Titans find success at Battle of the Border, home invite

The Tea Area High School track and field teams turned in a series of strong performances across two meets last week, highlighted by multiple top-three finishes at the USD Battle of the Border on April 21.

Leading the way was sophomore standout Beckett Martens, who captured the 100 meter title in 10.77 seconds, a personal best and one of the top times in South Dakota this season. Martens also added a third-place finish in the 200 meter dash (22.30), marking another personal best. 

Junior Sydney Stahlecker delivered another top performance for the Titans, winning the 400 meters in 57.92, while junior Dawood Toto placed second in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 40.74. This marks his personal best in the event. 

Distance standout Jaycie Babb also reached the podium twice, finishing second in the 1,600 meters with a season’s best time of 5:17.04 and fourth in the 800 meters (2:19.88), while sophomore Daphne Decker added a third-place finish in the javelin after throwing a personal best 110-7.

The girls 4x400-meter relay team of Jayna VanLaecken, Brooklyn Reiners, Grace Bialas and Stahlecker also earned a runner-up finish with a time of 3:59.68, one of the top marks in Class AA this season and a season’s best for the group. 

The boys’ 4x100 meter relay team of Lincoln Dystrka, Hayden Bialas, Chase DeBoer, and Beckett Martens took third in the event with a time of 44.28. 

Additional top-eight finishers for Tea Area at the Battle of the Border included:

•Dawood Toto, 8th, 110 meter hurdles (16.36)

•Nola Terveen, 5th, 100 meter dash (13.24) & 5th 200 meter dash (27.40)

•Jayna VanLaecken, 6th, 200 meter hurdles, 49.01

•Carter Christensen, 8th, 400 meters (52.84)

•Evie DeGeest, 5th, 400 meters (1:02.12)

•Abby Hilleson, 8th, 400 meters (1:04.04)

•Grace Bialas, 5th, 800 meters (2:23.75)

•Taylor Boehnke, 7th, 1600m (5:55.77)

•Tyson DeYoung, 5th, discus (137-0)

•Carter Brown, 6th, discus (131-5)

•Arian Friedman Boehrns, 7th, javelin (124-10)

•Carter Brown, 8th, javelin (123-8)

•Carter Brown, 7th, shot put (45-2.25)

•Logan Castle, 7th, high jump (4-9.75)

•Daphne Decker, 8th, pole vault (8-8)

•Boys 4x200 relay, 5th (1:33.56)

•Boys 4x400 relay, 6th (3:39.46)

•Boys 4x800 relay, 4th (9:00.77)

•Boys sprint medley relay, 7th (4:04.28)

•Girls 4x100 relay, 7th (52.85)

•Girls 4x200 relay, 5th (1:50.40)

Tea Area returned to action April 23 at the Tea Area Invite, where several athletes again found success in front of a home crowd.

Martens continued his strong week by winning the 200 meters (22.56), while Grace Bialas claimed the 400-meter title (1:03.80). Jaycie Babb added a runner-up finish in the 400 meters (1:04.38), and Daphne Decker captured the javelin title (104-0) while also placing third in the pole vault.

Sydney Stahlecker added a third-place finish in the 100 meters (12.31), while Carter Christensen placed third in the 200 meters (23.41). Abby Hilleson also earned a third-place finish in the 800 meters (2:36.73).

Additional top-eight finishers for Tea Area at the Tea Area Invite included:

•Brooklyn Reiners, 4th, 100 meter hurdles (16.76)

•Cooper Thompson, 7th, 110 meter hurdles (17.66)

•Dawood Toto, 8th, 200 meters (24.09)

•Nola Terveen, 6th, 200 (27.68)

•Noah Korver, 4th, 400 meters (57.44)

•Evie DeGeest, 5th, 400 meters (1:05.17)

•Reid Hammerquist, 5th, 800 meters (2:16.74)

•Tate VanLaecken, 7th, 800 meters (2:20.13)

•Reece Christian, 8th, 1,600 meters (5:07.47)

•Taylor Boehnke, 6th, 800 meters (2:46.38)

•Thiik Lual, 5th, discus (125-11)

•Jack Munson, 7th, high jump (5-6)

•Logan Castle, 4th, high jump (4-10)

•Tyson DeYoung, 5th, javelin (134-7)

•Arian Friedman Boehrns, 6th, javelin (133-4)

•Carter Brown, 7th, javelin (131-5)

•Kiley Pendergast, 6th, javelin (87-01)

•Jack Munson, 5th, long jump (18-11)

•Evie DeGeest, 8th, long jump (14-8)

•Jonah Klemisch, 7th, pole vault (8-0)

•Tyson DeYoung, 6th, shot put (44-10)

•Carter Brown, 7th, shot put (44-6)

•Jayden Leegaard, 5th, shot put (30-11)

•Girls 4x200 relay, 4th (1:58.83)

•Boys 4x400 relay, 4th (3:53.32)

•Boys 4x800 relay, 4th (9:17.60)