Shaina Burns(left in red and white) and Rachel Schow(right with flowing hair) on the curve in the 300 hurdles. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
Mia Barron sets a meet record in the Triple Jump. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
Burns was also part of the runner-up team in the 4 by 400 relay that--you guessed it--broke the meet record by running 4:00.90, but could not claim an event best because Minnetonka ran 4:56.30 to grab the record and the win. But Burns wasn't finished there. She also won the shot put, heaving the iron ball 44'6". Minnetonka's Mia Barron, noting that while neither was a personal best, was still satisfied to have set two meet records in the jumps--triple(39'1.5") and long jump(19' 2.75").
Barron also ran the anchor leg on Minnetonka's runner-up 4 by 100 relay. Not to be outdone, Eagan's Jacob Gourley didn't break any individual records, but he did come away with three emphatic victories. He opened by winning the 100 in 10.66, and followed that with a come from behind win running the anchor leg of the 4 by 200 relay by catching and pulling away from the rest of the field down the homestretch to set Eagan's meet record in the event of 1:29.07. Then he delivered a similar dominating performance in the open 200 beating the field by nearly half a second in 21.60.
The distance events were highly competitive and fast with event records falling in the 800 as defending Class AA champ, Bloomington Jefferson' Matthew Rosen, led from the gun and held off Eden Prairie's Cal Lawton to win in 1:52.75. Lawton also broke the prior meet record, running 1:54.75. Rosen, who was the captain of the Jefferson basketball team, said he was able to do some running during basketball season and still considers track his main sport. He said his early season track results convinced him he was ready to run fast on Friday.
Defending Class AA 3200 champion Obsa Ali also played another sport, wrestling, during the winter, so he wasn't in top shape for the 1600 as Farmington's Justin Hyytinen ran him down with a 59.2 last lap to set a meet record of 4:14.05 to Ali's 4:14.66. Ali said that he wasn't concerned because last year he hadn't been able to break 4:30 at this stage of the season. Eli Krahn, who was entered in the 1600, scratched because of a cold he picked up last weekend. He opted not to run the elite meet to give himself time to recover, he said, because the big races will be in June, not April.
Ali leads the field on lap 2 of the 1600. Hyytinen is in the black and red and you can see his head and shoulders over Ali's left shoulder. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
Wayzata's Anna French broke open a battle of the "three juniors," herself, defending Class AA 1600 champion Jenna Truedson, and St Michael Albertville's Rachel King. French broke away from the field on the third lap and had a comfortable lead going into the last 200, but Truedson's signature last lap kick brought her to French's shoulder down the homestretch, where French had enough left to hold her off.
Anna French(3), Rachel King(1), and Jenna Truedson (behind King) at the front of the pack in the 1600 Photo by Jim Ferstle |
The runners are a blur at the start of the boy's 3200. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
Emily Castinias is beginning to be reeled in by Megan Hasz with a little over three laps to go in the 3200. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
Tess Misgen(left) and Olivia Dengel battle to the end of the 800. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
That single-minded conviction also helped girl's Elite Meet high jump champion Taylor Wiebke of Kasson-Mantorville who needed a jump off to defeat Katie Lindquist of Mahtomedi. Wiebke cleared 5' 5" in the jump off, a height she had cleared before this year as her PR is 5'8". "I just tried to keep it simple," Wiebke said. "I told myself: 'I've made this height before. I can do it again.'" The competition was just as tight in the boy's high jump where the contest between Nevis' Jordan Feder and Caledonia's West Spier came down to fewer misses as both cleared 6'6".
Feder's mother watched anxiously as the competition came down to the final jumps. She noted that Nevis doesn't have a track where the athletes can practice. Nor are there synthetic surfaced floors where he can
Jordan Feder bends over the bar. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
practice jumping. "He said: 'This surface is really nice.'" she said of his assessment of the Hamline jumping area. She watched as he did exercises to mimic his back bend to curl over the bar in his Fosbury Flop between jumps to stretch his muscles and get ready for his next attempt. While he may not have the facilities, he demonstrated at Hamline that he has the talent to go higher.
Next to the high jump pit was the pole vault area where a three man competition unfolded. By clearing 15' Worthington's Will Dudley won the title over Tyler Tappe of Pequot Lakes(14'6") and Wayzata's Ben Yost(14').
Other individual Elite Meet records were set by Wayzata's Mike Smith who won the 400 in 48.18(he also ran the anchor on Wayzata's winning 4 by 400 relay). St. Croix Lutheran's Jon Tollefson(38.73) finished second to Hasting's Clayton Johnson(38.66) in the 300 hurdles, and set the Elite meet record of 14.22 to win the 110 Meter hurdles.
Will Dudley flys over the bar. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
Jon Tollefson(wearing black socks in the red and black) leads Clayton Johnson (yellow and blue in the middle of the photo) in the 300 hurdles curve. Photo by Jim Ferstle |
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