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What a week in high school track and field in the Dakotas! The Dakota Relays in Sioux Falls were as exciting as advertised, with twelve high school meet records and eleven new MidcoSN Platinum marks set, but keep in mind, that wasn’t the only meet in the last seven days that featured a few special performances.

Dickinson, Rapid City, Williston and Mount Vernon all saw athletes crack our Platinum list, with some putting up top times just hours after the compeition in Sioux Falls had done so in the same event.

With so many changes in a short span of time, there's no sense in waiting any longer to publish our latest Platinum Leaderboard - mainly becuase it'll likely change again by tomorrow - so without further preamble, here are the top times in high school track and field in the Dakotas as of May 10...

Girls Platinum Leaderboard                                                                   Platinum Record

100m : Megan Erickson, Dickinson – 11.96^ (BAC Classic, 5/6)                                                                  11.96^

200m : Krista Bickley, Brandon Valley – 24.74+ (Yankton Invite, 4/18)                                                       24.27

400m : Krista Bickley, Brandon Valley – 56.05 (Pierre Legion Relays, 4/21)                                               54.08*

800m : Jasmyne Cooper, Sioux Falls Lincoln – 2:12.14 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/5)                                      2:11.19

1600m : Karly Ackley, Grand Forks Central – 4:55.10 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/6)                                       4:53.76     

3200m : Karly Ackley, Grand Forks Central – 10:42.81 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/5)                                    10:32.86*

100m Hurdles : Elizabeth Schaefer, Rapid City Stevens – 14.78 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/5)                         14.54

300m Hurdles : Elizabeth Schaefer, Rapid City Stevens – 44.06 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/5)                         43.92

Shot Put : Akealy Moton, West Fargo – 49-9* (Eagles Relays, 4/21)                                                              49-9*

Discus : Shelby Frank, Grand Forks Red River - 142-00 (Fargo Rotary, 5/8)                                                 143-2

High Jump : Michelle Johnson, Rapid City Central – 5-8^ (Queen City Classic, 4/7)                                  5-8^

Long Jump : Callie DeWitt, Sioux Falls O’Gorman – 18-7.5 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/6)                               18-10

Triple Jump : Shayla Howell, Belle Fourche – 37-9 (Rapid City Qualifier, 5/9)                                         38-10.25

Pole Vault : Whitney Scott, Watertown – 11-4 (Watoma Relays, 4/21)                                                          11-9~

Totals: 9/14 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

On the girls’ track, only Krista Bickley’s 200m and 400m marks are still intact from last week, as we had five girls' times go down at Howard Wood alone, with two apiece coming from Karly Ackley and Elizabeth Schaefer. The lone non-Dakota Relay mark on this list, however, is the only one that doubles as a new Platinum record.

Dickinson senior sprinter Megan Erickson threw down an 11.96-second 100 meters on her home track at the BAC Classic on Saturday. That puts her third all-time in the North Dakota prep record books - and only a hundreth of a second behind second-place Laura Roesler, mind you - and it also catapults her in front of Pierre great Cortney Dowling for the top 100m time in the Dakotas in the last three years. Pretty impressive stuff for the future Dickinson State runner.

We had three changes in the girls' field, though only one new name - Shelby Frank in the discus - slides in from last week. Callie DeWitt improves upon her Platinum long jump mark by 2 ½ inches in a losing effort – another reminder of how good the Dakota Relays competition was this year – plus Shayla Howell betters her triple jump mark by five inches after a great effort Tuesday at the Rapid City Qualifier.

Fun Fact: The Girls TJ lead changed hands three times this week. Howell held the mark at 37-4 heading into the weekend before Bismarck's Blythe Ehrmantraudt went in front at 37-5 at Howard Wood Friday. Then, Fargo Davies' Kylee Bergantine launched 37-5 ¾ at the Packer Relays in West Fargo later that day...only for Howell to go 37-9 three days later. Priceless.

Boys Platinum Leaderboard                                                                    Platinum Record

100m : Cameron Kuil, Winner – 10.74+ (Big Dakota Conference Meet, 4/18)                                             10.54    

200m : Cameron Kuil, Winner – 22.04+ (Bill Pistulka Invite, 4/1)                                                                21.60

400m : Cameron Kuil, Winner – 49.27 (SSDC Conference Meet, 5/9)                                                          47.54*

800m : Beau Brannan, Bismarck Legacy – 1:55.53 (Charlie Denton Relays, 4/28)                                     1:52.38

1600m : Hunter Lucas, Fargo Davies – 4:12.88^ (Charlie Denton Relays, 4/28)                                        4:12.88^

3200m : Leif Everson, Williston – 9:12.90+ (HW Dakota Relays, 5/5)                                                          8:58.49

110m Hurdles : Dominic Martinez, Williston – 14.68 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/6)                                           14.15

300m Hurdles : Manuel Bradford, Minot – 39.45 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/6)                                                 38.56

Shot Put : Logan McGough, Rapid City Central – 55-10.75 (HW Dakota Relays, 5/6)                              63-6.5

Discus : Austin Eppard, Chester Area – 174-3 (Tom Main Invite, 4/22)                                                      178-1

High Jump : Allan McDonnell, Wall – 6-9 (Comet Classic, 5/2)                                                                     7-0         

Long Jump : Brandon Lewis, Bismarck Legacy – 23-2 (Dickinson Coke, 4/7)                                            23-4

Triple Jump : Sage Hagen, Rapid City Central – 46-4 (Track-O-Rama, 4/13)                                               47-3

Pole Vault : Mike Herauf, Dickinson – 15-7 (Knutson Invite, 5/9)                                                                 16-0

 Totals: 7/14 from South Dakota, 9/14 from the biggest class in either state

*State Record                    ^Set This Year                   +Converted to FAT

On the boys' side, we didn't have as many wholesale changes as we might’ve expected, with just three new marks set at the Dakota Relays, all by familiar names on this list. The Williston duo of Everson and Martinez get back on top in the two-mile and the 110s, while Minot’s Manuel Bradford lowers his old 300 meter hurdle time by three-tenths. 

Then there's Cameron Kuil. After not running the 400m at Howard Wood, instead opting for the Special 200m (he finished 3rd), the 4x1 (1st), and 4x2 (1st), Kuil did run the quarter at the Southeast South Dakota Conference meet in Mount Vernon Tuesday, and he'd only put up the best time in the Dakotas this year. A triple-Platinum year's in play for Kuil, something no one's done so far since we started this competition in 2015. What a speical year in the making for the Winner senior...

Finally, Logan McGough breaks up the Class B monopoly in the shot put with his winning throw of 55-10.75 at the Dakota Relays, but he proved to be the only field winner at the meet to have his Platinum mark stick for more than a few days. Trent Francom's 15-6 pole vault effort to win Howard Wood wasn't enough to stay atop the leaderboard for a full week, as Mike Herauf does Francom one inch better, going 15-7 at Williston Tuesday to take over the #2 prep spot all-time in North Dakota. Herauf and Francom are both within reach of the all-time records in their respective states (16-0 in ND, 16-1 in SD), so you won't want to miss the pole vault when Huron or Dickinson are at your meet.

As a reminder, Jason Andera, Jay Elsen and I recap the Platinum news each week on Midco Sports Network's "Varsity Sports" on Wednesday nights at 6:30pm. We do our best to get all the top times and marks in the Dakota, but if you see a mark we've missed, report it on Twitter to @AHeinertMidcoSN.

Thanks for reading and for supporting track and field, and enjoy the meets this week!