High School Stars Head to Nike Nationals

The cream of Minnesota's high school crop will face some of the blue ribbon winners from the rest of the nation at the Nike Outdoor National meet in Greensboro, North Carolina this weekend.

Last year, the meet played host the 1o:10 to 10:12 two mile duel between Bria Wetsch and Elizbeth Yetzer, Tressa Beckel's 5-10 3/4 high jump victory, and Mike Torchia's Minnesota all-time two-mile best of 8:50.80.

Looking to make hay at this year's meet are:

Minnesota's fastest prep quarter-miler ever Quinn Evans in the 400, Rosemount's Obai Hussein in the 800, Lakville South's Paul Hilsen and Burnsville's Rob Finnerty in the mile, and Finnerty, Class AA 3200m champ Elliott Heath, and Class AA XC champ Hassan Mead in the two mile. Lakeville North's Tyler King will compete in the meet's "emerging elite" mile.

In the field, Mounds View's Tommy McNamara will compete in the long and triple jumps, shot putters Casey Dehn of Owatonna, Class AA champ Tyler Kleinhuizen of Forest Lake, and Trey Davis of Farmington will throw, as will Owatonna's Michael Shaver in the discus.

In girls competition, Class AA winner Megan Smith will race over 800m, Class AA 3200 champ Alex Gits will run the 5000m, and Lakeville South's Felisha Willaert will throw the discus. Class AA 1600m champ Michelle Volz will race in the "emerging elite" mile.

Also, statistics ... Chris Marshall offers his post-State listing of the top boys 800, 1600, and 3200 meter times of 2007. Changes since Sections are in bold.

800m
Andy Richardson Irondale 1:51.60 AA State (Prelims)
Zach Mellon Buffalo 1:52.66 AA State
Isaac Veldkamp Eden Prairie 1:53.62 AA State
Jordan Carlson Rosemount 1:53.88 AA State (Prelims)
David Pachuta Eastview 1:53.96 AA State (Prelims)
Obai Hussein Rosemount 1:54.04 AA State
Nick Hutton Apple Valley 1:54.09 Section 6AA
Mike Shelendich Mounds View 1:54.37 Section 4AA
Jon Stublaski Henry Sibley 1:54.51 AA State (Prelims)
Ben Blankenship Stillwater 1:54.58 Bob Stewart Invite
(10)
Mike Mueller Hopkins 1:54.99 Section 6AA
Nick Ranberg North Branch 1:55.08 North Suburban Conference
Alex Wrobel Mounds View 1:55.50 Section 4AA
Mustafa Yusuf Willmar 1:55.49 Section 2AA
Robel Kebede Minneapolis South 1:55.68 Section 5AA
Tyler King Lakeville North 1:55.73 AA State (Prelims)
Anthony Held Elk River 1:55.94 AA State (Prelims)
Abdi Mohamed Eden Prairie 1:56.10 Section 6AA
Ben Garbers North 1:56.23 Section 4AA
Tom Hoffman Mahtomedi 1:56.24 Section 4AA
(20)
Kevid Bradley Mounds View 1:56.70 SEC Conference
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 1:56.86 Central Lakes Conference
Rob Finnerty Burnsville 1:57.18 Carleton
John Vaith Hastings 1:57.25 AA State (Prelims)
Doug Debold Hopkins 1:57.42 State TT
Mitch Lorenz Brainerd 1:57.62 AA State (Prelims)
Luke Delaney Brainerd 1:57.64 AA State (Prelims)
Evan Kearney Mlps. South 1:57.87 6AAATT
Harun Abda Fridley 1:57.89 Section 5AA
Tom Burke Edina 1:57.95 EP Booster
(30)
Paul Hilsen Lakeville South 1:57.8* Rosemount Tri
Sam Shidla Mound-Westonka 1:57.9* Mound-Westonka
Dominick Rosario Edina 1:58.54 Section 6AA

1600m
Ben Blankenship Stillwater 4:09.10 AA State
Elliott Heath Winona 4:10.27 1AAATT
Rob Finnerty Burnsville 4:10.39 AA State
Andy Richardson Irondale 4:10.78 AA State
Paul Hilsen Lakeville South 4:11.85 AA State
Ryan Little Eden Prairie 4:13.54 Section 6AA
TC Lumbar Edina 4:13.98 Section 6AA
Hassan Mead Mlps. South 4:14.17 AA State
Jordan Carlson Rosemount 4:14.98 State TT
Tom Burke Edina 4:15.44 7AAATT
(10)
Doug Debold Hopkins 4:16.70 Section 6AA
Matt Yak Northfield 4:16.85 1AAATT
Tyler King Lakeville North 4:17.25 Section 1AA
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 4:17.64 Section 6AA
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 4:17.9* STMA
Zach Mellon Buffalo 4:19.05 State TT
Mike Hutton Apple Valley 4:19.41 Lake Conference Relays
Jon Stublaski Henry Sibley 4:20.02 Hamline Elite
Travis Burkstrand Eastview 4:20.37 Lake Conference
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 4:21.58 Lake Conference
(20)
Pieter Gagnon Minneapolis Washburn 4:21.76 Section 5AA
Mike Howard North 4:22.00 AA State
Harry Backlund Highland Park 4:22.24
Nick Saucedo Henry Sibley 4:22.25 Section 3AA
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 4:22.34 Lake Conf. Relays
TC Lumbar Edina 4:22.52 7AAATT
Mahad Hassan Willmar 4:22.69 Eden Prairie Booster
Mike Schelendich Mounds View 4:22.88 6AAATT
Matt Volz Lakeville South 4:22.99 1AAATT

3200m
Elliott Heath Winona 8:57.65 Section 1AA
Hassan Mead Mlps South 9:03.29 AA State
Rob Finnerty Burnsville 9:04.42 AA State
TC Lumbar Edina 9:06.69 Hamline Elite
Ryan Little Eden Prairie 9:11.19 AA State
Tom Burke Edina 9:11.36 Section 6AA
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 9:13.00 Section 6AA
Ben Blankenship Stillwater 9:15.46 Lakeville Invite
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 9:16.92 AA State
Matt Yak Northfield 9:18.90 1AAATT
(10)
Mike Hutton Apple Valley 9:22.05 Section 6AA
Jon Stublaski Henry Sibley 9:23.71 2AAATT
Andrew Quinn BSM 9:26.79 Hamline Elite
Mahad Hassan Willmar 9:29.96 Central Lakes Conference
Pieter Gagnon Minneapolis Washburn 9:30.10 AA State
Travis Burkstrand Eastview 9:32.53 Lake Conference
Danny Docherty Cretin-Derham Hall 9:32.83 AA State
Mohammed Bedel Willmar 9:35.21 Section 2AA
Jon Lambert Wayzata 9:39.26 Hamline Elite
Danny Docherty Cretin-Derham Hall 9:39.41 SEC Conference
(20)
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 9:39.59 EP Booster
Mike Howard North 9:40.91 Section 4AA
Wade Hassel Mounds View 9:41.10 Hamline Elite
Tyler King Lakeville North 9:41.39 Lake Conference

*hand-timed

Gophers Name Two Tracksters to Hall of Fame

The Minnesota Golden Gopher "M" Club will honor two former maroon-and-gold track and field stars at the annual Hall of Fame banquet on September 27. High Jumper Tim Heikkila and distance runner Eileen Donaghy were named to this year's 13-inductee class, that includes former Gopher and North Stars hockey coach Glen Sonmor and former Gopher women's athletic director Chris Voelz.

Heikkila, who competed for the Gophers from 1967 to 1971, was the first Gopher to clear seven feet in the high jump. By winning the 1969 Big Ten Outdoor title in the event, he became the first Gopher high jump champ since 1950. In 1971, the Gopher captain finished second in the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn all-American distinction. Heikkila’s top performances in the high jump -- 7-1 indoors, 7-2 outdoors -- rank him ninth and eighth and ninth on Minnesota’s outdoor and indoor performance lists, respectively.

Donaghy, who competed in cross country and track for Minnesota from 1985 to 1989, was the surprise Big Ten Cross Country champion in 1987 when she led the Gophers to a program-best third place team finish in the meet. The St. Paul Highland Park alum was also a two-time all-district harrier. On the track, Donaghy was a 10,000 meter specialist. She still holds the U of M record for the event at 33:31.96. She was an all-American at 10,000, finishing 8th at the NCAA meet in 1988.

Summer Track League Returns

USA Track & Field - Minnesota's Summer Track & Field League returns to the schedule in 2007 after a one-year hiatus. The league opens this Sunday at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Summer League meets are open to all USATF members. Unlike previous years, participants no longer need to be affiliated with a USATF-recognized club to compete.

The full schedule is listed below. Click the link to find detailed information on each meet -- various meets offer different events.

Meet #1 -- Sunday, June 17, St. Olaf College, Northfield.

Meet #2 -- Wednesday, June 20, Rosemount High School.

