The Jamestown High School girls soccer team is looking to repeat what happened on May 17 this Thursday.

The Blue Jays are slated to take on Bismarck Legacy in a state-qualifying match at Bismarck St. Mary's. The Jays are entering the WDA tourney as the No. 4 seed while Legacy has maintained the No. 5 spot. The Blue Jays have gone 1-0-1 against the Sabers this season, winning 3-0 on May 17 and playing to a scoreless draw on April 27.

Jamestown and Legacy are slated to kick things off at 4 p.m. with the second state play-in game to follow at 6 p.m. The WDA title match between No. 1 Minot (12-0) and No. 2 Mandan (8-3) is slated for Thursday at 8 p.m.

"These girls, they fight to the very end," JHS head coach Brandi Harty said. "They are excited to step on that field on Thursday and play that game against Legacy and see what happens. I am just excited, I really am. It's going to be fun."

Back on May 17, Jamestown broke the ice midway through the first half with a score from junior winger Haley Nelson. Breanna Oettle and Hannah Murchie followed suit, each scoring a goal in the second half. Harty said she was glad to see the Jays stay connected and attack with purpose as time wound down.

"We played them really well the last time, but I still tell the girls, you never know what to expect," Harty said. "It's hard to play a team for that game because win or lose, it's a big deal.

"You have something to lose. These girls have worked really hard and we want to leave everything out on the field and show that we deserve to be at state."

Softball ready for regional tourney

Regular season records don't mean anything when looking at the 2021 WDA softball tournament bracket.

"I have a lot of faith in this team, so I would have felt good about whatever matchup we got," Jamestown High School head softball coach Marissa Drenth said. "We've had three more practices to keep getting better since coming off our games in Dickinson. Hopefully, we can be our best on Thursday."

Thursday marks the opening day of the WDA tourney and the Jays are slated to take on Minot. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Minot's home complex.

"(The girls) know that it is going to be a battle because it was a battle with Minot just a week ago," Drenth said. "They have been fighting all year in tight games. We're ready to go."

The Jays and Majettes met up on May 15 at Trapper Field for a conference doubleheader. The Blue Jays defeated Minot 2-0 in game No. 1 and were up 6-2 entering the seventh of the second. Minot made a four-run rally to tie the game at six, a feat that forced extra innings. Drenth and her crew ended up defeating the Majettes 8-6 in nine frames.

Jamestown's win over Minot was the team's last of the regular season falling to West Fargo and Dickinson early last week. Since the disappointing losses, Drenth said she has been working to prepare her team for post-season play.

"I think there is more anticipation, like let's go, it's tournament time," Drenth said of how practice tones have shifted. "But other than that, as far as work ethic and stuff like that, it's just the same. They are right on top of it."

Drenth divvied up the aspects of the games across the three days last week. The head coach designated one day for offense, one for defense, and threw in a simulated scrimmage with coaches' control -- adding runners to bases, changing situations -- so that the Jays will be ready defensively for whatever is thrown at them on Thursday. The Jays also saw some live-hitting.

Drenth said she expects this week's practices to take much of the same tone.

"It's one game at a time," Drenth said. "If you are not focused on the first game, the second and third ones don't matter. We're 0-0 again, the regular season is over so we're going to go win one game and then worry about what comes next. Everybody's excited."

Track and Field headed back to Bismarck

Three members of the Blue Jay track and field team were named West Region champions last week.

This week, they could switch the title to Class A state meet champion.

The Jamestown High School track and field team will be heading to the Bismarck Community Bowl this weekend to compete at the state track and field championships beginning Friday at 8:45 a.m.

The Community Bowl was also the host site for the West Region meet, where Annie Nabwe, Ben Anteau and Meghan Ford collected their titles.

"It's nice to have Bismarck host the meet," JHS co-head track and field coach Ken Gardner said in an interview following the WDA meet. "The nice thing is that the state meet is there again this week. It was another chance for our kids to get into that facility and get a little more used to it."

Nabwe, a junior for the Jays, claimed first-place finishes in the 100-meter dash, shot put and discus. The Blue Jay standout also got second-place in the javelin. Nabwe has placed first in the shot put at every meet she has competed in this season. The junior has also been in the top five every time she has run the 100.

Anteau, a Blue Jay standout in the distance races, outpaced his competition in the 3,200-meter run to earn WDA honors with a time of 9:08.63. The South Dakota State University (SDSU) cross country commit, beat second-place finisher, Brady Yoder, by more than seven seconds.

Anteau wasn't the only one to rack up a title in the two-mile.

Ford, North Dakota's premier girls' distance runner, won the eight-lap race with a time of 10:41.73 -- breaking the previous West Region meet record set by Minot's Brecca Wahlund in 2011 by four seconds. The West Region Senior Athlete of the Year was joined by seventh-grader Brooklyn Nygaard at the finish line. Nygaard qualified to the state meet in the two-mile with a time of 12:17, good enough for fourth-place.

Ford also won the mile, becoming the first girl to go under five minutes this season.

The three WDA champions will be joined by Nygaard and 16 other Blue Jay athletes in 13 different events at state.

GIRLS SOCCER

May 25

WDA Tournament, Bismarck St. Mary's

Play-in Match

(6) Century vs. (7) St. Mary's, 7 p.m.

WDA Tournament, Bismarck St. Mary's

May 27

State qualifiers

(4) Jamestown vs.(5) Legacy, 4 p.m.

(3) Bismarck High vs. (6/7) Winner, 6 p.m.

Championship

(1) Minot vs. (2) Mandan, 8 p.m.

SOFTBALL

WDA Tournament Play-in

May 24

(7) Bismarck Legacy 22, (10) TMCHS 0

(8) Williston 12, (9) Watford City 11

WDA Tournament, Minot

May 27

Quarterfinals

(2) Bismarck High vs. (7/10) Bismarck Legacy, 11 a.m.

(3) Century vs. (6) Mandan, 1 p.m.

(1) Dickinson vs. (8/9) Williston, 3 p.m.

(4) Jamestown vs. (5) Minot, 5 p.m.

May 28

Loser-out, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Semifinals, 3 p.m., 5 p.m.

May 29

State Qualifiers, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Championship, 3 p.m.