Hamline Elite Meet Tonight

If you've been waiting for a chance to get away from your space heater or snow shovel, tonight might be a good night to do it.  On the Twin Cities first real Spring day, many of the top high school athletes will be on display at Hamline's Klas Field tonight.

Starting at 5:30 PM with 100 meter prelims and the field events, action will be non-stop, culminating with two highly anticipated 3200 meter finals and the always exciting 4 by 400 relays under the lights. The boys' 3200 starts at 8:21 PM.  Eight runners with seed times within 15 seconds of one another are featured with Cretin Derham Hall's Kevin Docherty and Jake McDermott facing Stillwater's 2012 State XC champ Wayde Hall and teammate Eric Colvin battling Edina's Will Burke and Matt Lumbar, Foley's Charlie Lawrence, Chaska's Joey Duerr, and Wayzata's Connor Olson.  The big question being, with a group that closely matched, will they push themselves in an attempt to break nine minutes and threaten Mike Torchia's  meet record of 8:59.18(set in 2006) or will it become a tactical battle.

Once that contest concludes, all eyes will be on the women's 3200 with Shakopee's Maria Hauger being challenged by Blake's Clare Flanagan, Eagan's Danielle Anderson, and Wayzata's Anna French.  All four of those girls have run under 11 minutes with the top three only separated by eight seconds on their seed times.  Alexandria grad Jamie Piepenburg's meet record of 10:28.46(set last year) is vulnerable.  But these events are only the climax of what should be a very entertaining and eventful evening on a Spring night in Minnesota that is ripe for enjoying the outdoors.