News

It's hard to fathom, but after two months of great action on the track and in the field, we've reached the last weekend of the 2016 T&F season in North and South Dakota. With only the state meets remaining, it's a good time to check in on the "Varsity Sports" Platinum Leaderboard to see what marks the top athletes in the region will be gunning for this Friday and Saturday. 

If you're new to the Platinum process, it's our means of keeping track the top performances from every individual event held in both North and South Dakota. As always, for a mark or time to count, it must take place at a sanctioned meet in the Dakotas, so out-of-state or indoor meets don't count. (No offense, Dan Lennon.) We're using fully automatic times (FAT) and are converting handheld times to FAT, so in case you see a mark that you feel isn't correct or know of a mark that's better, the conversion factor is likely why it's not on this list. (...Or I could have just missed it. It's a big territory to keep track of.)

Now, even though there are only two meets left in the high school track season in the Dakotas, a whopping 16 (!?!!) Platinum marks were set at State last year, so while so many great performances are listed below, don't be shocked to see a lot these fall by late Saturday afternoon.

With that in mind, here are the penultimate rankings in the quest to be a Platinum Champion in 2016... 

 Boys Platinum Leaderboard                                                                                                                       Platinum Record

100m : Sam Clark, Baltic – 10.54^+ (Chester Booster Club Meet, 4/12)                                                     10.54^  

               Mason Hericks, Watertown – 10.54^ (ESD Conference Meet, 5/14)

200m : Mason Hericks, Watertown – 21.60^ (ESD Conference Meet, 5/14)                                             21.60^

400m : Paul Paul, Harrisburg – 48.74 (Dakota Relays, 5/7)                                                                          47.54*

800m : Josh Goehring, SF Roosevelt – 1:53.34 (Dakota Relays, 5/6)                                                       1:52.38

1600m : Ryan Wheeling, New Town – 4:17.00 (Dakota Relays, 5/7)                                                           4:14.4

3200m : Hunter Lucas, Fargo Davies – 9:15.02 (Bismarck Kiwanis, 4/29)                                              8:58.49

110m Hurdles : Zach Sweep, Bismarck Century – 14.34 (WDA Region Meet, 5/20)                               14.15

300m Hurdles : Bryce Malsam, Edmunds Central – 39.23 (Dakota Relays, 5/7)                                     38.56

Shot Put : Alex Talley, West Fargo – 58-1 (EDC Region Meet, 5/21)                                                            63-6.5

Discus : Alex Talley, West Fargo – 170-6 (EDC Region Meet, 5/21)                                                            178-1

High Jump : Zack Anderson, Parker – 7-0 (Jesse James Meet, 4/16)                                                          7-0^      

Long Jump : Max Cook, Bismarck Century – 23-4^ (WDA Region Meet, 5/20)                                          23-4^

Triple Jump : Devon Pope, GF Red River – 45-6 (Radke-Orvik Classic, 5/13)                                           47-3

Pole Vault : Cole Christensen, Brandon Valley – 15-1 (Dakota Relays, 5/7)                                               16-0

Totals: 8/15 from South Dakota, 11/15 from the biggest class in either state

*State Record                    ^Set This Year                   +Converted to FAT

Girls Platinum Leaderboard                                                                                                                     Platinum Record

100m : Cortney Dowling, Pierre – 12.03^ (Bob Judson Invite, 4/5)                                                             12.03^

200m : Cortney Dowling, Pierre – 24.37^ (Dakota Relays, 5/6)                                                                    24.37^

400m : Cortney Dowling, Pierre – 55.57^ (ESD Conference Meet,5/13)                                                     55.57^

800m : Tori Glazier, Custer – 2:14.18 (Black Hills Conference, 5/13)                                                          2:11.19

1600m : Jasmyne Cooper, SF Lincoln – 4:58.18 (Dakota Relays, 5/7)                                                        4:56.89

3200m : Karly Ackley, Grand Forks Central - 10:36.97 (Shanley Invite, 4/28)                                          10:33.49

100m Hurdles : Elizabeth Schaefer, RC Stevens – 14.84+ (W. Nebraska Twilight, 4/22)                         14.54

300m Hurdles : Elizabeth Schaefer, RC Stevens – 44.65 (Dakota Relays, 5/7)                                         44.10

Shot Put : Akealy Moton, West Fargo – 47-4^ (Packer Relays, 5/6)                                                              47-4^

Discus : Keely Walker, West Fargo – 143-2^ (EDC Region Meet, 5/21)                                                       143-2^

High Jump : Hannah Arason, Grand Forks Red River – 5-7^ (Bob Zimney Last Chance, 5/16)              5-7^

Long Jump : Grace Emineth, Grand Forks Red River – 18-10^ (Davies Relays, 4/22)                             18-10^

Triple Jump : Kylee Bergantine, Fargo Davies – 38-10.25^ (Packer Relays, 5/6)                                    38-10.25^

Pole Vault : Grace Finney, Grand Forks Central – 11-9~ (EDC Region Meet, 5/21)                                     11-9~

Totals: 7/14 from South Dakota, 13/14 from the biggest class in either state

*State Record                    ~Tied Mark from Last Year          ^Set This Year   +Converted to FAT

If you've got a mark that you think qualifies as Platinum, feel free to email me at alex.heinert@midco.com or contact me on Twitter @AHeinertMidcoSN with the athlete, the time, and the meet at which it took place. Keep it Platinum, friends, and enjoy the final weekend of track and field of the season!