BISMARCK — West Fargo’s Michelle Gee had a dominant day Saturday at the North Dakota state track and field meet at the MDU Resources Community Bowl.

Gee was a triple-winner in Class A girls, taking first place in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. She tied an overall state meet record in the 100 with a time of 11.97 seconds on the final day of the three-day event.

Fargo Davies’ Kate Laqua also had a strong showing, taking first place in the Class A girls in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. Laqua was named the Class A girls senior athlete of the year.

Bismarck Century’s Josh Berger was named Class A boys senior athlete of the year. Bowman County’s Sophia Headley was named Class B girls senior athlete of the year. Bowman County’s Taylor Wanner was named Class B boys senior athlete of the year.

Velva-Drake-Anamoose’s Anya Olson took first place in the Class B girls 100, 200 and 400. She set a new Class B girls record in the 400 with a time of 55.91 seconds. She was clocked at 11.56 seconds, which was wind-aided, in the 100 finals. Olson also ran a 23.73 in the 200, a time that was also wind-aided.

May-Port-CG’s Keaton Saastad won the Class B boys 100 in 10.88 seconds, setting a new Class B record in the event.

Below are scenes from Saturday’s action:

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Peterson covers college athletics for The Forum, including Concordia College and Minnesota State Moorhead. He also covers the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks independent baseball team and helps out with North Dakota State football coverage. Peterson has been working at the newspaper since 1996.

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VOLLEYBALL

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL FINALS

Saturday

DIVISION I

Mira Costa d. Huntington Beach, 26-24, 25-20, 25-16

DIVISION II

Santa Ana Mater Dei d. Francis Parker, 25-12, 26-24, 19-25, 27-25

DIVISION III

Sage Hill d. Clairemont, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22

DIVISION IV

Chula Vista Mater Dei d. Wildwood, 25-22, 25-27, 25-13, 25-17

STATE FINALS SCHEDULE

At Fresno City College

Friday, May 30

DIVISION II

Santa Ana Mater De vs. Buchanan, 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 31

DIVISION I

Mira Costa vs. Archbishop Mitty, 4:30 p.m.

DIVISION III

Sage Hill vs. International, 1:30 p.m.

DIVISION IV

Chula Vista Mater Dei vs. Livingston, 11 a.m.

GENEVA, Ohio — The North Central College men’s track and field team saw their first National Champion of the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championship since 2021, with Braden Nicholson crowned the National Champion in the 10,000-meter run.
 
On Thursday night, Nicholson started the weekend with a bang for the Cardinals. Nicholson earned his second National Championship title of the year, this time in the 10,000-meter race. Nicholson clocked a 29:20.59 finish, but he was not originally the obvious winner. He finished in second-place but was ultimately bumped to first after a disqualification of the originally named first place runner. Additionally, BJ Sorg took No. 12 in the run, posting a time of 30:17.57.
 
Two days later, on Saturday, Nicholson took on tough competition in the 5,000-meter run. Nicholson kept his pace, working through the pack. Sitting at No. 18 at the 2,200-meter split, he worked his way to tenth by the 2,600-meter split. With just 200 meters left, Nicholson was in second; however, the final burst of energy pushed him to sixth. Nicholson earned a sixth-place finish and All-American honors, submitting a time of 14:16.83.
 

GENEVA, Ohio — Sophomore Imani Ogunribido utilized a massive final jump to become the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Champion in the women’s triple jump Saturday, May 24. The Illinois Wesleyan University men’s and women’s track and field teams closed out an outstanding outdoor season with a total of four podium finishes at the NCAA Championships as junior Evan Lowder also earned All-American hardware, joining junior Adriana Crabtree and senior Lauren Huber who earned the distinction earlier in the weekend.

Ogunribido wasted no time making her presence known in the women’s triple jump, turning in a school-record jump of 12.65m (41’6″) on her first attempt of the day before extending that record again with her third jump to 12.67m (41’7″) and was the second-best mark headed into finals.

On her last jump of the competition, Ogunribido left it all in the pit, turning in a dominant 12.96m (42’6.25″) jump to break the school record for the third time today and claim the triple jump title. The jump ranks third all-time in Division III. Ogunribido was presented her All-American trophy by two-time long jump champion and head coach Amelia Marino (nee Glueck).

Ogunribido becomes Illinois Wesleyan’s first-ever triple jump national champion and is just the 20th individual champion in a storied Illinois Wesleyan women’s track and field program.

PUEBLO, Colo. – For the first time in program history, the California State University San Bernardino women’s track & field team competed in the finals of the NCAA Division II Championships on Saturday at the CSU ThunderDome at Colorado State Pueblo.

