Blue Jays coming home as state champs, season finishes up
· Yahoo Sports
May 23—BISMARCK — At the 2026 West Region Track and Field Meet, Jamestown's Ryker Stoddart, Heath Heupel, Gradin Thorlakson and Aiden Skari broke a school record that had stood for 39 years.
The new record only stood for seven days.
Visit rouesnews.click for more information.
"To close the state meet out, the last race of the whole meet, the boy's 4-by-400 meter relay won the whole thing and set a new school record," Jamestown High School co-head track and field coach Ken Gardner said. "That was a great way to end the meet."
Stoddart, Heupel, Thorlakson and Skari pulled together to run the 1600 meters in 3 minutes, 22.45 seconds. The finish was 0.96 seconds faster than the team's performance at the West Region meet.
"Each kid can only do four events but for some of those races like the 400, 200, 4-by-100 and 4-by-200, you have preliminaries so some of those kids may have run six or seven races under their belts already," Gardner said. "Once you get to that 4-by-400, it's been three long days but I was glad to see them come through and win. ... we saw some pretty good sized smiles there."
The last Blue Jay boys track and field state champion was Brian Sinner in high jump in 2010. The JHS boys team finished 11th overall which was the team's highest finish since 2015.
While the relay team was the only first-place finisher for Jamestown, a few other athletes found their way onto the podium.
Hayden Olson placed sixth in the girls triple jump with a mark of 35 feet, 8.75 inches. Skari placed seventh in the 400 meter dash with a personal best time of 50.77 seconds.
Jamestown's boys 4-by-200 meter relay team— comprised of Stoddart, Jared Sagaser, Thorlakson and Skari — placed fourth with a new school record time of 1:29.30. The 4-by-100 meter relay team did not make the finals, but the team set a new school record in the preliminaries with a time of 45.37 seconds.
"It was kind of a mixed bag," Gardner said of the weekend. "Some (athletes) did well, some didn't do as well as they wanted. At the State Track Meet you have to be on your game and have your best performance of the year — if not your career — to make that podium.
"Some fell a little bit short," he said. "Hopefully they come hungry and want to continue working hard. Overall, it was a good end to the season.
In the Class B scene, Gunner Thielges picked up state championship and runners-up finishes in the 300 and 110 hurdles with times of 38.91 and 15.27 seconds. He also finished second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.26 seconds.
Emmie Belquist of New Rockford-Sheyenne won the 300 hurdles with a personal best time of 44.17 seconds. She came in second in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 200 meter dash. The Rockets' girls 4-by-400 meter relay team also placed first with a time of 4:01.52. Carrington finished fourth with a time of 4:08.15. Valley City placed sixth at 4:08.81.
Top / area finishers
Class B Girls 300 hurdles
1. Emmie Belquist, NRS, 44.17.
Class A Girls 300 hurdles
1. Summer Nagel, WAH, 43.65.
Class B Boys 300 hurdles
1. Gunner Thielges, LaMoure/LM, 38.91; 5. Isaac Silvernagel, Linton/HMB, 40.67.
Class A Boys 300 hurdles
1. Bennet Lonn, LEG, 37.32.
Class B Girls 100
1. Ella Pederson, Rolette/Wolford, 12.16; 6. Morgan Larson, VC, 12.85.
Class A Girls 100
1. Jilian Quale, BHS, 12.01.
Class B Boys 100
1. Raeshaun Earl, HANK, 11.19; 2. Gunner Thielges, LLM, 11.26.
Class A Boys 100
1. Zayden Horne, LEG, 10.73.
Class B Girls 4x200 relay
1. Central Cass 1:42.62; 4. Valley City 1:44.83; 6. New Rockford-Sheyenne 1:45.61.
Class A Girls 4x200 relay
1. Legacy 1:40.72.
Class B Boys 4x200 relay
1. Grafton 1:29.87; 4. Valley City 1:31.50; 9. New Rockford-Sheyenne 1:37.15.
Class A Boys 4x200 relay
1. Legacy 1:28.12; 4. Jamestown 1:29.30.
Class B Girls 400
1. Anya Olson, V/DA 56.44; 8. Jaida Schumacher, NRS, 59.47.
Class A Girls 400
1. Michelle Gee, WF, 56.49.
Class B Boys 400
1. Jaran Reinhardt, HAZ, 48.78; 4. Derek Shape, VC, 50.46.
Class A Boys 400
1. Zayden Horne, LEG, 48.51; 7. Aiden Skari 50.77.
Class B Girls 100 hurdles
1. Addison Schepp, BEU, 15.26; 2. Emmie Belquist, NR-S, 15.41; 9. Kate Barnick, EKM, 16.43.
Class A Girls 100 hurdles
1. Summer Nagel, WAHP, 15:14.
Class B Boys 110 hurdles
1. August Miller, GRAF, 15:12; 2. Gunner Thielges, LLM, 15.27.
Class A Boys 110 hurdles
1. Bennet Lonn, LEG, 14.50.
Class B Girls 200
1. Anya Olson, V/DA, 24.43; 6. Emmie Belquist, NR-S, 25.86; 8. Morgan Larson, VC, 26.04.
Class A Girls 200
1. Michelle Gee, WF, 25.02.
Class B Boys 200
1. Jaran Reinhardt, HAZ, 22.03; 7. Derek Shape, VC, 22.83.
Class A Boys 200
1. Zayden Horne, LEG, 21.75
Class B Girls 800
1. Claire Grinde, H/CV, 2:13.40.
Class A Girls 800
1. Izzy Dahl, BHS, 2:15.42.
Class B Boys 800
1. Owen Johnson, NC, 1:55.60; 2. Aidan Thurber, ELL, 1:56.58; 9. Micah Girard, ELL, 2:02.01.
Class A Boys 800
1. Luka Rout, FD, 1:54.03.
Class B Girls 4x100 relay
1. Central Cass 48.78; 5. Valley City 50.33.
Class A Girls 4x100 relay
1. Legacy 47.96
Class B Boys 4x100 relay
1. LaMoure/LM 43.31.
Class A Boys 4x100 relay
1. Legacy 41.93.
Class B Girls 4x400 relay
1. New Rockford-Sheyenne 4:01.52; 4. Carrington 4:08.15; 6. Valley City 4:08.81.
Class A Girls 4x400 relay
1. Minot 4:01.83; 11. Jamestown 4:07.16.
Class B Boys 4x400 relay
1. Hazen 3:24.79.
Class A Boys Javelin
1. Asher Fischer, GFC, 182-05; 11. Cody Berreth 157-09.
Class B Girls Triple Jump
1. Jordan Stahl, SC, 37-09; 13. Lily Kramer, LLM, 33-08.50; 28. Mya Neis, CAR, 31-06.75.
Class A Girls Pole Vault
1. Madelyn Kringstad, BC, 11-06.
Class B Girls Pole Vault
1. Ellery Qual, LIS, 10-09; 3. Kadie Kocka, VC, 10-00; 4. Lexi Harris, OAK, 10-00; 11. Reese Schaefer, CAR, 9-00.
Class A Boys High Jump
1. Eben Breker, WFS, 6-06.
Class B Boys Triple Jump
1. Tyler Cree-Beglau, Nelson County, 45-11.75; 7. Lincoln Harter, KC, 41-10; 8. Reese Nitschke, OAK, 41-08.5; 22. Jude Barnhart, L/HMB, 38-10.5.
Class B Girls Javelin
1. Cheryl Hayes, WC, 143-10; 8. Mazie Tjernlund, EKM, 114-02; 13. Macy Hase, L/HMB, 107-07; 14. Riley Sayler, KC, 106-11; 17. Sawyer Hendrickson, L/HMB, 103-10; 21. Elli Lloyd, EKM, 97-09; 25. Marah Johnson 87-10.
Class B Boys Javelin
1. Noah Meidinger, OGL, 206-04; 4. Andon Bulow, VC, 169-02; 6. Lincoln Harter, KC, 166-01; 11. Samuel Reis, ELL, 160-02; 13. Parker Bickett, CAR, 157-07; 21. Jackson Schumacher, NR-S, 146-11.
Class A Girls Triple Jump
1. Alexis Heinle, BC, 38-02.5; 6. Hayden Olson, JHS, 35-08.75.
Class A Boys 4x400 relay
1. Jamestown (Ryker Stoddart, Heath Heupel, Gradin Thorlakson, Aiden Skari), 3:22.45.