Stahlecker leads Titans with double Championship: Stahlecker earns Tea Area’s first-ever All-Class Gold Medal as Martens, relay teams and Babb add medals at State AA Meet

The Tea Area High School track and field teams delivered a historic performance at the 2026 SDHSAA State AA Track and Field Meet, held May 28-30 at Howard Wood Field.

Leading the way was junior Sydney Stahlecker, who etched her name into the Titan record books with a pair of State championships. Stahlecker captured first place in both the girls 400-meter dash and 200-meter dash, becoming the first Tea Area athlete to win an individual state championship since the school moved to Class AA competition.

Her victory in the 400-meter dash was especially significant. Stahlecker crossed the finish line in a school-record 55.75 seconds to earn the All-Class Gold Medal (best time among all classes). This marks the first all-class gold medal ever won by a Titan athlete. Her time now ranks eighth on South Dakota’s all-time performance list. 

After qualifying first in the 200-meter preliminaries with a time of 24.61 seconds, Stahlecker returned in the finals to claim the title in 24.60 seconds. She is Tea Area’s first double-event state champion since 2011.

Sophomore Beckett Martens turned in one of the best performances in school history on the boys side. Martens finished runner-up in the boys 100-meter dash with a time of 10.63 seconds, the highest state finish ever by a Tea Area boys sprinter. He also earned a third-place medal in the 200-meter dash, clocking a school-record 21.80 seconds and becoming the first Titan athlete to break the 22-second barrier in the event.

Tea Area’s relay teams also made their mark. The boys 3,200-meter relay set a new school record while placing seventh in 8:19.38. Team members included Tate VanLaecken, Reid Hammerquist, Noah Korver, and Jack Campbell. 

The boys 4x100-meter relay established another new school record during the preliminaries with a time of 43.25 seconds. The team consisted of Carter Christensen, Hayden Bialas, Lincoln Dykstra, and Martens. They finished ninth in the prelims, just missing the finals. 

The boys 4x200 relay posted a season-best time of 1:32.86, which ranks seventh in school history. Team members included Dawood Toto, Juv Banza, Chase DeBoer, and Bialas. They finished 12th in the prelims, missing the finals. 

Senior Jaycie Babb closed out an exceptional career by qualifying for the state meet in the 800-meter run for the sixth consecutive season. Babb earned an eighth-place medal in the event with a time of 2:17.93 and finished her career with an impressive 11 state medal performances.

The girls 4x400-meter relay team of Babb, Brooklyn Reiners, Evie DeGeest and Stahlecker earned runner-up honors with an outstanding anchor leg by Stahlecker, giving them second with a time of 4:00.87.

The girls 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team of Emma Hilleson, Nola Terveen, Reiners and Babb finished sixth in 4:16.09.

the girls 4x800-meter relay team of Grace Bialas, Abby Hilleson, Jayna VanLaecken and Babb also earned a state medal, finishing seventh in 9:44.93.

Dawood Toto added another medal for the Titans, placing eighth in the boys 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.85 seconds after qualifying for the finals with a 40.66-second preliminary run.

Several other Tea Area athletes narrowly missed medal positions. Daphne Decker finished ninth in the girls javelin with a throw of 116 feet, 7 inches, while Tyson DeYoung placed ninth in the boys shot put with a mark of 48 feet, 8.75 inches. DeYoung also finished 14th in the discus.