Meet #3 -- Wednesday, June 27, Rosemount High School.

Meet #4 -- Wednesday, July 11, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul

The Day the Music Died

With Grandma's Marathon coming up on Saturday, it appears that the race still intends to prevent participants from using personal electronic devices (PEDs) on the course. Kevin Pates recently covered the issue for the Duluth News Tribune.

Up until now, it appeared that races such as Grandma's and Twin Cities Marathon were just using an obscure USATF rule to justify their ban on MP3 players and other similar devices. But it appears that USATF actually changed the rulebook in order to support road events that were looking for a reason to ban PEDs. The Running USA Wire recently included a story with the best explanation we've seen.

From the article:
"The USATF rules package contained the following justification for the rule change:
The huge proliferation of MP3 players and other audio devices using headphones by road race participants constitutes a safety hazard. These devices can prevent runners from hearing critical instructions from course monitors, police, and other race officials. Many race directors are reluctant to prohibit these devices in their races for fear of losing entrants. A firm prohibition by USATF will make it easier for these directors to justify bans on these devices in their races."

Can the new rule actually be enforced? We'll find out on Saturday. DtB will be in the Twin Ports covering all of the Grandma's weekend events.

Also, from our archives ... Jess Koski on running with headphones

MDRA Sports an Interesting New Blog

The Minnesota Distance Running Association's Heidi Keller-Miler alerted us to MDRA's new blog -- Run Minnesota. It shares the same name as the organization's magazine, and aims to be the online companion to it.

Colin Farbotko, an MDRA board member, does the bulk of the posting to Run Minnesota (the blog). He's got a regular feature called the Running-Related Song of the Week, which seems vital for runners of the headphone-wearing sort.

(Not at Grandma's, though!)

MDRA has also redesigned their web-site recently, in case you haven't been there for a while.

More State Meet Photos By Gene Niemi

Alex Gits won the 3200m in 10:44.01

Eventual 800m winner Megan Smith (Eden Prairie) on the shoulder of early leader Virginia Senf (Woodbury). Eventual runner-up Sarah Schellinger (Sartell -St. Stephen) and 3rd place finisher Mikaya Larson (Edina) follow.

Harding's Sade Pollard (lane 3) edges Kristi Buerkle of Forest Lake (lane 2) in the 400m for the first of her two titles. Pollard also won the 200m.

Cretin-Derham Hall anchor Sean King edges Hopkins George Dudley in the 4 x 100m Relay.

Bergen Butala anchored Mounds View to a big win in the 4 x 100m Relay.

Spray from the Runninng & Track Spigot

It's a wild time of year for a running and track reporter ... or fan ... or parent.

Track and field's various competition levels have been holding their climactic meets over the last few weeks -- conference, regional, sectional, and national competitions. The pros are building up for the USA meet in two weeks and Grandma's Marathon is wedged into this coming weekend.

This past weekend, of course, packed in both the High School State Meet and the NCAA Division I Championships. Proud track parents Bob and Linda Heath, exemplifying the everything-at-once time of the year, watched younger son Elliott run the 1600m race at the state meet on Saturday morning in Klas Stadium and then, just after the Class AA session ended, caught elder son Garrett's NCAA 1500m race live on the big screen in the Klas Center -- with a few dozen lunching State Meet officials.

It's been the same wild time for us here at DtB. With all that's going on this time of year, it seems like someone has opened the running and track spigot wide open and our bucket is just barely big enough to catch everything.

In an effort to make sure we don't leave anything really important spilled on the ground, here's a miscellanea of items left over from the last few days ...

-- Ruby Radocaj finished 9th in the NCAA javelin ... we failed to note that in the NCAA news flashes during our State Meet coverage.

-- Heather Dorniden describes her PR, school-record, 3rd place NCAA 800m race, HERE.

-- John Millea, the crackerjack high school sports scribe for the Star-Tribune, produced his usual fine coverage from the State meet ... you can find it all HERE, but we especially recommend his description of the Class AA boys shot put, HERE.

-- From across the river, Bruce Brothers described the Class AA 3200 run well, HERE, for the Pioneer Press.

-- Also, since hearts as well as records get broken at State, you may want to read Andy Greder's Duluth News-Tribune story, HERE, about Grand Rapids hurdler Jessica Butler. You can watch her race, HERE.

-- If you're impressed by feats like an 82-year-old man throwing a discus 85 feet -- as former Hamline throws coach Dick Mulkern did at the USATF - Minnesota Masters Championship on Sunday -- check out THESE results.

-- Finally, some Minnesotans shined at the Prefontaine Classic yesterday. MSU-Mankato high jump star Jim Dilling placed 4th at 7-04 1/2, former Duluth East standout Kara Goucher ran 4:10.29 for 8th in the 1500m, and former Stillwater Pony Sean Graham ran 8:27.64 to finish 11th in the two-mile.

DtB's Exclusive MSHSL Class AA Video

Find video of every MSHSL State Class AA track event -- except the Boys 300m Hurdles, we're sorry to say -- via the links below.

Costs for the rights for same-day video coverage of the Class AA finals of the MSHSL State Championships were underwritten by the generous support of Run N Fun. Run N Fun ... Running Specialists.

Girls 4 x 800m Relay
Boys 4 x 800m Relay

Girls 100m Hurdles
Boys 110m Hurdles

Girls 100m
Boys 100m

Girls 4 x 200m Relay
Boys 4 x 200m Relay

Girls 1600m
Boys 1600m

Girls 4 x 100m Relay
Boys 4 x 100m Relay

Girls 400m
Boys 400m

Girls 300m Hurdles
No Boys 300m Hurdles -- sorry!

Girls 800m
Boys 800m

Girls 200m
Boys 200m

Girls 4 x 400m Relay
Boys 4 x 400m Relay

Class AA Photo Gallery -- By Gene Niemi

Michelle Volz wins from McKenzie Melander over 1600m.

Rob Finnerty (r) and Ben Blankenship at the 1600m bell.


Blankenship storming to his win, (l-r) Andy Richardson, Elliot Heath, Paul Hilsen, & Finnerty.

The fastest Minnesota HS quatermiler ever, Quinn Evans, couldn't topple Randy Melbourne's meet record today.


2006 champ Isaac Veldkamp, Zach Mellon, & Andy Richardson battle over 800m.

Mellon (center) beats Richardson (r) and Veldkamp (l) in the 800m.

MSHSL State Class A Finals Session Review

The Class A finals session -- the last segment of 2007 MSHSL State Championships -- is now in the books. Scroll down to find event-by-event headlines, splits, and top results from all the day's action ...

Girls 4 x 800m Relay:
1st Leg – Perham & Providence …2:21.4
2nd Leg – Perham … 4:48.6
3rd Leg – Adrian leads Perham, Luverne & Providence …7:11.2
Anchor – Adrain and Perham battling side by side in the first lap of the anchor …

Perham wins in 9:28.78 … Adrian 9:32.13 … Luverne 9:36.22

Boys 4 x 800m Relay:
1st Leg – Pine Island leads …1:58.0 … Zumbrota-Mazeppa 5m back
2nd Leg – Pine Island leads by 35m over Fairmont … 3:59.8
3rd Leg – Pine Island leads ….5:58.1 … then Fairmont … Warroad
Anchor – Pine Island chased by Fairmont at Class A record pace …

Pine Island wins in Class A record 7:56.21 … Fairmont 8:00.21 … Concordia Academy 8:04.27

Girls 100 Hurdles:
Leslie Thomas (DeLaSalle) wins in 15.66 … Maggie May (Grand Meadow/LeRoty-OstranderSouthland) 15.79 … Samantha Wermager (Caledonia/Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton) 15.84 … Katrina Brekke (East Grand Forks) 16.10

Boys 110 Hurdles: Just .02 separates first from third, as Fragdot emerges victorious
Daniel Fragodt (Benson/KMS) wins out of lane 7 in 14.64 … Matt Reeve (Fairmont) .01 back in 14.65 … Nick Spaeth (Montevideo) 14.66 … Paul Mallory (Fairmont) goes down (DNF)

Girls 100m:
Megan Geyen (Watertown-Mayer) defends her 2006 State title in 12.24… Tingelstad (Lake-Park-Audubon) 12.36 … Mariah Hutton (BLH/Bold) 12.43 ... Amanda Darling (Jackson County Central) 12.48

Boys 100m:
Matt Dvorak (St. Croix Lutheran) wins a close race in 11.12 … Charlie Hrdlicka (United North Central) 11.14 … Greg Lingelhutz (Holy Family Catholic) 11.15 … entire field crosses in 11.39 or faster

Girls 4 x 200 Relay:
Sauk Centre wins by 15 meters in 1:44.85 … Blake School 1:46.94 … Pipestone Area 1:47.29 … all 9 teams in 1:47.83 or faster