The 4×100 meter relay team of Alexandra Ackerman (Lake Elsinore, Calif.), Amari Weatherford (Southeast San Diego, Calif.), Coryssa Hope (Riverside, Calif.), and Hailey Hunt (Winnetka, Calif.) set a school record of 43.94 seconds, missing out on a national championships by less than .1 second. The eight points received by the Coyotes for finishing second were the first points ever earned by Cal State San Bernardino women’s track & field at the national championships.

Hunt also had a strong showing in the 100-meter dash, setting her second school record of the day at 11.28 seconds to finish fourth and add five points for the Yotes.

Weatherford and Hunt took third and fourth respectively in the 200-meter dash to add more points for the Coyotes. The duo ran 22.92 and 22.93 respectively, but the wind of 3.7 m/s will keep the times out of the record books, but still got both student-athletes on the podium.

The 4×400 rounded out the day with the fifth Coyote top-five finish of the day to earn four more points for Cal State San Bernardino. The team of Weatherford, Hope, White, and Prishencia Nnoham (Palmdale, Calif.) placed fifth with a school record time of 3:34.12.

Every aforementioned student-athlete was named an All-American for finishing in the top eight of their respective events.

With 28 points, the Coyotes finished eighth overall at the NCAA Championships.

#GoYotes

MANHATTAN BEACH — The Mira Costa boys volleyball team doesn’t typically have as much trouble at home as it did to start Saturday CIF State Division I SoCal Regional final against Huntington Beach.

The Oilers, who were shorthanded coming in due to an illness that sidelined middle blocker Nick Ganier, led by as many as nine early and appeared motivated to avenge two losses this season, including last week’s five-set affair in the CIF Southern Section Division I championship.

“I don’t think we were quite in gear yet,” Mustangs coach Greg Snyder said. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t be.”

Mira Costa, though, mounted a furious rally to avoid dropping its first set of the state tournament and proceeded to roll the rest of the way in a 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 sweep to advance to next week’s championship match.

The state championship will be the battle of top seeds against Archbishop Mitty (41-2) Friday at Fresno City College. The match is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

“It would mean everything just to be the first real California state champions,” Mira Costa middle blocker Alex Heins said. “That would be such a cool honor. We all want it so bad.”

The Mustangs (36-2) were led by 16 kills from senior outside hitter Cooper Keane. Senior opposite Grayson Bradford added seven kills to go with 5 1/ 2 of the team’s seven blocks.

Huntington Beach (36-5) led 17-8 at one point before a 5-1 Mira Costa spurt started the comeback.

“I don’t think we took any mental drops,” Bradford said. “We battled back from a point deficit in the first set and in the second set and the third set we just pushed even harder.”

Both Snyder and Oilers coach Craig Pazanti agreed that a first-set injury shortly after to Huntington Beach outside hitter Colin Choi played a big part in the momentum shift.

Choi, who returned in the second set and finished out the rest of the match, turned his left ankle after landing awkwardly following an errant swing that pulled the Mustangs within 21-18. Play briefly stopped as Choi was helped off the floor.

“(Choi) was passing the best on our team at that point,” Pazanti said.

Added Snyder: “Huntington came to play, they always do. Honestly, it was really unfortunate for them with Colin going down in that first set. Really switched the momentum.”

It was part of a 7-1 run that was capped by Mira Costa setter Andrew Chapin’s quick dump to give the team its first lead at 23-22.

The Oilers never reclaimed the lead, as Heins finished off the opening-set comeback with a block.

“We’re just bigger,” Heins said of the size discrepancy. “We’re taller than every team in the country, probably.

“For our seniors, this is the last time in this gym. We just wanted to have a really good game, go out with a bang, make it one to remember. I think we did that.”

Huntington Beach outside hitter Logan Hutnick recorded eight of his match-high 17 kills in the second set. Hutnick also teamed with Choi for a block for a 19-17 advantage.

Mira Costa, though, allowed just one Hutnick kill the rest of the set thanks to a strong block.

Bradford, who stands 6-foot-11, had four of his blocks in the set including set point to stake the Mustangs to the commanding 2-0 lead.

“(Hutnick) is a great hitter, and to go up against a 6-11 blocker isn’t probably what you want to sign up for,” Snyder said.

Huntington Beach never mounted a serious threat in the final set.

Keane, who had nine kills through two sets, was a consistent presence in every frame.

“When Cooper’s on, he is very capable of being the best player in the gym,” Snyder said.