Belle Plaine Edges the Edison Sisters for the Class A Girl's Title

For the second year in a row, Minneapolis Edison and Belle Plaine finished one, two in the Class A girl's team competition.  It was a roller coaster ride of emotions for Edison sisters Jia and Jada Lewis.  They had finished first and third in the 100 and 200 at the 2014 MSHSL Outdoor Track Championships, enough to score 40 points and capture Edison it's first ever girl's team championship.

At this year's meet, the Lewis sisters wanted to repeat as team champions, and do it, in part, by winning the 4 by 100 relay that they were DQed in last year.  On Friday Jada scored the team's first points, three, for finishing seventh in the long jump.  The sisters and the 4 by 100 relay made it to the finals in the events they'd qualified for.  Saturday started well as Jia  edged Jada by on hundredth of a second in the 100 meters.

Jada Lewis on her way to victory in the 200. Photo by Gene Niemi

Then they  won the 4 by 100 relay with Jia running the anchor leg and celebrated  as if they'd won the team championship.  It was the high point of the meet for the sisters and their teammates.  Jada went on to win the 200, defeating Belle Plaine's Jenna Gatz.  Jia had failed to qualify for the 200 at Sections placing third and not qualifying on time.  

Edison had done what they had set out to do.  Scored more points than the year before.  Erased the bad memory of last years DQ in the 4 by 100 relay. But Belle Plane's coach, Rich Faust, also had a plan.  He'd calculated what it would take to win.  His calculations indicated they had the potential do it. They just had to score 50 points or more.

Going into the 200, Edison had scored 37 points, Belle Plane 43. Gatz, who had also won the 400, had to finish third  in the 200 to earn Belle Plaine the title.  She did better than third and the three points the Belle Plaine 4 by 400 relay team scored by finishing seventh merely added to the team's margin of victory.

Neither the Lewis sisters, nor Gatz, are seniors. Thus next year at this time the same two teams could be battling again, each for their second State team title.