Congratulations to Ella Boekelheide for being one of eight runners selected to compete in the Girls Special 800-Meter Run at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays at 6:05 p.m. Friday at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls.
Boekelheide has the fastest 800 time in Class B at 2:19.58.
The other runners in the field include Berkeley Engelland of Mount Vernon-Plankinton, Sydney Drevlow of Hopkins, Minn., Libby Castelli of O’Gorman, Mia Wentzy and Addison Scholten of Brandon Valley, Evva Selensky of St. Mary’s Central in Bismarck, N.D., Anna Vyn and Ellie Maddox of Sioux Falls Christian.
Ella has won Class B state championships in the 1,600-meter run and 3,200-meter run and runner-up titles in the 800-meter run, 1,600-meter run, and 3,200-meter run. Ella is a school record holder in the 800-meter run, 1600-meter run, 3,200-meter run, medley relay, and 4x800-meter relay. In cross country, she is a state champion and a two-time state runner-up. She has been all-state in cross country four times. A 4.00 student, Ella is a four-sport athlete, competing in cross country and volleyball simultaneously in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track in the spring. She is also an all-conference volleyball player.
Northwestern will be taking 11 athletes to compete at Howard Wood. Senior Nathan Melius will run the 300-meter hurdles, and freshman Ty Boekelheide will compete in triple jump. Ella Boekelheide also has qualified in the 1600-meter run. Senior Lincoln Woodring, junior Josh Thorson, sophomores Carson Ewalt and Sienna Kessler, freshmen Tara Blachford and Sophia Troske, eighth-grader Anneliese Holsing, and seventh-grader Lilly Haven are among the remaining Wildcat runners who will be competing.
The girls’ team qualified the 4x800-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay, while the boys qualified the 4x800-meter relay, 4x400-meter relay, and the medley relay.
Meet information and livestream can be viewed at this link: https://www.dakotarelays.com/