Jamestown boys win Last Chance meet, Skari powers Blue Jays to victory

Aiden Skari kept Jamestown’s postseason push on track Monday, winning two events and helping the Blue Jays leave Valley City with another team title and a clear signal that they are peaking at the right time.

Jamestown’s boys scored 122.5 points at the Bill Jansen Last Chance meet at Hanna Field, 31 more than second-place Kindred in a 15-team field. The Blue Jays’ 122.5-point total came in warm, breezy conditions and gave them their third victory in their last five meets, a run that has turned late-May track meets into a preview of what the team can bring to state.

Skari was the day’s centerpiece. He won the 400 meters in a personal-best 51.82 seconds and took the triple jump with another personal best, 44 feet, 4 inches. He then anchored the winning 4x400 relay, where Jamestown finished in 3:30.52 with Jared Sagaser, Heath Heupel, Ryker Stoddart and Skari. The mix of individual wins and relay strength showed a team with more than one scoring path, a valuable trait with championship meets approaching.

That depth has been building for weeks. On April 29 at Fargo North’s Mailloux Unlimited Invitational, Jamestown scored 186 points and finished second, with Skari again winning the 400 meters and triple jump. Jared Sagaser swept both hurdles races, Heath Heupel won the 800 meters, Tristan Champagne took the 1600 meters, Cody Berreth won shot put and Peacemaker Tukumunde won high jump. The Blue Jays have not relied on one athlete to carry them; they have been getting points from sprinters, distance runners, jumpers and throwers.

The girls also turned in a solid result in Valley City, finishing fourth with 71 points. In a crowded late-season meet, that kind of finish matters because it keeps Jamestown in the mix for confidence and qualifying marks as state approaches.

The meet carried extra meaning in a place built around track history. Bill Jansen was the longtime boys and girls cross country and track and field coach at Valley City High School, and Valley City Parks and Recreation says the Bill Jansen Road Race began in 1981 and was renamed after his death in 2003. For Jamestown, the stop served as a final tune-up with the North Dakota High School Activities Association Class A and B state meet scheduled for May 21-23 at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck.