RANGERS RUN TO THE FRONT
Several Rangers posted outstanding marks on a windy weekend of races. The Rangers split between two very competitive meets, the first being the Center of the Nation Invitational in Belle Fourche where over 20 teams from South Dakota and Wyoming competed in the largest meet thus far this season. In Rapid City, at the annual Track-O-Rama Invitational, the rest of the Rangers competed against ‘AA’ schools from east and west river, as well as all of the Wyoming Powerhouses.
Starting the meet off on a high note at the Center of the Nation meet was Amanda Straw, who launched a huge personal best in the Shot Put, throwing 34’1/2 inch for second place and inching closer the school record in the process. Also in the ring, Ryan Gimbel had a double-personal –best day, as he threw 41’11.25” for 6th place in the Shot Put and then came back later to whirl the discus 131’9” for 6th place.
On the track for the girls, Kelby Wiederhold had a break-through day placing 2nd in both the 400 and 200 (29.89) meter dashes, running a personal best of 67.40 in the quarter-mile. Wiederhold also scored in the discus (8th in 97’11”) and the long jump (7th; 14’1”). Kendra McLaughlin was 7th in the 100m hurdles, running 19.65. Leading the Ranger boys on the track in Belle Fourche was Victor Escalante. Escalante ran 5:05.28 in the 1600m run to place a very close 3rd place in a competitive mile field. The boy’s 4x400 meter relay and the boy’s 1600m medley relay both ran to strong 5th place performances.
At the Track-O-Rama meet in Rapid City, the Runnin’ Rangers racked up five tickets to the state track meet and recorded a couple of state-bests in the process.
Jessica McDonald was a gold-medal winner, running a season best 60.12 in wind-swept Rapid City. Kala McDonald ran the 800 meters, finishing third in the event, but ran the state’s top time in the process, qualifying with a 2:27.80 finish. The girl’s 4x800 relay team ran this spring’s top time of 10:17.58- and the same foursome (K. McDonald, Mariah Asheim, Steph Qualm and J. McDonald) qualified for the state meet in the 4x400m, running 4:13.52, the second-best time in the ‘A’ ranks this season.
Kyle Alexander scored two personal bests in the hurdle races. First, Alexander qualified for the finals in very strong 110m hurdle race, running 16.34. In the finals, Alexander finished in 7th place, running another nice time of 16.85. It was in the 300m hurdles that Alexander had the premier showing of the season, qualifying for the state meet with his 42.56 mark, which earned him a 5th place medal at the prestigious meet. Chance Clason also participated in the meet, narrowly missing the finals in the 100 meter dash, posting an 11.70 mark, his best fully-automatic mark ever.
