The Le Mars Community girls track team hosted the 2026 Don Shilling Memorial Invitational on Monday night and scored a second-place finish amongst the field of seven teams.
Despite a slow start to the night that was punctuated by a lightning delay, the Bulldogs managed to finish strong as a team down the stretch. Head coach Tami Dunn says she was happy with the finish to the meet but will be looking to spark a better start in the future.
Part of the strong finish for Le Mars was capping off the night with a victory in the 4x400m Relay with the team of Maya Hogrefe, Claire Beitelspacher, Shea Susemihl, and Makenzie DeRocher clocking a time of 4:16.72. Coach Dunn says is starting to find its full potential at this point in the season.
With this being a home meet, the Bulldogs were able to use some young talent to fill in some extra spots in various races. Coach Dunn says that allowed her the opportunity to get some evaluation on runners in competition, and she says they did well.
Le Mars also recorded wins in the 100m hurdles from Claire Sussemihl, the 400m dash from Makenzie DeRocher, and a win from the Shuttle Hurdle team. Coach Dunn says some of the other events will need pieces moved around to get the most out of them, and she will be working on that in the next few days.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday, April 16 with a meet in Sioux City hosted by East High School.
