Minot High’s Blake Anderson won the WDA title in the shot put with a throw of 56 feet, 10 inches at the WDA Meet on Saturday, May 16, at the Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson. Mike Kraft/MDN

Blake Anderson was a West Region champion in the discus last year and now Anderson is a West Region champion in the shot put.

The Minot High senior won the shot put event with a toss of 56 feet, 10 inches during the West Region Meet on Saturday, May 16, at the Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson. Minot North’s Ethan Howey – Anderson’s most consistent challenger this season – placed second with a personal-best toss of 55 feet, 10 inches.

“Blake Anderson is a selfless teammate who is fun to work with,” Minot High boys track & field coach Josh Knutson said. “He has put in a ton of work and faced adversity this season. Seeing him stay composed and determined to pull off a win at WDA is what it’s all about.”

Anderson finished seventh at last year’s WDA Meet, but took home the discus title with a toss of 180 feet, 9 inches. He won six of his eight shot put events this season, logging a personal best of 57 feet, 2 inches on April 20.

Anderson took eighth in this year’s discus toss.

He wasn’t the only Minot High athlete returning to the Magic City with some hardware. On the girls side, Sophia Lade ran a season-best 2:19.40 to win the 800-meter title. She shaved off more than two seconds on her previous best time. Lade held off Bismarck High’s Bryar Jahner, who ran a 2:20.78.

Lade’s WDA was even more impressive due to the fact that she nearly hit the ground during the race, which would have all but ended her hopes of winning the race.

“That was probably one of the funnest races of the day,” Minot High girls track & field coach Disa Julius said. “There’s always a plan for her race. It didn’t go quite as planned. She got caught up and was almost tripped up and she really had to race and sprint probably 300 meters. It was pretty awesome.”

Lade placed fourth at last year’s WDA Meet, running a nearly identical time. She competed in the 800 in four meets including Saturday’s, winning the final three.

Lade was the second leg of the 4×400 relay team that finished runner-up to Bismarck High with a time of 4:06.60. The Demons finished a fraction ahead, winning in 4:06.39. Lade’s relay team included Marlie Stamps, Eve Knutson and Londyn Lauf.

The third local WDA winner represented Minot North, with Cameron Jesz claiming the title in the long jump with a person-best leap of 22 feet, 9 inches. He bested Bismarck High’s Levi Ehrlich (22-7) and Hayden Bondley (22-4) for the win.

Jesz held the lead after the first jump, recording a 22-6, but was caught by Ehrlich on his second-to-last jump when he leapt 22 feet, 7 inches. Jesz saved his best jump for his sixth and final attempt, clipping Ehrlich by 2 inches for the WDA crown. Jesz became the second WDA winner for the Minot North program, joining John Williams III, who was the first to accomplish the feat in the triple jump in 2024.

“I was really impressed just with the overall way he competed,” Minot North boys track & field coach Jordan Sanford said. “He had a really strong jump on his first attempt that put him in first place going into the finals and then in the finals he was surpassed by (Ehrlich) and dropped into second and then with his sixth and final jump and the final jump of the day, he was able leap himself back into first place. It was really great to see his demeanor and his confidence. As he was surpassed, he had no doubt he was capable of going back out there and surpassing (Ehrlich).”

Jesz didn’t compete during the 2025 season and was 26th at WDA in the long jump in 2024 as a freshman. He missed last season while recovering from a wrist injury he sustained during the basketball season. This year, he won two of four long jump events and three of six high jump events. He placed ninth in the high jump on Saturday with a height of 5 feet, 10 inches.

“He was eager to get back and compete this whole year,” Sanford said. “With not being able to compete as a sophomore, he was hungry and he had missed it. He had a really good winter of working out and getting better. We had a good start and he continued to get better and better and he’s a kid who has steadily been getting better. Even though he had some really good marks at the beginning of the year, if you asked him he probably thought he was still a bit rusty, but now he’s getting into that midseason form and is a really confident jumper.”

Bismarck Legacy won its first boys WDA Meet title since 2017, accumulating 114 total points. The Sabers edged out Bismarck High, which finished second with 109 points. Bismarck Century (104), Dickinson (92) and Mandan (68) rounded out the top five. The Magicians scored 36 points to finish 9th. The Sentinels were 10th with 31 points.

The Sabers won six events – two each by Zayden Horne and Bennett Lonn. Horne won the 100-meter dash (10.76) and the 200-meter dash (24.49), while Lonn swept the hurdles events, taking the 110-meter hurdles in 14.44 and the 300-meter hurdles in 38.23. Dickinson won three events: 400-meter dash, pole vault and the 4×400 relay.

Minot High’s James Pallotta and Logan Ludwig, and Minot North’s Dane Voeller placed in the top five of their respective events. Pallotta ran a 11.12 in the 100-meter dash to place third. Ludwig completed the 300-meter hurdles with a personal record time of 41.19 to finish fifth. Voeller was fourth in the discus with a toss of 150 feet, 10 inches. Minot High’s 4×100 relay team of Tariq Bell, Pallotta, Anthony Alexander and Andrew Van Pelt just missed out on the title, finishing in 42.37. Legacy ran a 42.29.

Century successfully defended its title in the girls meet, winning two events and accumulating 143 points. Bismarck High placed second with 111 points and Bismarck Legacy took third with 105 points. Mandan and Dickinson rounded out the top five with 104.5 and 76 points, respectively. Minot High was sixth with 72.5 points and Minot North was 11th at 11 points.

Legacy won a meet-best six events, including three relays. The Demons won four events, with Jilian Quale winning both the 100 and 200-meter dash. Eight of the 11 teams had at least one champion.

Leighton Johnson and Monica Boakye gave Minot High two top-five finishers in the 100-meter hurdles. Johnson finished runner-up in 16.84 and Boakye came in fourth in 17.22.

“Sometimes you don’t always have to race your fastest race,” Julius said. “It’s all about lining up and competing with the girls right next to you. We talk about that a lot in our program and they really showed up yesterday.”

Along with the 4×400 relay, Minot High’s 4×800 relay also took second. The team of Scout Ulrickson, Olivia Andersen, Royce Mesman and Kamryn Louser completed the relay in 10:26.92.

In the field, Minot High’s Hadlea Faul placed third in the discus with a toss of 121 feet, 6 inches. Faul was sitting in eighth place entering her sixth and final attempt. Up to that point, her best toss carried 112 feet, 8 inches. She added nearly nine inches on her final toss to move into the top three.

“It’s hard to throw in Dickinson,” Julius said. “They are faster, collegiate rings and things weren’t going great. She was in the finals and on her very last throw, she is always very smiley and she was like ‘All right, I’m not done yet’ and on her last throw she bumped to third. That was a huge day of competition for her.”

Chinagozi Ugboi was the runner-up in the triple jump, recording a distance of 35 feet, 2.5 inches.

McKinnley Kragh gave the Sentinels their lone top-five finisher on the girls side. Kragh took fifth in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 9 feet, 9 inches.

The three-day state meet begins on Thursday, May 21, at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck.