Three Bismarck natives selected for Howard Wood Dakota Relays

May 2, 2024

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - It’s the biggest high school track meet in the region, and this year the Howard Wood Dakota Relays turns 99 years old.

The boys’ special event this spring is the 200 meters, while the girls run the 800 meters. It alternates every year and receiving an invitation is a huge accomplishment.

One Bismarck school has an athlete in each race.

“In St. Mary’s history, as far as I’m aware of, we haven’t ever had one, and now we have two going. And actually with Eva, she’s the only North Dakotan that got invited, and with Colby, there is only three of the nine that got invited from North Dakota. So it is a huge deal because they only run nine. They run eight with one alternate,” said Kacie Dininus, St. Mary’s head coach.

Eva Selensky, a junior at St. Mary’s, said her inspiration for the 800 special happened two years ago when Century’s Erin Palmer built a big lead and then hung on down the stretch to win the special event.

“It’s so cool that two of us from St. Mary’s got picked. I was just thinking that Colby and I used to run at this little Great Plains track thing back when we were little in the summer. I think it’s cool that all of these years later, we’re running and racing together and running fast times against some of the fastest people in the region,” said Selensky.

“The fact that we both get in as juniors, and it obviously shows all of that hard work we’ve put in and the great coaching staff that we have here at St. Mary’s that are dedicated to the athlete,” said Colby Fleck, a junior at St. Mary’s.

Fleck will have company from the Capital City in the Boys Special Event. Bismarck High’s Jeran McNichols is ranked number one in the state in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

Reese Snow of Legacy helped set Howard Wood records in three relays last year at Howard Wood. The special event races will be run on Friday in Sioux Falls.