Weninger, Belquist run at Nike Outdoor Nationals

Incoming high school seniors and Class B individual champions Logan Weninger of Carrington, and Kelsie Belquist of NR-S, got the invitation of their track lifetimes.

To pardon the pun, they ran with it.

The two participated in the prestigious 2023 Nike Outdoor Nationals June 15-18 at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., the home track of the University of Oregon Ducks and one of the finest facilities in America, if not the world.

Logan, the son of Brad and Lisa Weninger, participated in the "Emerging Elite" division in the 200 and 400-meter dashes.

There are five divisions of skill level at the Nike Outdoor Nationals, with Championship the top tier for high school athletes. That is followed by Emerging Elite, freshman and middle school, and select events also had a professional division for top-level athletes.

Weninger had the 13th-best time in the 400 of 50.34 seconds, with the winner in the division clocking 49.32. He took 49th in the 200, running 23.16.

He was the Class B 400-meter dash champion at the State Track Meet in Bismarck, and placed second in the 300 hurdles and third in the 200 for the Cards.

Belquist, a 10-time Class B champion and the daughter of Elliott and Beth Belquist of New Rockford, was entered into the Championship division for the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles, a distance she had never run before competitively.

She ran a career-best 14.02 in the 100 hurdle preliminary heats, .06 faster than her state record set at the state meet in May. That earned her the ninth and last finals spot, and she would end up placing eighth with a 14.21 time.

Her other times weren't quite up to her usual standards, as she would take 13th in the 400 hurdles (1:02.26) and 20th in the 200 (24.71).

A foursome of North Dakota athletes stole the show at the Nike Nationals. The 4x100 and 4x200-meter boys' relay team from Bismarck Legacy, anchored by multi-event standout, state record holder and NDSU recruit Dylan McGlothlin, won the national championship in both events.

Competing under the team name "Central Dakota Resilience", the Sabers scorched to a time of 41.47 in the 4x100 and 1:24.74 in the 4x200.