Local athletes race ahead, excel in state meet

The Minot High boys’ track and field team came in third place in Class A division with 78 points. Their placement comes with several first place finishes.

Minot High School senior Benjamin Harris is one such first place finish. Harris took home first place in the boys’ 800 meter dash.

Harris won the event with a time of one minute 54.58 seconds. He was seeded first going into the state meet with a time of one minute 54.05 seconds.

Minot High also took first place in the boys’ 4×100 meter relay and the 4×800 meter relay. The 4×100 meter team consisted of sophomores Tariq Hill and James Pallotta and senior Aric Winczewski and Aaron Prestwich. They had a time of 42.28 seconds.

The 4×800 meter team for Minot High consists of seniors Dylan Jackson, Jacob Jackson, Nathan Wistisen and Benjamin Harris. Their time in the event was seven minutes 56.46 seconds.

Another individual event winner in the state meet from Minot High is senior Grayson Schaeffer. Schaeffer took first place in the boys’ Class A triple jump event with a distance of 46 feet 7.75 inches. He out-placed his seed going into the meet and this was his last time competing for Minot High in track & field.

“I think bittersweet is the perfect term to use. It was a really good meet for me and it was definitely nice to go out on top like that, but also it’s sad to know that that was the last [meet] and that I won’t be competing for Minot High anymore,” said Shaeffer. “My career in track & field has been kind of up and down and I think ending on a win like that is really kind of like a full circle moment.”

Schaeffer has not yet committed to a school, but has expressed a desire to continue his track & field career after high school. Schaeffer also placed second in the boys’ Class A Long Jump event.

The Minot High girls’ track & field team also had a successful meet this last weekend. The team had 22 of their 48 athletes qualify for state, one of which being senior Haleigh Carr.

Carr came into the meet as last year’s girls’ Class A Triple Jump champion, taking first in the 2024 NDHSAA State Track & Field Meet with a distance of 37 feet 3.75 inches.

Carr ended up taking home third place in this year’s Triple Jump event with a distance of 36 feet 11.5 inches. She also took home fourth place in the girls’ Class A Long Jump event with a distance of 17 feet 6.5 inches.

With Carr also being a senior, this was her last meet competing for the Minot High girls track & field team.

Minot High Freshman Kaylee Jackson also placed at last week’s meet She took home sixth place in the girls’ Class A 400 meter dash with a time of 1 minute .22 second. She also broke her personal record in the event during the prelims with a time of 59.70 seconds.

The Minot High girls’ track & field team took home ninth place in their class with a total of 33 points.

Minot North junior McKinnley Kragh broke her personal record over the weekend in the girls’ Class A Pole Vault event with a height of eleven feet. She took home third place in the event.

Tochi Udekwe, junior at Bishop Ryan Catholic School also placed in two events during the state meet. She took home second place in the Class B girls 100 meter dash, breaking her season record with a time of 12.14 seconds. She also placed fourth in the girls’ Class B 200 meter dash, breaking her season record in that event with a time of 25.2 seconds.

Des-Lacs Burlington junior Brynn Hanson placed in four separate events during the meet, breaking a personal or season record in each one.

Hanson placed third in the girls’ Class B 400 meter dash and broke her season record with a time of 58.94 seconds. She also placed third and broke her season record in the girls’ Class B 1600 meter run with a time of 5 minutes 20.22 seconds.

Hanson took home second place in both the girls’ Class B 800 meter dash and 3200 meter run with times of two minutes 15.15 seconds and 11 minutes 25.89 seconds respectively. Both times were new personal records in each event.

Junior Anya Olsen of the Velva-Drake/Anamoose girls’ track & field team took home three first place finishes over the weekend. Olson won the girls’ Class B 100 meter dash with a time of 11.56 seconds.

She also took home first place in the girls’ Class B 200 meter dash and girls’ Class B 400 meter dash. Her 200 meter time was 23.73 seconds, a new personal record for her in the event. Her 400 meter dash time was 55.91 seconds.

The 2025 NDHSAA Class A & B State Track & Field Meet took place last weekend at the Bismarck State College MDU Resources Community Bowl. This was the last NDHSAA track & field meet of the school year.