Boys 4 x 200 Relay:
Glencoe-Silver Lake wins in 1:30.53 … Concordia holds onto 2nd in 1:32.13 despite anchor Jon Oie tripping with 10 meters to go in a failed effort to lean and catch Glencoe-Silver Lake’s Matt Muenchow … Providence Academy 1:32.18 … five others under 1:32.8

Girls 1600m: Two down, one to go – Swenson has 1600 & 3200 wins, 400 awaits
Claire Richardson, who dropped out of the 3200m yesterday, was a scratch
@200 – Swenson … 32.1
@400 – Swenson … 67.8 … Janning following closely
@800 – Swenson … 2:23.3 … Janning 30m back … then the chase pack
@1200 – Swenson … 3:40.8 … Janning 70m back

Nikki Swenson (Lac qui Parle/Dawson Boyd) wins in 4:58.57 … Laura Zwilling (Concordia Academy) 5:13.21 … Marissa Janning (Watertown-Mayer) 5:13.88

Boys 1600m: Donny Doubles: Wasinger adds 1600 crown to yesterday’s 3200
@200 – Thies … 31.1
@400 – Thies … 64.9
@800 – Thies … 2:14.6 … with a big group crowding behind him!
@1200 – Wasinger, Franta, & Lachawitzer in place … 3:23.5

Donny Wasinger (Winona Cotter) wins in 4:22.86 … Marcus Piepho (Mankato Loyola) 4:25.13 … Dustin Franta (La Crescent) 4:26.57

Girls 4 x 100m Relay:
Geyen anchors Watertown-Mayer to come-from-behind win in 49.26 … Sauk Centre 49.46 … Holy Family Catholic 50.38

Boys 4 x 100m Relay:
St. Croix Lutheran wins in 43.78 with anchor Matt Dvorak pulling up violently at the finish with an injury … Delano 43.93 … Trinity Schoo River Ridge 44.44

Girls Shot Put:
Rebecca Stier wins with 42-11 ½ … Vicki Harren (Melrose Area) 41-0 … Sam Broderius (BLH/Bold) 40-9 ½

Boys High Jump:
Jake Bahnmiller (Warroad) 6-4 … Cory Stauffer (Blue Earth) 6-4 … Marcus Denis (Walker-Hackensack-Akeley) 6-3

Girls 400m: Swenson completes rare 3200-1600-400 triple!
Nikki Swenson (Lac qui Parle/Dawson Boyd) wins in 57.01 … Ashley Tingelstad (Lake Park-Audubon) 57.72 … Leighton Lerum (Providence Academy) 58.53

Boys 400m:
Matt Muenchow (Glencoe-Silver Lake) 49.95 ... Paul Schreiner (New Life) 50.31... Andy Wendroth (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 50.65

Girls 300m Hurdles:
Kendra Mooberry (Benson/KMS) 45.35 ... Maggie May (Grand Meadow/Leroy-Ostrander/Southland) 45.64 ... Janey Helland (Maple River) 46.65

Boys 300m Hurdles: Frazee's Daggett silences fanatic Fairmont faithful
Andrew Daggett (Frazee) wins in 38.87 ... Matt Reeve (Fairmont) 39.17 ... John Knebel (Pillager) 39.23

Girls 800m:
@200 -- Varpness ... 31
@400 -- Varpness & Gigstead ...64.5
Smith trying to get close ...

Brittany Gigstead (Perham) wins in 2:14.79 ... Melissa Varpness (Montevideo) 2:15.48 ... Jolene Smith (Howard Lake) 2:16.85

Boys 800m: Brady's storms final 100 to nip Meints at the line by less than a 100th!
@400 -- Campbell, Meints, Leverington ... 59.4
@600 -- Meints ... 1:29.1

Ned Brady (DeLaSalle) 1:57.31 ... Denny Meints (Pine Island) 1:57.31 ... Moses Heppner (Warroad) 1:58.25

Girls 200m: Geyen completes 100-200 Double
Megan Geyen (Watertown) in 25.35 ... Amanda Darling (Jackson County Central) 25.86 ... Ashley Tingelstad (Lake Park Audubon) 26.08

Boys 200m: Prax Attacks!
Bryce Prax (LeSeuer-Henderson) 22.61 ... Micah Andros (St. Peter) 22.83 ... Alex Williams (Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity) 22.90 ... defending champ Ethan Mignard 23.12

Boys Long Jump:
Luke Buchholz (Ottertail Central) 21-8 1/4 ... Eric Rose (Glencoe-Silver Lake) 21-4 1/2 ... Casey Lipp (Breckenrdige/Campbell-Tintah) 20-11

Boys Discus:
Micah Hegerle (Kasson-Mantorville) 173-8 ... Jake Brinkmann (Mayer Lutheran) 169-4 ... Aaron Thauwald (Kingland) 154-5

Girls Pole Vault:
Lyndie Bosshart (St. James) 11-0 ... Megan Schleck (Visitation) 10-3 ... Allison Strege (Nashwauk/Keewatin) 10-3

Girls Triple Jump:
Maggie May (Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Southland) 36-2 ... Chelsea Fogarty (Belle Plaine 36-0 ... Danielle Luhmann (Rushford-Peterson/Houtson) 35-9

Girls 4 x 400m Relay:
1st Leg--Belle Plaine ... 61.0
2nd Leg -- Luverne ... 2:00.9
3rd Leg -- Luverne ... 3:03 Blue Earth, Pipestone

Blue Earth Area wins in 4:02.93 ... Pipestone Area 4:03.48 ... Luverne 4:03.91

Boys 4 x 400m Relay:
1st Leg -- Concordia ... 50.3 ... Foley close
2nd Leg -- Concordia ... 1:40.7 ... Lanesboro/Fillmore Central
3rd Leg -- Lanesboro ... 2:34.1
Anchor -- It's four teams on the backstretch ...

Lanesboro/Fillmore Central wins in 3:26.80 ... Concordia Academy 3:26.88 ... Fairmont 3:27.19

Girls Team Scores: FINAL
Watertown-Mayer wins with 54 ... Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Southland 50 ... Rushford-Peterson/Houston 46 ... Lake Park-Audubon 40 ... Lac qui Parle/Dawson-Boyd 36

Boys Team Scores: FINAL
Glencoe-Silver Lake 51 ... Fairmont 43 ... Warroad 31 .. Frazee 29.5 .. Concordia Academy 29

Complete results can be found HERE, on the MSHSL web-site.


Chris Marshall assisted in the reporting above.

MSHSL Class A Finals About to Start

Finals in Class A competition at the MSHSL State Championships are about to commence. It's now 80 degrees in St. Paul with winds of 10 mph blowing from the south. As long as the competition isn't delayed by rain -- skies have turned gray here at Hamline University, we notice -- we expect to have our recap up by 7:00 p.m.

Note: For those of you waiting for our video of the Class AA competition, we ask your patience. The video is processing now and we expect to have it available to you shortly!

NCAA Flash: Dorniden 3rd in PR 2:01.05; Heath 7th in 3:40.14; Gearman 12th at 50-9 1/2

Heather Dorniden's 800m results are HERE.

Garrett Heath's 1500m results are HERE.

Derek Gearman's triple jump results are HERE.

WDTB -- Live Coverage of the MSHSL Class AA Finals

That concludes Down the Backstretch's live coverage of Class AA action. Special thanks go to Run N Fun for making it financially possible ... and THANK YOU for joining us on-line.

Tune back in in an hour or so -- 2:30 p.m. CDT -- to view our exclusive video of all of today's Class AA track races in full.

And ... check back in tonight at 7:00 when we post our reports on the Class A finals.

For my partner Chris Marshall, I'm Charlie Mahler ... thanks for joining us on Down the Backstretch!

Full Class AA final results are available HERE, on the MSHSL web-site.

Boys Team Scores: FINAL

Mounds View defends title with 97 points! ... Hopkins 44 ... Burnsville 43 ... Buffalo 36 ... Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony Village 35

Girls Team Scores: FINAL

Wayzata edges Hopkins 56-55! ... Lakeville North 46 ... Eastview 40 ... Edina 38

Boys 4 x 400m Relay:
1st Leg -- Mounds View leads at ... ~50
2nd Leg -- Mounds View ... 1:39.0
3rd Leg -- Mounds View ... 2:30.8
Anchor -- Evans is screaming down the back straight ...

Mounds View wins in 3:18.04 ... Hopkins 3:21.54 ... Minnetonka 3:24.51

Girls 4 x 400m Relay:
1st Leg -- Mounds View ... ~57
2nd Leg -- Mounds View ... 1:55
3rd Leg -- Mounds View ... 2:55
Anchor -- Hopkins chasing Mounds View ...

