-Ocheyedan came down
to just two schools after a furious rally by Okoboji. The Pioneers, though,
would fall just short, as their 129.3 points finished second to MOC-Floyd Valley’s 136 points. In third place was
West Lyon (81), Sioux Center took fourth (59), Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley
fifth (45.3), Sheldon sixth (44), Sibley-Ocheyedan seventh (27.3),
George-Little Rock eighth (27), and Central Lyon
ninth (9). The Pioneers earned eight gold medals, led by Zach Jones winning the
110-meter hurdles (14.66) and the 400-meter hurdles (55.41). Joe Hilsabeck was
also first, taking top honors in the 800-meter run (2:05.03). Okoboji found
most of their success in the relays, crossing the finish line first in the
4×200 (Tyeson Barnett, Gabe Goehring, Mark Nielsen, Alex Koepp; 1: 32.90),
4×400 (Chris Albright, Taylor Cody, Dalton Syverson, Jones; 3:29.12), 4×800
(Cody, Albright, Nielsen, Jordan Hanna; 8:27.21), the Medley relay (Barnett,
Goehring, Nielsen, Cody; 3:43.31), and the Shuttle Hurdle relay (Alex Koepp,
Albright, Syverson, Jones; 59.33).
Comments from coach Brad Peter
The Okoboji girls placed fifth in the overall standings of Siouxland Conference meet with 42 points. The Pioneers did not place any athletes on the all-conference list.
