Champs in Fargo and Minot

With the weather bringing uncertainty to track availability across the state, the Riders split meets this week. On Thursday, most of the boys competed at the Bison Stampede meet in Fargo. A handful of shot putters joined them, but most of the throwers competed on Saturday in Minot at the Minot Throws Fest, the first outdoor meet of the season and the first opportunity to secure a spot in Bismarck later this season. 

Taking the extended indoor season with grace, the Riders went about the meet with extremely positive attitudes and saw the meet as extra chances to break records. In the first track event of the day, the 4×800 meter relay featured two teams from Red River and twenty-one teams in total, all in one heat. The enormous field size on an indoor track was previously unheard of before this race. The team of Elijah Dafoe, Micah Larsen-Schmidt, Grant Hoffarth, and Jonah Dafoe ran a time of 8:28.12, good enough for first place on the day but missing the indoor school record by an excruciating .03 seconds. The second RR team consisting of Josh Neil, Kael Berberich, Alex Prichard, and Joe Quinn finished in 6th (9:11.64).

The 60 meter dash featured 5 athletes eager to give the short sprint one more go. Leading the way was Senior Caleb Severson, who qualified for finals with a time of 7.19 seconds.  He would run faster in finals and finish second with a time of 7.15. Also qualifying for finals was another senior Amir Dourdian, who placed 7th (7.40). Mikey Mallory (7.48), Logan Lambl (7.62), and Brody Andrade (7.63) were the other finishers. 

Continuing the winning relay trend was the 4×200 meter relay team of Severson, Lukas Heydt, Brody Andrade, and Dorudian, who finished first with a time of 1:34.89. Also racing the 4×200 was the team Isaiah Gaye, Jaden Chine, Noah Brandvold, Zach Oehlke (1:39.16)

In the 1600 meter race, the Riders did not have any placers but did have some strong performers from athletes ready to step it up. Senior Matt Evans was the first athlete from Red River to cross the finish line in a time of 5:01.54 (9th). Also racing was Micah Schindler (5:12.30), Asa Berberich (5:15.51), William Krump (5:21.90), and Sam Dvorak (5:26.36).

With two placers and four strong performances, the 60 meter hurdles was a big event for the Riders. Heydt made it to finals where he finished 4th in a time of 8.75 seconds. Right behind him was Carter Byron, taking 5th place (8.88). Also racing was Ben Strand (9.37) and Jack Matson (10.88).

The underclassmen represented the Riders in the 400 meter dash with sophomore Kyle Schafer as the top placer, finishing 3rd in a time of 55.28. Following Kyle was Jack Helgeson (56.75), Gabe Sagini (58.96), Aidyn Wadlow (1:00.29), and Jack Matson (1:00.95).

In a large field of athletes, junior David Radke crossed the line first for Red River in the 800 meter dash. He finished 7th in a time of 2:13.95. Also racing the 800 was Evans (2:17.42), Isaac Wild (2:17.50), Sam Baah (2:24.03), and Eli Zerr (2:30.19).

Navigating the tight turns of the 200 meter track and throwing down an indoor school record, senior Caleb Severson continues to put on a show of speed domination. He finished 2nd with a time of 22.93. Mikey Mallory was the next athlete from Red River in the final results with a time of 24.38. Also racing the 200 Logan Lambl (24.90), Mike Andrei Villas (24.92), and Noah Brandvold (25.68).

Scoring 18 points, the most from any individual event of the day, the Riders put on a show in the 3200 meter run. Elijah Dafoe (10:10.44 – 2nd), Joseph Quinn (10:28.97 – 4th), Micah Larsen-Schmidt (10:37.22 – 6th), Kael Berberich (10:44.11 – 7th), and Jake Jenkins (11:21.52) represented Red River in this event.

For the last running event of the day the Riders put on a display of dominance in the 4×400 meter relay. The team of Jonah Dafoe, Lukas Heydt, Caleb Severson, and Grant Hoffarth ran a time of 3:34.10 for a clear win and a number 2 all time indoor 4×400 time in school history. In a comeback race, the team of Josh Neil, Schafer, Helgeson, and Andrade proved that seed times don’t matter as they cruised to a second place finish in a time of 3:41.97.

On the field event side, Red River had two athletes place in the long jump. Isaiah Gaye finished 4th with his jump of 20’ 2. Byron was close behind in 5th place with a jump of 20’ 1. Also long jumping was Strand (19’ 2.25) and Gabe Sagini (17’ 10).

In the high jump, the Riders had four athletes looking to get more experience. Quinn Nelson jumped the highest at 5’ 6, Byron, Zach Oehlke, and Jonah Dafoe all jumped 5’ 4.

In a successful day for the Riders in pole vault, senior Jack Kouba took home his first win of the year vaulting 12’, fellow senior, Hudson Flom finished 2nd with his height of 11’ 6. 

A slurry of athletes from Red River competed in the shot put, headlined by Quinn Nelson and his PR throw of 44’ 6 (5th). Next up was Logan Arason (42’ 5), James Walters (41’ 0), Dawson VanSickle (39’ 3), Michael Belluk (38’ 4), and Alex Parrish (37’ 1).

The Riders won the meet with 130.5 points. Top point scorers were Caleb Severson (21), Elijah Dafoe (10.5), Lukas Heydt (10), and Jack Kouba (10).

 

Minot Throws Fest

Although a little chilly at the first outdoor meet of the season, nothing was going to stop this Red River squad from catching fire with 16 PR’s.

In the varsity division for shot put, Logan Arason took home another win in a long list of career wins (46’ 10.50). Quinn Nelson was the other placer finishing 7th with his throw of 41’ 9.5. Also throwing was James Walters (37’ 6) and Michael Belluk (36’ 3).

In the JV Shot Put division, sophomore Dawson Vansickle won with his throw of 38’ 6. The other finisher in the top 8 was Alex Parrish in 7th (35’ 7). Also competing in this division was Jacob Foss (34’ 4), Daniel Severud (34’ 1), Owen Hallanger (33’ 10), Kayden Kobel (33’ 9), John Bjerke (29’ 11), Rylan Kuntz (29’ 11), and Jackson Escobar (23’ 0)

In the Varsity Javelin, the Riders were dominant with 4 of the top 8 placers. Arason launched a throw of 176’ 1 to qualify for State and win the event. Carter Byron, in his first ever high school javelin competition, threw 156’ 4 and finished 3rd. Nipping at his heels was Quinn Nelson (156’2-4th), James Walters (134’8-7th) and Nathan Piseno (118’9).

On the JV side of the Javelin, Daniel Severud had a monster throw of 131’ 1 in his javelin debut to win the event. Following Severud was VanSickle (113’ 3 – 2nd), Rylan Kuntz (106’ 9 – 6th), Michael Belluk (97’ 11), Owen Hallanger (91’ 5), Jacob Foss (84’ 7), and Kayden Kobel (74’ 8) to round out the large group of RR throwers.

In the Varsity DIscus, Red River finished in 1st and 2nd with their five athletes. Arason threw 143’ 2 to take 1st and Nelson hit 142’ 0 in 2nd place. Also competing was Byron (109’ 6), Walters (93’ 0), and Parrish (74’ 4).

In the JV Discus, RR managed 5 of the top 8 places. Sophomore Jacob Foss led the way with a throw of 97’ 7 for 2nd place. Severud (93’ 0-4th), Michael Belluk (92’ 8-5th), Dawson Vansickle (89’ 9-6th), John Bjerke (88’ 4-7th) rounded out the scoring. Also competing was Nathan Piseno (68’ 2), Rylan Kuntz (51’ 8), and Jackson Escobar (42’ 3)

The Varsity and Junior Varsity boys finished 1st in both meets, becoming the first ever Minot Throws Fest Champs.

 

Full results, splits, and points can be found, HERE. Meet photos can be found, HERE. For the current season’s top marks, splits, relay teams, and point totals, click HERE. 

 

*Recap submitted by senior co-captain Jonah Dafoe