Mounds View (3:52.78) beats ... Hopkins 3:53.53 ... Lakeville North 3:54.90

Boys Discus:
Mike Shaver (Owatonna) wins in 183-1 ... Matt Schwartz (Forest Lake) 175-11 ... Brian Leonhardt (Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony Village) 164-11

Boys Long Jump:
B.J. Otto (Hill-Murray) 23-1 1/4 ... Tony Johnson (New Prague) 22-09 1/2 ... Tommy McNamara (Mounds View) 22-8 1/4

Boys 200m:
Jerrell Hancock (Anoka) wins in 21.98 ... B. J. Otto (Hill-Murray) 22.14 ... Tyler Key (Apple Valley) 22.22

Girls Pole Vault:
Lauren Stelten wins with 12-3 ... Johanna Sprang (Irondale) 11-6 ... Kayla Deters (Sauk Rapids-rice) 11-3

Girls 200m:
Sade Pollard (Harding) wins 2nd title in 25.36 ... Antionnette Goodman (Burnsville) 25.40 .... Jada Narveson (Lakeville South) 25.63

Girls Triple Jump:
Jordan Helgren (Wayzata) wins in all-time State Meet record of 38-10 1/4 ... Kelsey Joson (Park) 38-4 ... Elizabeth Wilson (Armstrong) 37-3

Boys 800m:
@200 -- Richardson ... 27
@400 -- Richardson ... 56
@600 -- Still Richardson, with Mellon coming to his shoulder ... 1:25.9

Zach Mellon (Buffalo) wins in 1:52.66 ... Andy Richardson (Irondale) 1:53.13 ... Isaac Veldkamp (Eden Prairie) 1:53.62

Girls 800m:
@200 -- Senf ... 30.8
@400 -- Senf ... 66.2
@600 -- Smith leads big ... 1:39

Megan Smith (Eden Prairie) wins in 2:11 .87 ... Sarah Schellinger (Sartell-St. Stephen) 2:15.04 ...

Costs for the rights to broadcast the MSHSL Class AA Track & Field finals live on Down the Backstretch -- with same-day video coverage -- were underwritten by the generous support of Run N Fun.

Run N Fun ... Running Specialists.

Boys 30m Hurdles:
Matthew Griswold (Totino Grace) wins in 38.25 ... Mosic Greenprice (Buffalo) 38.36 ... Sean Duling (Mounds View) 38.73

Girls 300m Hurdles:
Jenna Severson (Spring Lake Park) wins in 44.79 ... Taryn Simmons (Bloomington Kennedy) 45.07 ... Kimberly Leider (Eastview) 45.74

Boys Team Scores: Through 12 events ...
Mounds View 65 ... Burnsville 40 ... Hopkins 28 ... Anoka 22 ... Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony Village 21

Girls Team Scores: Through 12 events ...
Wayzata 42 ... Hokins 39 ... Lakeville North 36 ... Eastview 29 ... Edina 27

Boys High Jump:
Derek Jerde (Chaska) wins at 6-8 ... Matt Clauer (Elk River) 6-7 ... Ryan Boedddeker (Owatonna) 6-6

Girls Shot Put:
Kylene Ramsey (Moorhead) wins with a 41-05 1/4 put ... LaiShema Hapton (St. Louis Park) 41-03 3/4 ... Neisha Monroe (Cambridge-Isanti) 39-10 1/4

MSHSL computer problems are slowing down our field event coverage ... we do know that, in competition that is still on-going, Wayzata's Jordan Helgren has set a new all-time State Meet record in the triple jump with 38-10 1/4

Boys 400m:
Quinn Evans (Mounds View) wins in 47.85 -- missing Randy Melbourne's all-time Sate Meet record of 47.59 ... Jerrell Hancock (Anoka) 48.99 ... Kevin Bradley (Mounds View) 49.18

Evans ran the fastest HS 400m all-time for Minnesotans in the event earlier this season -- 47.18

Girls 400m:
Sade Pollard (Harding) gets her first win of the meet in 56.99 ... Kristi Buerkle (Forest Lake) 57.14 ... Cassie Toepfer (Eagan) 57.32

Costs for the rights to broadcast the MSHSL Class AA Track & Field finals live on Down the Backstretch -- with same-day video coverage -- were underwritten by the generous support of Run N Fun.

Run N Fun ... Running Specialists.

Boys 4 x 100m:
Cretin-Derham Hall (42.80) edges Hopkins (42.84) ... Mounds View 43.24

Girls 4 x 100m:
Mounds View wins large ... in 48.09 ... St. Cloud Tech 48.90 ... Hopkins 49.15

Boys 1600m:
@200 -- Richardson at 27 (of course!)
@400 -- Richardson at 59.5 ... Heath, Yak chasing 10m back
@800 -- Blankenship to the fore but Finnerty leads at 2:05.8
@1200 -- Finnerty pressing the third lap ... Finnerty and Blankenship at 3:08.1

Big bell lap move by Blankenship ...

Ben Blankenship (Stillwater) wins in 4:09.10 ... Rob Finnerty (Burnsville) 4:10.39 ... Andy richardson (Irondale) 4:10.78 ... Heath 4:10.88

Girls 1600m:
@200 -- Senf 31
@400 -- Senf by 15m in 69.8
@800 -- Senf by by 2m in 2:32
@1200 -- Volz, Melander ... 3:50 ... then Senf, Berndt, Hughes

Volz and Melander battling on backstretch ...

Volz wins in 4:58.68 ... Melander 4:59.72 ... Hughes 5:02.72

Weather Update: 72 degrees, winds SSW 10 mph

Boys 4 x 200m Relay:
Mounds View misses all-time State Meet record by .04 with 1:27.77 ... Hopkins 1:28.42 ... Armstrong 1:29.33

Girls 4 x 200m Relay:
Hopkins wins in 1:41.87 ... Armstrong 1:43.00 ... Lakeville North 1:44.12

Costs for the rights to broadcast the MSHSL Class AA Track & Field finals live on Down the Backstretch -- with same-day video coverage -- were underwritten by the generous support of Run N Fun.

Run N Fun ... Running Specialists.

Boys 100m:
Jerrell Hancock (Anoka) wins in 10.67 (wind-legal) ... Clarence Suttle (Johnson) 10.89 ... Sean King (Cretin-Derham Hall) 10.92 ... Garrett Cora (Duluth East) 5th in 10.89

Girls 100m:
Kylie Peterson (Apple Valley) upsets Pollard in 12.11 (wind-legal) ... Sade Pollard (Harding) 12.21 ... Shai Nichols (Owatonna) 12.21

Boys 110m Hurdles:
Sean Duling (Mounds View) defends title in 14.43w ... Kevin Wolf (Spring Lake Park) 14.48 ... Kedrick White (Roseville) 14.81

Girls 100m Hurdles:
Kelly Stalpes (Wayzata) wins in 14.70w ...Jessica Butler (Grand Rapids) 14.93 ... Emily Stalpes (Wayzata) 15.09

Boys 4 x 800m Relay:
1st Leg -- Eastview leads Willmar ... 1:55.3
2nd Leg -- Willmar lead Eastview by 30m ... 3:53.0
3rd Leg -- Willmar leads Apple Valley by 50m ... 5:50.1
Anchor -- Willmar up by 80m on the backstretch ...

Willmar (Yusuf, Awale, Adeys, Coquyt) breaks the all-time State Meet record in 7:47.33 ... Apple Valley 7:54.52 ... Buffalo 7:57.51

The all-time Minnesota record -- run anywhere, not just at State???
Stillwater 7:41.94 in 1998.

Girls 4 x 800m Relay:
1st Leg -- Woodbury and Eden Prairie lead ... 2:18.0
2nd Leg -- Eden Prairie leads Woodbury and Mound West Tonka .... 2:37.9
3rd Leg -- Eden Prairie with a 35m lead over Wayzata ... 6:55.6
Anchor -- On the final backstretch, Eden prairie still leads big ...

Eden Prairie wins in 9:09.31 ... then Wayzata in 9:19.02 and Woodbury 9:20.72

Welcome to Down the Backstretch's coverage of the MSHSL Class AA Finals. We're reporting live from Klas Field at Hamline University in St. Paul. If you enjoyed our coverage of the Hamline Elite-Meet, you should love this!

Just pull up a supportive chair and a bag of snacks -- I've just had my press room donuts and coffee! All you need to do is refresh your browser window regularly for event-by-event coverage of the meet. The latest news and results will appear at the top of this page, older data will be collected beneath.

In addition, we plan to post video of EVERY running event shortly after the Class AA session ends.

Weather conditions minutes before the start of the session: 62 degrees, 46 degree dew point, winds fairly calm ... the backstretch flag that was stiff yesterday is lazily blowing this morning.


Costs for the rights to broadcast the MSHSL Class AA Track & Field finals live on Down the Backstretch -- with same-day video coverage -- were underwritten by the generous support of Run N Fun.

Run N Fun ... Running Specialists.

Brown 10th in NCAA Steeplechase; Gearman Makes Triple Jump Final

Like yesterday, we're busy at DtB headquarters preparing to cover the preps. Here's nutshell coverage of the Gophers at NCAAs ...

You can find a women's update HERE, courtesy of the Gopher media crew.

The men's update from NCAAs is HERE.

Full NCAA results are available HERE.

The bottom line: Emily Brown finished 10th in the women's 3000m steeplechase last night in 10:07.40; Aaraon Buzard finished as the 13th place 400 meter runner in prelims and did not advance with his 46.66 clocking; Derek Gearman advanced to today's triple jump final with a leap of 51-6. Also competing today -- Heather Dorniden, who chases a second NCAA 800 meter title.

MSHSL State Class A Prelim Session Review

The Class A prelim session -- along with selected field event finals and the finals of the 3200m runs --of the 2007 MSHSL State Championships is now in the books. Scroll down to find event-by-event headlines, splits, and top results from all the day's action

Girls High Jump: Tollefson's winning 5-6 the top jump of day
1st -- Toni Tollefson (Lake Park-Audubon) 5-6
2nd --Danielle Luhman (Rushford-Peteson/Houston) 5-5
3rd -- Megan Lambertson (Litchfield) 5-4

Boys Shot Put:
1st -- Chip Maresh (Glencoe-Silver Lake) 56-11 1/2
2nd -- Tyler Velzke (Waterville-Elysian-Morristown) 53-7 3/4
3rd -- Justin Brown (Rushford-Peterson/Houston) 52-11 1/2

Boys Triple Jump:
1st -- Kenny Schofield (Cotton) 43-10
2nd -- Dan Smelter (Stewartville) 43-5
3rd -- Omar Longoria (Dilworth-Glynden-Felton) 43-0 1/4

Boys Pole Vault:
1st -- Raphy Gelo (Int'l Falls) 14-0
2nd -- Steven Lewis (Foley) 14-0
3rd -- Mitch Hagen (Pelican Rapids) 13-9

Girls Discus:
1st -- Melissa Smith (Rushford-Peterson/Houston) 141-0
2nd -- Jasmine Henrich (Morris Area) 140-9
3rd -- Sam Broderius (BLH-Bold) 132-9

Girls Long Jump:
1st -- Stephanie Erlandson (Breckenridge/C-T) 17-8
2nd -- Danielle Luhman (Rushford-Peterson/Houston) 17-3 3/4
3rd -- Brianna Helland (Maple River) 17-3 1/2

Girls 100m Hurdles Prelims: Thomas qualifies ahead of the field
Heat 1 – Leslie Thomas (DeLa Salle) wins in 15.51
Heat 2 – Samantha Wermager (Caledonia/Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton) edges Megan Grandgenett (Blue Earth) by .01, 15.83 to 15.84

Also qualifying … Streit, Sowada, May, Harmon, Brekke, Schultz

Boys 110m Hurdles Prelims: Reeve fastest hurdler of the day -- Class AA or Class A
Heat 1 – Matt Reeve (Fairmont) wins in 14.68, the fastest time of the day.
Heat 2 – Nick Spaeth (Montevideo) wins in 14.87

Also qualifying … Daggett, Flies, Fragodt, Mallory, Schmitz, Robinson, Tjepkes

Girls 100m Prelims: Tinglestad and Jensen set for finals duel.
Heat 1 – Ashley Tinglelstad (Lake Park-Audubon) wins in 12.42 ... defending champ Megan Geyen 2nd in an auto-qualifying 12.54
Heat 2 – Ellie Jensen (Providence Academy) wins in 12.39

Also qualifying … Kjolhaug, Darling, Hutton, Schmit, Sutherland, Ceirnia

Boys 100m Prelims:
Heat 1 – Alex Williams (Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity) wins a close race out of lane 8 in 11.04
Heat 2 – Matt Dvorak (St. Croix Lutheran ) wins in 10.95, with a +5.2 m/s wind
Heat 3 – Micah Andros (St. Peter) wins in 10.97 behind a 4.2 m/s tailwind

Also qualifying … Hrdlicka, Mignard, Klingelhutz, Prax, Oie, Boy

Girls 4 x 200m Relay Prelims:
Heat 1 – Sauk Centre wins in 1:45.91
Heat 2 – Belle Plaine wins in 1:47.68

Also qualifying … Providence Academy, Blake School, Pipestone Area, Warroad, Clingon-Graceville-Beardsley/Chokio-Alberta, Caledonia/Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton, Glencoe-Silver Lake

Boys 4 x 200m Relay Prelims:
Heat 1 – Glencoe-Silver Lake wins in 1:32.10
Heat 2 – Frazee wins in 1:32.42

Also qualifying … Concordia Academy, Providence Academy, Plainview-Elgin Millville, Proctor, Yellow Medicine East, Chatfield, LeSueur-Henderson

Girls 4 x 100m Relay Prelims:
Heat 1 – Watertown-Mayer wins in 50.18
Heat 2 – Sauk Centre edges The Blake School by less than one one-hundredth, both teams recording 50.67

Also qualifying … Holy Family Catholic, Concordia Academy, Esko, Belle Plaine, St. James, Pipestone Area

Girls 400m Prelims: Tingelstad matches hurdle heat win with 400m prelim victory
Heat 1 – Ashley Tingelstad (Lake Park-Audubon) wins in 58.39
Heat 2 – Leighton Lerum (Providence Academy) nips Nikki Swenson (Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd) at the line, 59.00 to 59.06

Also qualifying … Nordvall, Erlandson, Wenzel, Northenscold, Kerkhoff, Utzinger

Boys 400m Prelims:
Heat 1 – Paul Schreiner (New Life Academy of Woodbury) wins in 50.51
Heat 2 – Matt Muenchow (Glencoe-Silver Lake) wins in 50.65

Also qualifying … Citrowske, Wendroth, Molitor, Endres, Head, Kerkhoff, Heglund

Girls 300m Hurdles Prelims:
Heat 1 – Kendra Mooberry (Benson/KMS) wins in 45.83
Heat 2 – Maggie May (Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostander/Southland) wins in 46.31

Also qualifying … Sawtelle, Helland, Grandgenett, Becker, Ceirnia, Harmon, Lundell

Boys 300m Intermediate Hurdles:
Heat 1 – Matt Reeve (Fairmont) wins in 39.38
Heat 2 – Andrew Daggett (Frazee) wins in 39.54

Also qualifying … Spaeth, Fragodt, Knebel, Robinson, Uphoff, Schmitz, Borland

Girls 800m Prelims:
Heat 1 –
@200 – Varpness (Montevideo) … 32.0
@400 – Varpness … 67.4
@600 – Varpness … 1:43.3

Melissa Varpness (Montevideo) leads wire-to-wire and wins in 2:17.82

Heat 2 –
@200 – Scanlan (East Grand Forks) … 32.2
@400 – Scanlan … 68.9
@600 – Gigstead (Perham) … 1:47.2

Brittany Gigstead (Perham) wins in 2:22.11

Also qualifying … Smith, Heitkamp, Roelofs, Dyrud, Scanlan, Kruchowski, Flores

Boys 800m Prelims:
Heat 1 –
@200 – Meints (Pine Island) … 26.8
@400 – Meints … 55.8 … Louis Hughes (Milaca) goes down with 350 to go
@600 – Meints … 1:27.3

Ned Brady (DeLaSalle) wins in 1:56.24

Heat 2 –
@200 – Carpenter (DeLaSalle) … 28.1
@400 – Carpenter … 57.0
@600 – Campbell (Bloomington Prairie) …1:27.8

Ian Campbell (Bloomington Prairie) moves with 200 to go, winning in 1:56.85

Also qualifying … Janssen, Meints, Leverington, Carpenter, Heppner, Nieuwbeerta, Babler

Girls 200m Prelims:
Heat 1 – Amanda Darling (Jackson County Central) wins in 25.28
Heat 2 – Defending champ Megan Geyen (Watertown-Mayer) wins in 25.39

Also qualifying … Coleman, Tingelstad, Mooberry, Jensen, Huschle, Heide, Kjolhaug

Boys’ 200m Prelims:
Heat 1 – Ethan Mignard (Meadow Creek Christian) wins in 22.38
Heat 2 – Micah Andros (St. Peter) wins for the second time in 22.50

Also qualifying … Williams, Thompson, Prax, Dvorak, Hrdlicka, Weinrich, Larson

Girls 3200m Finals: Swenson wins in return to 3200m
@400 – Rather (Fairmont), Greenwaldt (Minnewaska Area), Swenson (Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd) … 81.2
@800 – Delwiche (Glencoe-Silver Lake) … Swenson, Richardson
@1200 – Delwiche … 4:11.1 … Swenson, Richardson, Janning (Watertown-Mayer)
@1600 – Swenson, Janning … 5:32.7 … Richardson leads chase back 15 meters back
@2000 – Swenson … 6:52.0 … Janning 20 meters back, Richardson, Delwiche, McClellan (Perham) 25 meters behind Janning; Richardson drops out of the race at 2300 meters, stepping off onto the infield before falling
@2400 – Swenson … 8:14.6 … Janning 45 meters back, Delwiche, McClellan another 20 meters behind Janning
@2800 – Swenson … 9:38.0 … Janning 60 meters behind, Delwiche, McClellan

Nikki Swenson (Lac qui Parle/Dawson-Boyd) wins in 11:00.77
Marissa Janning (Watertown-Mayer) nips McClellan at the line for 2nd … 11:14.60
Maddie McClellan (Perham) 3rd … 11:15.10 …Delwiche, Zwilling, Stack, Swoboda, Aune, Knutson, Blakeslee round out the top 10

Claire Richardson (Blake) DNF ... fell to the infield in the second mile.

