Jamestown boys win Class A 4x400 relay title at state meet

Jamestown’s boys ended the state meet with the kind of finish that sticks with a program: Ryker Stoddart, Heath Heupel, Gradin Thorlakson and Aiden Skari won the Class A 4x400 relay in 3:22.45 at the 2026 North Dakota state meet in Bismarck.

The relay title came on the final day of the combined Class A and B boys and girls meet, which ran May 21-23 at the MDU Resources Community Bowl on Canary Avenue. Dave Zittleman, the activities director for Bismarck Public Schools, served as meet manager as the championship slate closed out Saturday.

For Jamestown, the victory was more than one fast race. It gave the Blue Jays a team championship in an event that demands four clean legs, sharp exchanges and enough speed to hold off the field over the final lap. In a meet where athletes often double and triple up, the relay was the clearest statement of the Blue Jays’ depth and composure under pressure.

The result also fit the shape of Jamestown’s late-season surge. On May 11, the Blue Jays won the Bill Jansen Last Chance meet at Hanna Field with 122.5 points, 31 ahead of Kindred, and Aiden Skari won the 400 meters in 51.82. Earlier in the spring, Jamestown also won the VCSU High School Open with 163 points, finishing 81 points ahead of Ellendale. The state relay title gave that run a defining finish.

That matters in Jamestown, where spring track is followed closely and a championship travels fast through the school, the stands and the rest of Stutsman County. WDA Sports lists one previous boys track state championship for Jamestown, dating to 1953, which makes this relay win a rare addition to the Blue Jays’ history and a milestone for the athletes who carried it home.