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Rugby boys cruise to another region title

By Staff | May 21, 2009

Rugby continued its dominance in the boys division at the Region 6 meet, placing in all 19 events and winning 13 of them en route to its eighth consecutive title on May 16 at Rugby’s Johnsen Field.

In addition to the high finish, a number of athletes had personal best efforts, according to Rugby coach Scott Grochow, who was named region coach of the year.

Senior Bryant Halvorson, who was named the region’s senior athlete of the year, won three events – the 100 and 200 meters and the long jump.

Junior Dylan Yoder won the 800 and 1600 meters and ran the anchor leg of the Panthers’ 1600 meter relay which took first. Sophomore Eric Kuntz also won two events – the 110 meter hurdles and pole vault.

Rugby racked up a lot of points in the relays, distance and jumping events.

Rugby won three of four relays – 800, 1600 and 3200 meters – and was runner-up in the 400.

The team won the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs and had seven other runners place in those events. In the jumps, nine different Panthers placed.

In fact, of the 16 open events, the Panthers scored double figures in all but two, Grochow said.

The team also picked up a handful of new state qualifiers. Among them were David McAtee in the javelin; Tommy Dunn in the high jump; Aaron Teigen in the 400 meters; Tommy Schwartz in the pole vault; Kyle Volk and Erik Wangler in the 3200 meters; and Dustin Jundt in the 1600 meters.

The title was the program’s 17th in 19 seasons.

Rugby’s girls team had a lot to be happy about its performance at the Region 6 Meet.

The team placed in 17 events, winning seven of them; senior Ashley Salwey won four events; and a pair of underclassmen turned in surprise efforts, earning state-qualifying marks.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to overtake Velva-Drake. The Aggies won their first Region 6 title, scoring 169.5 points and scoring in 17 of 19 events of their own. “We had a decent day, not a great day,” said Rugby coach Bill Jansen said. “Velva-Drake did what it needed to do to place in enough events and get the title.”

Salwey won the 100, 200 and 100 and 300 meter hurdles. Freshman Sydney Kraft won the 800 and 1600 meters, and anchored the Panthers’ 3200 meter relay which qualified for state by place, taking second. Eighth grader Aubrey Hovland won the high jump, and also placed in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles.

The biggest surprise came in the triple jump, where sophomore Josie Klein finished second, qualifying for state by place. Klein wasn’t figured to place in the event but had a personal best jump of 33-9.5.

Sophomore Molly Koenig was second in the shot put, qualifying by place. Koenig had been close to qualifying by distance, Jansen said, so for her to get the experience of competing at state is nice.