Boys 3200m Finals: Wasinger wins rematch with XC champ Lachowitzer
@400 – Beniak (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) … 70.1 … Wasinger (Winona Cotter), Pesch (Plainview-Elgin Millville)
@800 – Lachowitzer (Perham) … 2:25.0 … Beniak, Wasinger
@1200 – Lachowitzer … 3:36.0 … Wasinger, Franta (LaCrescent), Beniak
@1600 – Lachowitzer … 4:47.5 … Wasinger, Franta, Beniak
@2000 – Lachowitzer … 5:59.3 … Wasinger, Franta, Bongard (Redwood Valley) 30 meters ahead of Beniak; Wasinger moves to the lead at 2200m
@2400 – Wasinger … 7:10.7 … Lachowitzer, Franta, Bongard drops to 30 meters back
@2800 – Wasinger … 8:21.6 … Lachowitzer, Franta 70 meters ahead of Bongard

Donny Wasinger (Winona Cotter) wins in 9:24.88
Kevin Lachowitzer (Perham) 2nd … 9:29.08
Dustin Franta (LaCrescent) 3rd … 9:30.41 … Bongard, Beniak, Henderson, Piepho, Tellinghuisen, Pesch, Behmer round out the top 10

Girls 4 x 400m Relay:
Heat 1 --
1st Leg -- Luverne & LCWM/Nicollet ... 60
2nd Leg -- Luverne ... 2:01
3rd Leg -- Luverne ... 3:03.6

Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet wins in 4:04.62

Heat 2 --
1st Leg -- Belle Plaine/Holy Family & Paynesville Area... 61
2nd Leg -- Belle Plaine & Paynesville ... 2:01
3rd Leg -- Pipestone ... 3:04 ... then Belle Plaine

Pipestone wins in 4:02.93

Also qualifying ... Sauk Centre, Luverne, Belle Plaine, Lake City, Esko, Paynesville Area, Blue Earth Area

Boys 4 x 400m Relay:
Heat 1 --
1st Leg -- Foley ... 51
2nd Leg -- Concordia Academy .. 1:42.5
3rd Leg -- Concordia Academy ... 2:35 .. then Foley

Concordia retakes lead from Foley to win in 3:26.48 unofficially.

Heat 2 --
1st Leg -- Pine Island ... 50.9 ... Fairmont & Morris Area
2nd Leg -- Fairmont ... 1:43.1
3rd Leg -- Fairmont & Lanesboro/Fillmore Central ... 2:36.3

Fairmont wins in 3:27 unofficially.

Also qualifying ... Lanesboro/Fillmore Central, Sauk Centre, United South Central, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, Foley, Chatfield, Morris Area

Team Scores: Through 4 events ...

Girls -- Rushford-Peterson/Houston 32, Litchfield 13, Lake Park-Audubon 12, Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson Boyd 12, Breckenridge/C-T 12, Perham 10

Boys -- Foley 12.5, Glencoe-Silver Lake 12, International Falls 12, Cotton 12, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 10, Stewartville 10

Complete Class AA Friday session results can be found HERE, on the MSHSL site.


Chris Marshall assisted with coverage.

All-time Minnesota ranking information courtesy of Bill Miles and Tim Miles, publishers of the Minnesota Boys Track and Field Annual.

MSHSL State Class AA Prelim Session Review

The Class AA prelim session -- plus selected field event finals and the finals of the 3200m runs --of the 2007 MSHSL State Championships is in the books. Scroll down to find event-by-event headlines, splits, and top results from all the day's action.

Field event results that were missing earlier and leading team scores have been added to this post.

Look for Friday Class A prelim results at 7:00 p.m.

Girls 3200m Finals: Gits wins wire-to-wire victory; Melander kicks to 2nd
@400 -- Gits … 75 then Wyfells and Hughes
@800 -- Gits … 2:31.8 … 25m back Berndt, Volz, Hughes
@1200 – Gits … 3:49.6 … 45m back Volz, Berndt, Hughes
@1600 – Gits … 5:10.0 … 115m back Berndt, Volz, Hughes
@2000 – Gits … 6:32.6 … 120m back Brase, Hughes, Volz stringing out.
@2400 – Gits … 7:56.4 … 110m back Brase, Hughes, Volz
@2800 – Gits … 9:20.1 … 110m back Hughes ahead of Melander
@3200 – Alex Gits, Edina wins in 10:44.01 … McKenzie Melander, Eastview 2nd 10:52.32 … Laura Hughes, Mankato West 3rd 10:53.41.


Boys 3200m Finals: Heath kicks to victory, Mead second, Finnerty 3rd.
@400 – Hutton … 69.4 ahead of large pack … Mead takes lead @ 600m
@800 – Mead … 2:20.2 … with Lumbar, Heath, Blankenship, Finnerty close behind.
@1200 – Mead … 3:30… Lumbar, Heath, Blankenship, Finnerty right behind.
@1600 – Mead … 4:41.2 … with Lumbar, Heath, Blankenship, Finnerty, Little … 11 in lead pack
@2000 – Mead … 5:48.4 … Mead pushing pace – 67 – Heath next, Finnerty, Lumbar
@2400 – Mead … 6:55.7 … another 67 … 6 in lead pack … Heath, Finnerty, Litle, Lumbar, Adeys … Blankenship off the back.
@2800 -- Mead …8:03.1 … by backstretch it’s down to three – Heath & Finnerty.
@3200 – Elliott Heath (Winona) kicks home in 59.4 to win in Class AA record 9:02.65, Hassan Mead (Mpls South) 2nd in 9:03.29 and Rob Finnerty (Burnsville) 3rd in 9:04.42.

Click HERE for our in-depth story about the Class AA Boys 3200 meter run.

Boys Triple Jump Finals: Otto upsets McNamara
1st – B.J. Otto, Hill Murray, 47-4 3/4
2nd – Tommy McNamara, Mounds View, 47-3 1/2
3rd – Michael Woodward, Burnsville, 45-5 1/4

Girls Long Jump Finals: Helgren wins big!
1st – Jordan Helgren, Wayzata, 18-10 1/4
2nd – Becky Theisenn, New Prague, 17-9
3rd – Kjirsten Jacobson, Eastview/Apple Valley, 17-8 1/4

Girls Discus Finals: Potter wins.
1st – Michelle Potter, Winona, 146-9
2nd – Jessica Cagle, Grand Rapids, 139-4
3rd – LaiShema Hampton, St. Louis Park, 135-0

Boys Pole Vault Finals: Kedrowski repeats
1st – Casey Kedrowski (Sauk-Rapids Rice) 14-9
2nd - Stephen Koecher (Blaine) 14-9
3rd – Bryan Atwood (Mankato East) and Zechariah Gowdy (Burnsville)14-6

Girls High Jump: Muegge wins
1st - Hanna Muegge (Hopkins) 5-5
2nd -- Lauren Young (Edina) 5-4
3rd - Katie Loberg (Princeton) 5-4

Boys Shot Put: Kleinhuizen beats defending champs Davis
1st Tyler Kleinhuizen (Forest Lake) 59-10 1/4
2nd - Trey Davis (Farmington) 59-5 3/4
3rd - Todd DeJong (Hopkins) 55-6 1/4

Girls 100m Hurdle Prelims: Kroshel leads qualifiers
Heat 1 – Skyler Kroshel (Stillwater) wins in 15.02 Emily Stalpes (Wayzata) 2nd in 15.14
Heat 2 – Kelly Stalpes (Wayzata) wins in 15.07, Woods (Blaine) 2nd in 15.24

Also qualifying …. Butler, Weber, Sawtell, Okonkwo, Fashant.


Boys 110m Hurdle Prelims: Duling the fastest qualifier in 14.69
Heat 1 – Kedrick White (Roseville) wins in 14.81
Heat 2 – Alex Bell (Rosemount) wins in 15.06
Heat 3 – Defending champ Sean Duling (Mounds View) wins in 14.69

Also qualifying … Wolf, Feuk, Stockhowe, Davis, Woitas, Wageman.


Girls 100m: Pollard second in qualifying heat.
Heat 1 – Caitlin Dhein (St. Cloud Tech) wins in 12.13
Heat 2 – Kylie Peterson (Apple Valley) wins in 12.28, defending champ Sade Pollard (Harding) 2nd in 12.37
Heat 3 –Shai Nichols (Owatonna) wins in 12.02

Also qualifying … Tanoe, Narveson, Rozman, Sschulz, Johonson.

