Huron track athletes prepare for state meet
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HURON — A wacky weather season for track and field will come to a close with the Class AA State Meet, which begin Thursday and continues through Saturday at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
Huron coach Angie Thomas is looking for her athletes to turn in some of their best times of the season, while a few of them have the opportunity to earn a medal.
“Most of our relays and runners are going in towards the bottom, so I’m just looking for them to run a season best,” Thomas said.
“The weather is suppose to be 80 and maybe some storms, so we go from where we can’t even get outside because its so cold and now the kids are going to be running in 80 degrees,” she said. “We have to try to keep them cool and make sure they are not basking in the sun the entire time.”
Looking to have shots at medals for the Tigers in the boys’ division are Quenton Walls, Bryan Ramirez and Dylan Lichty.
Walls, who has signed to compete at Dakota Wesleyan next season, will compete in the triple jump and long jump events for Huron. He is ranked in the top 10 in the triple jump this season.
“He’s been jumping a Personal Record multiple times throughout the season, so he obviously has a good chance of placing top 8 in triple jump,” Thomas said of Walls.
Ramirez has the No. 11-ranked throw in the state this season for the Tigers in the shot put and is ranked No. 16 in the discus.
“Bryan Ramirez is up there in shot put,” Thomas said. “He might be in one of those top flights, so he again has a chance.”
Lichty turned in a season-best effort of 13-feet in the pole vault this season for the Tigers, which places him a tie for fifth heading into the state meet.
Also possibly figuring in the mix for Huron in the boys’ javelin is Tyson Pfitzer.
Brynn Gose holds the best home for the Tigers to get a medal in the girls’ division. She is seeded seventh in the shot put heading into the state meet.
“She has PR’d almost every meet she’s thrown at so she is just getting better and better,” Thomas said of Gose. “This is her first year that she has done it, so as her technique gets down and she gets comfortable with it, she just keeps throwing farther.
“I know coach Mike Carda is hoping she hits that 40-feet mark and she’s pretty darn close now,” she said. “That’s her best bet to medal at state.”
Heavan Gainey has qualified to compete in boys the 100-and 200-meter events for the Tigers. She will also be competing in the 400 and 800 relays.
Huron will have three girls competing in javelin — Hylton Heinz, Elly Gascoigne and Hamtyn Heinz.
“Our javelin throwers are going to have to PR to place,” Thomas said. “That’s pretty big. It’s amazing what a couple of years will do in that event.”
The state meet is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, 9 a.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
All three days of the event will be streamed live online at sdpb.org/track and on YouTube. The final day on Saturday will also air live on SDPB2-TV.
Front row, from left: Anderson Porisch, TJ Lien, Landon Hulst, Riley Winegar and Thackary Hansen. Back row: Bryan Ramirez, Quenton Walls, Dylan Lichty, Cheech Harman and Tyson Pfitzer. Not pictured: Quinston Luellman.
Huron Qualifiers
Boys
100: Quinston Luellman.
3,200: TJ Lien; Cheech Harman.
400 relay: Huron (Thackary Hansen, Quenton Walls, Landon Hulst, Quinston Luellman).
800 relay: Huron (Landon Hulst, Quenton Walls, Riley Winegar, Thackary Hansen).
3,200 relay: Huron (Cheech Harman, Anderson Porisch, Riley Winegar, TJ Lien).
Medley relay: Huron (Thackary Hansen, Quinston Luellman, TJ Luellman, Cheech Harman).
Shot put: Bryan Ramirez.
Discus: Bryan Ramirez.
