Watertown, Aberdeen area athletes win two individual events, four relays

Waverly's (NE) Emma Steffensen, left, and Spearfish's Peyton VanDeest, right, run down the final stretch of the special event girls 800-meter race at the 101st Howard Wood Dakota Relays on Friday, May 1, 2026, at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern (1676) finished fourth in the race.

Other Aberdeen Central highlights

Aberdeen Central also got individual-event placings from Kyson Fayant (second in boys' 300 hurdles, 38.33), Jack Bertsch (sixth in discus, 160-6) and Jaidyn Forsyth (eighth in girls' pole vault, 10-9).

Fayant also teamed with Caden Forred, Carter Lust and Karson Borge to place seventh in the Class AA boys' 400 relay (43.55).

Area runners in special races

Oliver Fieber of Deuel and Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern each finished fourth in special races on Friday, May 1.

Fieber was fourth in the boys' 200 dash special with a time of 22.0. Cauy Konz of Treynor, IA won the race in 21.22.

Boekelheide took fourth in the girls' 800 run special with a time of 2:11.84. Peyton VanDeest of Spearfish won the race in 2:09.81.

Charlie Whiting of Watertown finished third in the boys' pole vault during the 101st Howard Wood Dakota Relays on Friday, May 1, 2026, at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.

Other area placewinners

• Boys 100 Dash — 7. Kyle Hettich, Ipswich, 11:08.
• Girls 100 Hurdles — 7. Ivy Jaacks, Elkton-Lake Benton, 17.95.
• Girls 1,600 Run — 6. Ella Boekelheide, Northwestern, 4:57.99.
• Girls High Jump — 3. Hazel Luethmers, De Smet, 5-4.
• Girls Pole Vault — 6. Jalyssa Hutson, Ipswich, 11-3.
• Girls Shot Put — 7. Eliza Larson, Clark-Willow Lake, 38-6.25.
• Boys Javelin — 7. Matthew Mount, Webster Area, 167-5.
• Boys Discus — 4. Taiton Boersma, Elkton-Lake Benton, 164-11.
• Boys Triple Jump — 3. Samuel Rick, Milbank, 44-3.5; 4. Ty Boekelheide, Northwestern, 44-0.5; 8. Dylan Hofer, Aberdeen Christian, 43-3.75.
• Class B Boys 400 Relay — 3. Ipswich (Casey Geditz, Kyle Hettich, Brody Davis, Shay Knust) 44.46.
• Unified Boys 400 Relay — 3. Hamlin (Watson & Wesley Grantham, Jade Olson, Isaac Sheehan) 1:02.83).
• Class A Boys 800 Relay — 7. Sioux Valley (Guthmiller, Steinhaus, Hiltunen, Wosje) 1:32.64.
• Class B Boys 800 Relay — 3. Ipswich (Geditz, Knust, Davis, Hettich) 1:34.06; 6. Castlewood (Brody Bass, Dalton Moorhouse, Will Aderhold, Kamden Keszler) 1:34.24.
• Class A Girls 400 Relay — 4. Canby-Minneota, MN (Jordyn Jostock, Karlie Wollum, Brynn Kockelman, Taylor Ourada) 50.74.

2026 WATOMA RELAYS: Watertown, Aberdeen Central win 23 events; eight records fall in Watoma Relays

• Class B Girls 400 Relay — 4. Warner (Courtney Leidholt, Kaydee Mackner, Jaycee Jung, MaKenna Leidholt) 51.74; 7. De Smet (Gemma Luethmers, Charli McCune, Izy Bendorf, Adalyn Gross) 51.94; 8. Langford Area (Paytyn Marlow, Brooke Dwight, Bailey Dwight, Lizzie Gustafson) 52.07.
• Class A Girls 800 Relay — 7. Groton Area (McKenna Tietz, Taryn Traphagen, Kella Tracy, Makenna Krause) 1:45.79.
• Class B Girls 800 Relay — 7. Warner (C. Leidholt, Mackner, Keira Steiger, M. Leidholt) 1:50.69.
• Class A Girls 1,600 Relay — 4. Milbank (Ella Koplin, Haylen Schneck, Susie Schuneman, Zayda Townsend) 4:08.44; 7. Canby-Minneota (Jostock, Ourada, Jada Vanengen, Kockelman) 4:09.7.
• Class B Girls 1,600 Relay — 5. Ipswich (Guthmiller, Shawna Henderson, Oban, Aubree DeRaad) 4:13.19; 6. Northwestern (Elexis Kramp, Brenna Halvorson, Lilly Haven, Boekelheide) 4:13.21.
• Class A Girls 3,200 Relay — 8. Sioux Valley (Tayla Vincent, Amia Ward, Kailey Cradduck, Maci Licht) 10:06.21.
• Class B Girls 3,200 Relay — 2. Deubrook Area (Kaylee Brown, Neely Gustad, Kylee Johnson, Nora Olsen) 10:08.29; 6. Warner (Haivyn Schuchhardt, Katelyn Wirth, Shaye Sauerwein, Reese Holm) 10:21.52; 7. Gettysburg (Finlee Heien, Paige Ahlemaier, Jadyn Ahlemaier, Emma Schlachter) 10:23.72; 8. Arlington (Natalie DeCurtins, Madalyn Madsen, Maria Steffensen, Kaelyn Ulschmid) 10:36.94.
• Class A Girls Sprint Medley Relay — 5. Clark-Willow Lake (Madison Brenden, Johanna Vandersnick, Cadence Bochek, Kamryn Nesheim) 4:17.23.
• Class B Boys Sprint Medley Relay — 3. Ipswich (Brianna Geditz, Sophia Knittel, Shawna Henderson, Guthmiller) 4:19.9; 8. Deubrook Area (Presley Quail, Gustad, Johnson, Olsen) 4:26.26.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Highlights from 101st Howard Wood Dakota Relays track & field meet