Boys 100m: 4.1 m/p/s wind pushes Hancock t 10.67
Heat 1 – Jerrell Hancock (Anoka) wins in a windy 10.67 … defending champ Garrett Cora (Duluth East) third
Heat 2 – Sean King (Cretin) wins in 10.97

Also qualifying … Koglin, Suttle, Cora, Rancourt, Johnson, Anderson


Girls 4 x 200 Relay Prelims: Hopkins and Armstrong win heats.
Heat 1 – Hopkins wins large in 1:42.38
Heat 2 – Armstrong wins in 1:44.19

Also qualifying … Roseville, Eagan, Mankato East, Burnsville, Lakeville North, Elk River.


Boys 4 x 200 Relay Prelims: Royals and Mustangs to battle in finals.
Heat 1 – Hopkins wins in 1:29.19
Heat 2 – Mounds View wins in 1:30.82

Also qualifying … Armstrong, Burnsville, Tartan, Farmington, Burnsville, Irondale, Andover, Mankato East.


Girls 4 x 100 Relay Prelims: Mounds View and Tech lead the way.
Heat 1 – Mounds View wins in 48.82
Heat 2 – St. Cloud Tech wins in 48.80

Also qualifying … Owatonna, Maple Grove, Forrest Lake, Hopkins, Osseo, Eagan, Burnsville


Boys 4 x 100 Relay Prelims: Cretin-Derham Hall and Mounds View lead qualifiers.
Heat 1 – Cretin-Derham Hall pulls away on the anchor leg, winning in 42.96
Heat 2 – Mounds View edges Wayzata 43.56 to 43.76

Also qualifying … Hopkins, Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony, Faribault, Armstrong
Forest Lake, Andover


Girls 400m Prelims: Pollard only thrid fastest to finals.
Heat 1 – Alana Eason (Champlin Park) wins in 57.46
Heat 2 – Brooke Campbell (Lakeville North) wins in 57.43 … defending champ Sade Pollard (St. Paul Harding) a close 2nd in 57.65

Also qualifying … Dean, Buerkle, Philips, Toepfer, Ruane, Ferry


Boys 400m Prelims: Evans through to finals for title defense, Hancock fastest qualifier.
Heat 1 – Defending champ Quinn Evans (Mounds View) wins in 49.15
Heat 2 – Jarrell Hancock (Anoka) narrowly wins in 48.97
Heat 3 – Kevin Bradley (Mounds View) wins in 49.50

Also qualifying … Wiseman, Johnson, Stoks, Kessler, Shufelt, Matturi


Girls 300m Hurdles Prelims: King and Severson lead the way.
Heat 1 – Kelsey King (Burnsville) wins in 45.05
Heat 2 – Jenna Severson (Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony) wins in 44.84

Also qualifying … Butler, Simmons, Edmunds, Smith, Lieder, Kuebler, Thelen


Boys 300m Intermediate Hurdles Prelims:
Heat 1 – Nicholas Dalske (Coon Rapids) wins in 38.62
Heat 2 – Mosic Greenprice (Buffalo) wins in 38.63

Also qualifying … Duling, Wageman, Weeks, Griswold, Stockhowe, Rondeau, Washington


Girls 800m Prelims: Smith leads finalists at 2;12.47
Heat 1 –
@200 – DeGiro (Grand Rapids) in 31
@400 – DeGiro in 64.7

Megan Smith (Eden Prairie) wins in 2:12.47.

Heat 2 –
@200 – Senf (Woodbury) in 29.9
@400 – Ferguson (Eastview) in 62.7
@600 – Senf in 1:38.7

Sarah Schellinger (Sartell-St. Stephen) wins in 2:14.89.


Boys 800m Prelims: Richardson qualifies with #6 all-time 1:51.60
Heat 1 –
@200 – Schelendich … 28.9
@400 -- Schelendich … 55.9
@600 – Pachuta … 1:25.2

Zach Mellon (Bufalo) wins in 1:53.44, David Pachuta (Eastview) 2nd in 1:53.96

Heat 2 –
@200 – Vaith … 27.2
@400 – Vaith … 56.1
@600 – Yusuf … 1:26.1

Nicholas Hutton crosses the line first but is DQ for interference Obai Hussein (Rosemount) wins in 1:55.18. Defending champ Isaac Veldkamp (Eden Prairie) 2nd in 1:55.22.

Heat 3 –
@200 – Richarson … 27.1
@400 – Richardson … 53.9
@600 – Richardson …1:23.0

Andy Richardson wins in 1:51.60, the 5th fastest HS 800m all-time in Minnesota history, Carlson 2nd in 1:53.88, Stublaski struggles to 3rd in 1:55.18

Also qualifying … Schelendich and King.

Girls 200m Prelims: Pollard wins heat, leads qualifiers.
Heat 1 – Antionnette Goodman (Burnsville) wins in 25.03
Heat 2 – Defending champ Sade Pollard (St. Paul Harding) wins in 24.74
Heat 3 – Jada Narveson (Lakeville South) wins in 25.13

Also qualifying … Erickson, Buerkle, Johnson, Kuplic, Schulz, Rozman

Boys 200m Prelims: Otto and Hancock to duel in finals.
Heat 1 – Jarrell Hancock (Anoka) wins in 21.55
Heat 2 – B.J. Otto (Hill Murray) wins in 21.42

Also qualifying … King, Keaton, Suttle, Rancourt, Anderson, Henderson, Key

Girls 4 x 400 Relay Prelims: Hopkins qualifies fastest.
Heat 1 –
@400 – Hopkins … 60 … Champlin Park close 2nd
@800 – Lakeville North … 1:59
@1200 – Lkeville North … 2:58 … followed closely by Hopkins

Hopkins moves to the lead with 300 to go, winning in 3:56.47

Heat 2 –
@400 – St. Cloud Tech, Wayzata and Mounds View hand off simultaneously … 60
@800 – Mounds View … 1:59 … followed by Wayzata and St. Cloud Tech
@1200 – Wayzata … 2:59

St. Cloud Tech holds off Mounds View to win in 3:58.19

Also qualifying … Lakeville North, Mounds View, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Wayzata, New Prague, Grand Rapids

Boys 4 x 400m Relay:
Heat 1 --
@400 – Hopkins & Tartan ... 50
@800 – Hopkins ... 1:41 ... Tartan
@1200 – Hopkins ... 2:33 ... Tonka and Rosemount 15m back

Hopkins wins in 3;24.81

Heat 2 --
@400 – Buffalo ... 50
@800 – Cooper ... 1:40 ... Buffalo and Hastings 10m back
@1200 -- Cooper ... 2:33

Cooper wins 3:23.13

Also qualifying ... Buffalo, Elk River, Mounds View, Hastings, Rosemount, Minnetonka, Tartan.


Team Scoring: Through four events ...

Boys -- Burnsville 24, Forest Lake 16, Hill-Murray 12, Winona 12, Sauk Rapids-Rice 12

Girls -- Edina 22, Eastview 18, Hopkins 17, Grand Rapids 12, Winona 12, Wayzata 12


Complete Class AA Friday session results can be found HERE, on the MSHSL site.


Chris Marshall assisted with coverage.

All-time Minnesota ranking information courtesy of Bill Miles and Tim Miles, publishers of the Minnesota Boys Track and Field Annual.

Heath Defends 3200 Title with a Kick and a Record; Mead 2nd, Finnerty 3rd

Despite an honest wind blowing up the back-stretch, despite a slow opening mile – for guys that can run 9-flat, that is – and despite the pressure that attends the State Meet, the most anticipated event of the 2007 MSHSL State Championship did not disappoint.

Under a cloudless sky and in cool temperatures, Winona’s Elliott Heath defended his Class AA 3200 meter title in Class AA record time by dodging the wind, biding his time, and out-kicking pacesetter and 2006 Class AA Cross Country champ Hassan Mead of Minneapolis South and 2005 Class AA 3200m champ Rob Finnerty over the last 100 meters.

Heath stopped the clock at 9:02.65. Mead timed 9:03.29; Finnerty ran 9:04.42.

All three marks rank in the top-10 all-time for Minnesota preps. Heath's 8:57.65 last week in the Section 1AA meet ranks him #3 all-time behind Mike Torchia of Rochester Lourdes (8:47.46) and Nick Schneider of Benilde-St. Margaret's (8:53.03.)

Only Torchia’s Class A-winning time of 8:59.19 last year ranks above Heath’s mark at a State Meet for 3200m. (Dennis Fee of White Bear Lake, however, did run 9:02.7 for two miles at the State Meet in 1972.)

“I felt pretty relaxed,” Heath said afterwards. “Coach was telling me just stay relaxed and wait for the race to unfold. Everyone’s hurting by [200 meters to go]; I felt like I had like an extra gear in my legs. A lot of times in these big races you have to be able to kick."

