A year to remember

Like any year, 2021 had moments of success and disappointment for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn athletes. But the high points were noteworthy and included achievements on the biggest stages. The Sentinel-News looks back at the standout performances of the past year.

What a way to finish!

Medal winning and record setting performances highlighted the H-M-S girls' weekend at the state track and field meet. The Hawks collectively earned medals in three events and set two school records while competing on the blue oval at Drake Stadium.

Jasmine Lux was a part of all of those accomplishments. She placed fourth in the 400-meter dash and in the process broke her own school record for the second time. Lux had run a record time of 1:00.57 at the War Eagle Conference meet and lowered it again during her championship effort at the state qualifying meet (1:00.40). She then established a new H-M-S standard while competing at state (1:00.31).

"Jasmine has been an extremely dedicated, focused member of our team," said Hawk coach Nicole Dorhout. "She had goals, one of which was to set the school record, and she did what was necessary to achieve that goal."

H-M-S's 4x100 relay team of Emily Mutombo, Abby Otto, Lydia Harders and Lux just made the cutoff in the prelims and then responded with a fifth-place finish in the finals. The same quartet finished seventh in the sprint medley relay finals to earn another set of medals. They also broke a 20-year old school record with a time of 1:53.30.

"They took almost a second off their [state qualifying] time and got the medal they were chasing. It was fantastic," Dorhout said.

Lux also competed in the 200 meter prelims and finished 17th overall.

Rain doesn't dampen boys' efforts

Periodic rain didn't diminish the H-M-S boys' efforts at the state track and field meet.

Noah Adams finished fourth in the 1A long jump with a leap of 20'11.25". He entered the state meet as the No. 1 seed on the strength of his winning effort (21'8.5") at the state qualifying meet.

"That was a shocker to a lot of us, but maybe not to him," Hawk coach Kyle Borchers said after the qualifying meet.

Adams, Ryan Borden, Connor Dodd and Dawson Schiphoff placed 13th in the 4x200 relay finals, and Adams, Travis Kamradt, Schiphoff and Borden placed 24th in the sprint medley relay.

Dodd also competed in the 100 and 200 meter prelims, and Adams, Borden, Schiphoff and Dodd ran in the 4x100 relay prelims. They did not qualify for the finals.

On the podium at Wells Fargo

A pair of second-period escapes prevented Nick Bronstad from standing higher on the Class 2A medal stand at the state individual wrestling tournament. Competing for the combined Okoboji/HMS program, Bronstad finished eighth at 285 pounds in his first appearance at Wells Fargo Arena.

After losing his first-round match, Bronstad pinned his opponents in back-to-back consolation matches. Both of his opponents in the final rounds of the consolation bracket escaped with 1-0 wins.

Bronstad is the first H-M-S wrestler to qualify for state since Dakota Drenth placed fourth in 2015.

His postseason journey began at the sectional where he earned the title with a pair of wins by fall. At the district meet, Bronstad earned a 6-2 win in the first round despite suffering an injury. He injury-defaulted in the first-place match but still earned the trip to state.

One of H-M-S's best runners

Cross country runners' accomplishments can be overlooked, but no one can ignore the career of Madison Otto. Finishing in the Top 15 at the War Eagle Conference meet for the fourth time, the senior became just the third girl in H-M-S history to earn all-conference honors each year of her career.

Otto's second straight fifth-place finish at the conference meet followed her 10th and eighth-place finishes as a freshman and a sophomore.

The only other four-time all-conference runners at H-M-S are Katie Knoblock (2008-11) and Kourtney Schnurr (2015-18).

Otto acknowledged it felt "really good" to be all-conference again, and was especially proud of being the only competitor from a Class 1A school to finish among the Top 5.

Their hard work paid off

Several H-M-S athletes received all-conference, all-district or all-state honors during the year. But two individuals' hard work gained special recognition.

The Athletic Booster Club inaugurated the "Hardest Working Athlete" award in 2021. It is given to a male and female athlete in recognition of outstanding demonstration of their dedication to H-M-S athletics through hard work and sacrifice to make themselves and their teammates better.

Taya Mason was the first female recipient. The 2021 graduate was a four-sport athlete, earning second team all-conference honors as a senior in volleyball, basketball and softball. She continued her athletic career last fall as a starter on the Minnesota West Community and Technical College volleyball team.

The first male award recipient was Connor Dodd. A two-time first team all-district performer on the gridiron, Dodd rushed for the two highest postseason yardage totals in program history last fall. He also competed in four events at the 2021 state track and field meet.

Dodd signed a letter of intent to join the Dordt University football program next fall.

District championship for football team

H-M-S swept the other six teams in Class A District 1 to win the undisputed title.

The only blemishes on the Hawks' regular season record were losses to West Sioux (1A No. 2) and West Hancock (A No. 1).

For the second straight year, the Hawks won their first two postseason games, defeating Tri-Center and North Butler. But they did not fare as well in a rematch with West Hancock and ended their season at 8-3. That was the best mark by an H-M-S football team in 11 years.

First-year coach Jay Eilers measured the success of the 2021 season beyond wins and losses.

"Greatness is not about record, it is about people. We accomplished greatness this year," he said. "It's the players, it's the people in the community and the student body."

Better-than-average seasons

Two H-M-S teams enjoyed above-average success in terms of wins and losses.

The 2020-21 boys' basketball team posted the program's first winning record in five years. Their 13-10 record included a convincing win over South O'Brien in the regular season and a postseason victory over Trinity Christian.

While their on-court success was rewarding, it was the players' attitude and work ethic that Hawk coach Mark Petersen most appreciated.

"They continued to work hard and continued to get better. They were a fun bunch to coach," he said. "They were close-knit. It was a joy to watch them."

A disappointing postseason loss didn't diminish one of H-M-S's better baseball seasons. The Hawks' 10-12 mark was the best on the diamond since 2014.

A 14-1 loss to George-Little Rock in district play was disappointing, but Hawk Coach Jeremy Gloden saw many positives last summer.

"It was not the outcome we wanted or envisioned; a frustrating end for sure," he said. "But we made a lot of good strides this season and we will continue to build on that for the future."

The Hawks' 7-2 finish to the regular season included a five-game winning streak.