Titans post strong finishes at Underwood Invite in Brookings

The Tea Area High School track and field team turned in several standout performances Monday, April 6, at the Scott Underwood Invite held at South Dakota State University.

Leading the girls was Sydney Stahlecker, who captured first place in the 400-meter dash with a meet-record time of 57.11 seconds. Also competing in the event was Evie DeGeest who finished eighth with a time of 1:03.38.

Tea Area also received strong distance performances from Jaycie Babb, who placed third in both the 1,600-meter run and the 800-meter run. Babb crossed the line in 5:12.71 in the 1,600 and 2:20.99 in the 800. Grace Bialas added a sixth-place finish in the 800 meters finishing in 2:25.

In the hurdles, senior Brooklyn Reiners placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.99 and added a sixth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles in 50.46.

Freshman Jayna VanLaecken earned fourth place in the 200-meter dash in 27.58. 

In the field events, Logan Castle cleared 4 feet, 10 inches to place third in the high jump. Nola Terveen added a fifth-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet, 10.5 inches, while Daphne Decker placed sixth in the pole vault by clearing 8 feet, 6 inches.

On the boys side, Dawood Toto highlighted the day with a first-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles, winning with a time of 41.31 seconds. Cooper Thompson added a sixth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles clocking a 44.14.

Toto also placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.39.

Beckett Martens finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.10 seconds. 

In distance events, Noah Korver placed sixth in the 800 meters clocking a time of 2:09.63, while Reid Hammerquist earned third in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:33.70.

Tea Area also saw strong relay performances. The boys 4x100-meter relay team of Juv Banza, Bill Kerkula, Chase DeBoer and Martens finished third in 45.60. The girls 4x200-meter relay team of Emery Voelker, Terveen, Emma Hilleson and Castle placed sixth in 1:53.81, while the boys 4x200 relay of Banza, Kerkula, DeBoer, and Martens took seventh in 1:37.42.

On Thursday, Apr. 9 the team was scheduled to competed at University of South Dakota in the Vermillion Booster. They will host their first meet of the season on Tuesday, Apr. 14. Action is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.