A big improvement

• Dustin Maher

Press Photo by John Odermann Bowman County senior Dustin Maher has Class B’s best throw in the shot put coming into the state track and field meet.

Talk about it

Bowman County senior Dustin Maher has the best throws in all of Class B in the shot put and the discus.

The way they happened, however, is far from similar.

Maher has been a model of consistency in the shot put, throwing better than 50 feet at many of his meets this season. His toss of 54 feet, 11¾ inches is a tad better than North Sargent senior Ryan Drevlow’s second-place mark of 54-3. The two will most likely face off at the state meet, which starts Friday at the Bismarck Community Bowl.

“At the first meet I threw 49 feet and I knew I could improve from there,” Maher said. “It did take off a little faster than what I expected.”

The discus took off fast also, but in a completely different way. Maher had been hurling the discus around 135 feet this season. Then, at the Region 8 meet Saturday in Bowman, Maher mustered a throw of 154-7, surpassing Central McLean senior Reed Hefta, who had a top toss of 149-3.

“It was kind of a freak throw at the region meet,” Maher said. “I didn’t see that coming at all. I had no idea I could throw that well. … I think the wind might have caught it.”

Bowman County coach Jon Jahner described Maher’s throw as a nice surprise and noted it’s a textbook example of what can happen in field events.

“He threw one out there and it took off on him,” Jahner said. “That’s what happens in field events. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Whether or not Maher can duplicate his top discus throw remains to be seen. However, he fully expects to be a contender for the shot put crown.

“I’ll just do whatever it takes to get a state title,” Maher said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m kind of anxious.”

Hazen junior Brent Sorensen is also looking to win multiple events. His time of 22.34 in the 200 is the best in Class B and he has the second-best times in the 100 and 400. Hazen is also state qualified in all four of its relays including the third best time in the 800 (1:33.88).

Killdeer senior Gabe Fettig enters the state meet with an 800 time of 1:59.84, which is second behind front runner Jeremy Grinnell of New Town, who has a time of 1:59.55. Fettig is also seventh in the 1,600.

Killdeer will be looking for points in the pole vault as well where Garrett Houghton’s 12-6 and Chaston Lee’s 12-0 are fourth and fifth, respectively. Senior Blaine Pelton is fifth in the javelin with a toss of 166.2 and Kain Pelton is fifth in the 100 with a time of 11.14.

Beulah senior Nate Weidrich has the fourth-best time in the 200 with a 22.85 and is also qualified in the 100. Beulah is state qualified in both short relays with its best being the 400 where the Miners’ 45.32 is third best. In the triple jump, Andrew Just could score points for Beulah, holding the third-best distance at 42-10. He’s also qualified in the long jump.

Just will be competing with Richardton-Taylor senior Jadon Messer in both events. Messer has the third-best long jump (21-7) and the fifth-best triple jump at 42-6½.

Heart River senior Jimmy Smith is the defending state champion in the high jump, but sits fourth in the state with a leap of 6-2, which is the height he won the state title at last year. Kevin Miller of Sheridan County/Anamoose has the top jump at 6-7.

Mott-Regent hurdler Luke Honeyman could also make some noise as he has the sixth-fastest times in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

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