The Class A State Track Meet was held from Thursday, May 23rd through Saturday, May 25th in Sioux Falls at the Howard Wood Field. This was the 119th year that this annual 3-day event was held. Eleven athletes from the Wagner Community School qualified for the Class A State Track Meet. One of the two athletes that brought home state champion titles was Jhett Breen. Jhett won the title of Class A State Champion in the 300m Hurdle event.

Jhett Breen is the son of Pat and Becky Breen and the grandson of Lavern and Alice Koupal. For excelling at the 300 m hurdles, Jhett is actually pretty new to the event, having only competed in it since he was a sophomore. When asked what he really enjoys about the 300m hurdles, Jhett said that it is not an ordinary event, with hurdles one gets to run and jump in the same race. One of the most challenging aspects of running hurdles is the need to have the flexibility to jump the hurdle but not jump over it too high in order to be able to keep the speed needed while running in-between the hurdles. Especially for the 300m hurdles, a person needs to be in good shape to both run and jump that distance.

Head track coach, Pat Belling has been a great help in getting Breen to the level he is. Coach Belling was always willing to work with and help Breen develop his hurdle skills. Belling was even willing to spend some of his personal time in order to help Jhett. Jhett’s personal best time was 39.75 seconds which he ran this season at the Parkston track meet. His practice routine highly attributes to his success at the event. Early in the week, he would take the hurdles at a fast pace and do more jumping reps; later in the week or before a meet, he would focus more on technique.

When asked whether he thought speed or technique was more important as a hurdler, Jhett said it is the special combination of both that makes a hurdler successful. Especially in doing the 300 m versus the 100 m hurdles it is important to have speed, but having good technique will help one go a long way as well in the event. For Jhett, the most challenging track meet of his senior year was the Howard Wood Relays. The Howard Wood Relays are a true test of competition as it brings teams from all over the state that pegs competitors against each other that would normally not compete against one another until the state meet.

Even though the weather did not cooperate very well this 2024 track season which resulted in many cancelled and postponed track meets, Jhett still found a way to maintain his competitiveness and improve throughout the season. If he was unable to compete at meets, he challenged himself during practice by replicating racing speed as best as he could. Then when he was able to compete at meets, he would compete to the best of his ability and give his all.

Jhett’s favorite track meet of his senior year was the State Track Meet. Standing on the top of the podium as the Class A Champion was an awesome feeling. Jhett did not expect to be in the running for a championship title when he first started the season, it was not until he really started pushing himself after practice had begun that he knew he had the potential to be at the top. Jhett also competed in the 400m relay and 800 m relays for the Red Raiders. Two of his favorite events to watch that he does not participate in are the 100 m and 200 m dashes. He finds those events entertaining because of how fast some people can run. Jhett’s final thoughts on his last sporting event as a Red Raider are that he is proud to be a Raider and is happy that he could represent Wagner. He would like to thank everyone who has supported him throughout his entire high school career.

Congratulations Jhett on your 300 m hurdle championship title. You have made the Wagner community very proud and ended your high school career on an amazing note.