Ten meet records fall in ESD meet at Allen Mitchell Athletic Complex
· Yahoo Sports
WATERTOWN — The first Eastern South Dakota Conference track and field meet held in Watertown since 2011 definitely turned out to be a memorable one.
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The combination of same great weather, the recently-renovated Allen Mitchell Athletic Complex and some talented athletes led to a record-setting day on Saturday, May 16, 2026.
Ten meet records fell in the meet, which featured 10 schools.
"When you pair our facility, the excitement of an ESD meet, high-quality athletes from every school and this weather ... good things are bound to happen," Watertown coach Chad Rohde said. "It was one of the most memorable ESD overall performances in a long time.
"To have that happen on our home facility was one of the things that we as coaches and our athletes will certainly remember."
Before this spring, Watertown hadn't held a home track meet since 2022. That was partly due to a renovation project at the former Allen Mitchell Field that included the installation of a new turf field and a new 8-lane running track, along with new seating, pressbox and locker room area.
The Watoma Relays track and field meet was held in April and set the stage for the conference meet.
"First and foremost, our facility is top notch and truly the best facility in the state of South Dakota," Rohde said. "The people involved in getting this facility ready hit the nail on the head. And I couldn't be more proud to be a coach that gets to call this home."
Brandon Valley, Harrisburg teams again rule
The 10-team conference meet has been dominated recently by Metro area schools Brandon Valley and Harrisburg and that was the case again on Saturday.
Brandon Valley repeated as the men's division champion by edging Harrisburg 175-170.5 for the title. Harrisburg had an easier time repeating in the girls division, scoring 170.5 points compared to 107.5 for Brandon Valley.
Harrisburg's boys used Eli Yoway's wins in the long and triple jumps and record-setting wins by Asher Hauert in the 110-meter hurdles and Griffin Smith in the 800-meter run. Hauert's time of 14.21 broke the old ESD mark of 14.31 set by Pierre's Parker McKittrick in 2011. Smith tied the 800 mark of 1:56.43 set by Mitchell's Brad Bane in 1977. The Tigers also recorded wins in the 3,200 and medley relays.
Eighth-grade distance standout Brianna Reilly led the way for Harrisburg's girls, repeating as the conference's 1,600 and 3,200 champion along with anchoring the Tigers' winning 3,200 relay. Reilly broke the meet record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:51.91, topping the old mark of 4:56.32 set by Brookings' Ellie Abraham in 2018.
The Tigers also got event wins by Hannah Genrich in the 3,200 run, Aesia Aldridge in the long and triple jumps and Autumn Bryant in the javelin.
Other new meet records
Kyson Fayant of Aberdeen Central not only set a new meet record in winning the 300 hurdles, but also estabished a new all-time state record time of 37.81 seconds. Watertown's Lukas Bernard set the previous conference record of 38.55 in 2011 (the last time the meet was held in Watertown).
Brandon Valley's Camden Christion, Maddox Mueller, Caelen Christion and Landon Voight set a new meet record in the 800 relay. Their clocking of 1:29.22 broke the old record of 1:29.41 set by another Brandon Valley quartet in 2014.
Other individual record-setters in the girls division included Charlee Williams-Smith of Pierre (400 dash, 55.02), Mya Arampatzis of Aberdeen Central (100 hurdles, 14.42), Taryn Hermansen of Aberdeen Central (shot put, 45-7) and Bryant (javelin, 134-3). Previous records were set by Courtney Dowling of Pierre (400, 55.57 in 2016), Brielle Dixon of Brandon Valley (100 hurdles, 14.53 in 2021), Hermansen (shot put, 43-3 in 2025) and Malia Kranz of Watertown (javelin, 114-3 in 2025).
Host Watertown moves up
Watertown's girls (fourth, 96.5 points) and boys (seventh, 50 points) each moved up a spot in the team standings from 2025.
The highlight for the Arrows was proved by the girls' 400-meter relay team of Carighan Klatt, Anna Hirtz, Ashlynn Andrews and Madison Smith. They won the event in 48.67, setting a new school record and eclipsing the old meet record mark of 49.6 shared by Watertown (1980) and Brandon Valley (2021).
Klatt, Hirtz and Smith were joined by Brooke Grajczyk on the winning 800 relay team. Smith's big meet also included a runner-up finish in the 100 and a third-place finish in the 200. Hirtz also placed third in the 100 and fifth in the 200 and Andrews seventh in the 100.
Malia Kranz won the girls' discus for the third-straight ESD meet with a throw of 148 feet, 9 inches. She also placed eighth in the shot put. Grace McElroy took third in the and fourth in the 1,600 and also ran on the seventh-place 3,200 relay.
Other placers for the Arrow girls included Grajczyk (seventh, 100 hurdles)), Allsion Konrad (sixth, shot put and seventh, discus), Jordan Remmers (seventh, javelin), Mayla McGhee (third, high jump), Reese Munger (tied for sixth, high jump), Hensley Hogue (third, pole vault), MaKenna Blank (eighth, long jump) and Shauna Evenson (sixth, triple jump).
Dane Stark finished second in the 800, third in the 1,600 and eighth in the 3,200 for Watertown's boys. Other Arrow placers were Jona Geier (sixth, javelin), Mason Iverson (fourth, high jump), Merrik Engels (fifth, high jump), Charlie Whiting (second, pole vault), Asher Young (third, pole vault), Kyle Paulson (seventh, long jump) and Nathan Esche (seventh, triple jump). The Arrows also placed seventh in the 500 and 1,600 relays and eighth in the medley.
Aberdeen Central squads also climb ladder
The Golden Eagles also moved up a spot in each division going from fourth to third with 104 points in the girls division and 89 in the boys division.
Arampatzis not only repeated as the 100 hurdles champion, she also took fourth in the 300 hurdles and ran on the runner-up 400 relay and third-place 800 relay.
Other placers for Aberdeen Central's girls included Josephine Cobbs (fifth, 100 dash), Keyana Stillman (seventh, 200 dash), Allie Novstrup (sixth, 3,2300 run), Catelyn Weig (third, 100 hurdles), Espynn Kuhfeld (sixth, 100 hurdles and second, 300 hurdles), Paige Ewalt (third, discus), Hermansen (fifth, discus), Regan Lust (fourth, high jump), Lucy Fritz (tied for sixth, high jump and seventh, triple jump), Jaidyn Forsyth (fourth, pole vault) and Breckan Santjer (tied for fifth, pole vault). The Golden Eagles also took third in th medley relay and sixth in both the 1,600 and 3,200 relays.
Besides repeating as the 300 hurdles champ, Fayant also took fourth in the 200 dash and 110 hurdles and ran on the third-place 800 relay. Carter Lust took third in both the 100 and 200 and teamed with Austin Ryan, Karson Borge and Caden Forred to win the 400 relay.
Other placers were Borge (eighth, 100 dash), Tate DeVries (third, 3,200 run and fourth, 1,600 run), Paden Appl (seventh, 300 hurdles), Brenner Waldrop (second, discus), Jack Bertsch (third, discus), Lincoln Stone (eighth, javelin) and Evan Sichmeller (sixth, pole vault). The Golden Eagles were also third in the medley, seventh in the 3,200 relay and eighth in the 1,600 relay.
Complete results of the meet can be found on athletic.net.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: 2026 Eastern S.D. Conference track & field meet