Multiple Event Winners No Rarity

Making the turn for home off the final turn in the 400. Michael Smith(4)
and Sam Johnson of Monticello(3). Photo by Gene Niemi

Multiple event winners proliferated at this year's MSHSL Track Championships.  Wayzata's Michael Smith, for example, got to hang three gold medals around his neck. Smith defended his title in the 400 with a time of 47.99, and was a member of Wayzata's winning 4 by 200 and 4 by 400 relay teams.  Smith ran the fastest time of the year and second fastest all time of 47.40 in the Sectionals.

He's the only Minnesota quarter miler this year to dip under 48 seconds for 400.  When asked if he'd run a 400 meter relay split under 47, Smith answered "Not yet."

Harry Monoh hands off the baton to Shaheed Hickman for the final
leg of the 4 by 100 relay. Photo by Gene Niemi

Hopkins' sprinter Shaheed Hickman won the 100 and anchored Hopkins' winning  4 by 100 relay.  Hickman was one of the team leaders in pushing them toward the team championship, telling anyone who would listen about the work ethic and togetherness of the team.  They pushed and pulled each other to improve, he said, noting that when Joe Klecker set new school records in distance races that inspired his teammates to attempt and/or succeed in matching Klecker's accomplishments.

Finish of the Class AA 100. Megan Linder(6), Briasha Hunter(5),  Wenisha Johnson(4),
and  Tnia Rilay(3) Photo by Gene Niemi

Cretin-Derham Hall's Brieasha Hunter swept the AA 100 and 400 sprint races and with teammate Megan Linder racked up 66 points to finish second in the girl's AA team race.  Linder finished second in both those events and won the 200 with Hunter finishing second.

Jon Tollefson clearing the hurdle. Photo by Gene Niemi

St. Croix Lutheran's Jon Tollefson won both hurdle races, taking the 110 High Hurdles in a new Class A record of 14.36 and winning the 300 Hurdles in a photo finish with Minnehaha Academy's Samuel Lundquist.  Tollefson said that his goal for next season is to try and run under 14 seconds for the 110 hurdles.  On Saturday he said he tried to concentrate on his form as he noticed in films of his races that he tended to pop up over the hurdles more when he was tired.  So he concentrated on getting his lead leg down quicker and spending  less time in the air over the hurdles.

Chatfield's Jamye LaPlante won the shot put on Friday with a personal best throw of 56'11.5" and the discus on Saturday at 162'8".  His shot put PR was more than two feet further than he threw all season.

Jia Lewis wins the 100. Photo by Gene Niemi

Minneapolis Edison's Jia Lewis won the Class A 100 and 200 and combined with her sister's third place finish in both events racked up 40 points to earn Edison the Class A team title.

She didn't win twice but La Crescent's Brielle Bierman won the Class A 300 meter hurdles after being DQed in the 100 meter hurdles.  "I just wanted it so bad," Bierman said of her false start in the 100. "I guess I wanted it too much.  I was waiting until tonight to say that I'd gone through my entire high school career without false starting."

Instead of letting her mistake get her down, Bierman used her anger and disappointment as incentive to perform in the 300 hurdles.

Tess Misgen (14) begins her kick in the 1600. Photo by Gene Niemi

In a Class AA 1600 and 800 distance double Shakopee's Tess Misgen set a new PR in the 1600 to win that race in 4:50.78 outkicking the Hasz twins in the last lap.  Her strategy was to stay near the front of the race and start her kick with a lap to go.  She knew that the Hasz twins would push the pace early on and hoped that took enough of the sting out of defending champion Jenna Treudson of Bemidji, who had outkicked her down the homestrech last year.  Misgen made sure she didn't let up on the final straight, fearing that Treudson might repeat her sprint to deny Misgen the title again.

In the 800, Misgen said she just ran out of gas in the last lap.  When she tried to go, her legs would not respond.  But as soon as she finished the race and stopped running, she no longer felt spent.  It was as if all her energy for sprinting left her in the 800.  But she wasn't too disappointed.  With a smile she said: "Now I'm going to go out and eat some ice cream.  I haven't had any in a long time."

Kayla Huhnerkoch  in the 1600. Photo by Gene Niemi

Kayla Huhnerkoch used a powerful last lap sprint to win the Class A 1600, and tried to repeat that tactic in the 800.  She passed the leader Liz Miller on the backstretch and was leading on the homestraight when Miller came to life again and passed Huhnerkoch in the last 50 meters.

"I thought when you passed me: 'I'm dead, I'm dead.' I thought it was over,." she told Huhnerkock.  But she didn't give up, instead stayed within striking distance and found some extra energy to get past Huhnerkoch and grab victory from the jaws of defeat.

Minnetonka's Mia Barron's biggest challenge on Saturday's triple jump was the weather.  When she was asked after the event how she was able to jump a new All time State Meet record distance of 40'5.5" she said: "I don't know."  She worried before the event got started that the wet runway might be too slippery, but she sailed 39'7" on her first jump, 40'5.5" on her second and 40'3.75" on her third before she had to run a leg on the 4 by 100 relay.

She couldn't get her rhythm after that and her sixth and last jump was her shortest at 38'9.5" still almost two feet further than her nearest competitor.  Combined with her record jump in the long jump, Barron set two All time State meet bests for her events in dramatically different conditions.