After a brief opening turn at the front by Mike Hutton of Apple Valley, the lanky Mead took the lead and ended up dictating the pace of the race until the homestretch. He led the large, well-decorated group of distance runners – perhaps the deepest ever assembled at a State Meet – through 400 meters in 69.4 and 800 in 2:20.2. The Gopher-to-be continued at a 70-second clip through a 1600 split of 4:41.2, before turning up the heat on the field.

Mead didn’t plan to set the pace, but got stuck out front once he took the lead.

“The plan was to just try to get the lead that last four laps,” he said. “It didn’t work because it turned out I was in the lead with a lap to go."

After the half-way mark, Mead accelerated to 67s – hitting the two kilometer mark in 5:48.4 and 2400 meters in 6:55.7. After that sixth lap, the lead pack had been winnowed to six contenders – Mead, Heath, Finnerty, Eden Prairie’s Ryan Little, Edina’s T.C. Lumbar, and Willmar’s Kaafi Adeys. Defending Class AA 1600 meter champ Ben Blankenship of Stillwater was surprisingly unable to keep contact.

“I just wanted to push the race and see what everybody had at the end,” Mead said of his second-half drive. “It was pretty slow, and that last mile was to push and go hard. I saw the saddles on these guys so I thought I should go faster."

After Mead turned a third 67, only three runners were in contention for the win – the race-long leader Mead, Finnerty right behind him, and Heath, with both of his challengers in front of him, in third.

Down the final backstretch, Finnerty and Heath continued to follow Mead’s accelerating pace. Half-way through the Snelling Avenue turn of the Hamline track the order remained same, but eying the homestretch, Heath moved wide to prepare for his final charge.

Heath’s move immediately left Finnerty adrift in third. The Stanford-bound Heath only gradually pulled away from Mead through the straightaway, finishing his last lap in 59.4.

He ran his final 1600 in roughly 4:21.

Heath joins his older brother Garrett as a two-time MSHSL 3200m champ. Garrett won Class AA titles in the event in 2003 and 2004. He was the 1600m champ those years as well.

Heath’s win over Mead, Finnerty, and Lumbar, who finished 4th in 9:09.93, redeems an earlier defeat to that same threesome on the same track at the Hamline Elite-Meet. There, on a cool, calm April night, Finnerty led early and ultimately out-kicked the competition to win in 9:04.55. Mead was second in 9:06.07; Lumbar was third in 9:06.69. Heath could only manage 9:07.94 for fourth.

“When we raced here at the Elite-Meet it was pretty much the same guys.” Heath said. “In that race we went out in like 4:27 or something like that. The wind today kind of made people a little more hesitant to go out and try to really push the pace."

Finnerty, in the aftermath, would have preferred a faster pace and a longer kick.

“Before the race I wanted to go out in like a 4:30 for the first mile,” the champion in the event as a freshman in 2005 said. “When it came down to it, I really didn’t feel good during the race, I was happy with the slow time [for the first 1600.] I was looking for a more drawn out kick. When it came down to it I just decided I’d roll with the punches and see what happened and how it turned out at the end of the race."

Lumbar, the least-speedy of the contenders was disappointed by the slow pace.

“I would have liked a little quicker,” he admitted. “Right after the first 100 meters you could tell the wind was going to be pretty bad, and it felt a lot like last year again where a kind of wind tunnel thing going on. What I liked about Hamline [Elite-Meet] was we went out at a good pace and it stayed or at least it felt pretty even and I guess I would have preferred that."

“Hassan did a good job of keeping it honest that last mile or so, so it turned out alright I guess,“ he added. “Expecting it to go out a little harder I was thinking I didn’t want to get into anything too crazy but at that point just knowing that the wind was as tough as it was, I felt bad having Hassan lead it the whole first part, but I knew I didn’t want to be leading it too much early on."

Just as Heath found redemption in his win today, those he vanquished over 3200 meters need only wait until the Class AA 1600 meter race tomorrow for a rematch.


Chris Marshall assisted with the reporting of this story.

All-time Minnesota ranking information comes courtesy of Bill Miles and Tim Miles.

Photos, courtesy of Gene Niemi, [top] Mead of South leads (left-to-right) Lumbar, Little, Finnerty, & Heath, [bottom] Heath (l) edges Mead.

MSHSL State Meet Underway!

The first starting gun is set to fire shortly at the MSHSL State Track & Field Championships at Hamline University's Klas Field in St. Paul. Down the Backstretch will post re-caps of all of the day's Class AA and Class A action as soon as each respective session ends.

Minutes before the start of the 3200 meter runs that open today's Class AA competition, the temperature is 58 degrees and there's a 15 mile per hour wind blowing from the west-northwest -- up the backstretch, that is.

Expect to find our Friday Class AA coverage posted here at 1:45 p.m.

We should have our Class AA coverage on-line by 7:00 p.m.

Remember, we'll be broadcasting live during Saturday morning's Class AA session. Event-by-event "WDTB Ticker" coverage begins at 8:45 a.m. We hope to have video from every Class AA running event posted for viewing starting at 2:00 p.m.

For the Class A session on Saturday evening, we'll post a re-cap at 7:00 p.m.

DtB looks forward to enjoying the 2007 MSHSL State Meet with you!

Dorniden, Radocaj Advance at NCAAs

We at DtB are heading up the road to the MSHSL State Meet, so we're short on time to write about the Gophers at NCAAs ...

You can find a women's update HERE, courtesy of the Gopher media crew.

The men's update from NCAAs is HERE.

Full NCAA results are available HERE.

In a nutshell, Heather Dorniden and Ruby Radocaj advanced to finals in the 800 meters and javelin throw, respectively, for the Gopher women. Adam Schnaible missed the finals in the shot put by a single place and Antonio Vega finished 22nd in the 10,000 meters, for the men.

The Chris Lists -- Pre-State Edition

On the eve of the MSHSL State Meet, it's time to turn the focus back on the high schoolers ...

DtB's names-and-numbers man Chris Marshall has updated his performance lists for the boys' distance events after last weekend's hot sectional action. New marks since the last iteration of the Chris Lists are in bold.

Remember, you can keep abreast of State Meet action right here on DtB...

800m
Andy Richardson Irondale 1:53.48 North Suburban Conference
Nick Hutton Apple Valley 1:54.09 Section 6AA
Zach Mellon Buffalo 1:54.15 Section 2AA
Mike Shelendich Mounds View 1:54.37 Section 4AA
Isaac Veldkamp Eden Prairie 1:54.41 Section 6AA
David Pachuta Eastview 1:54.54 UST Invite
Ben Blankenship Stillwater 1:54.58 Bob Stewart Invite
Jordan Carlson Rosemount 1:54.80 3AAATT
Mike Mueller Hopkins 1:54.99 Section 6AA
Nick Ranberg North Branch 1:55.08 North Suburban Conference
(10)
Jon Stublaski Henry Sibley 1:55.11 Section 3AA
Alex Wrobel Mounds View 1:55.50 Section 4AA
Mustafa Yusuf Willmar 1:55.49 Section 2AA
Robel Kebede Minneapolis South 1:55.68 Section 5AA
Obai Hussein Rosemount 1:55.86 Section 1AA
Jordan Carlson Rosemount 1:56.03 Section 1AA
Abdi Mohamed Eden Prairie 1:56.10 Section 6AA
Ben Garbers North 1:56.23 Section 4AA
Tom Hoffman Mahtomedi 1:56.24 Section 4AA
Tyler King Lakeville North 1:56.56 Section 1AA
(20)
Kevid Bradley Mounds View 1:56.70 SEC Conference
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 1:56.86 Central Lakes Conference
Rob Finnerty Burnsville 1:57.18 Carleton
Ian Campbell Bloomington Prairie 1:57.26 Hamline Elite
Anthony Held Elk River 1:57.41 Section 7AA
Doug Debold Hopkins 1:57.42 State TT
John Vaith Hastings 1:57.86 Section 3AA
Evan Kearney Mlps. South 1:57.87 6AAATT
Harun Abda Fridley 1:57.89 Section 5AA
Mitch Lorenz Brainerd 1:57.91 Section 8AA
(30)
Tom Burke Edina 1:57.95 EP Booster
Paul Hilsen Lakeville South 1:57.8* Rosemount Tri
Sam Shidla Mound-Westonka 1:57.9* Mound-Westonka
Dominick Rosario Edina 1:58.54 Section 6AA

1600m
Elliott Heath Winona 4:10.27 1AAATT
Rob Finnerty Burnsville 4:10.45 Section 6AA
Ryan Little Eden Prairie 4:13.54 Section 6AA
Paul Hilsen Lakeville South 4:13.61 1AAATT
Ben Blankenship Stillwater 4:13.72 Section 3AA
TC Lumbar Edina 4:13.98 Section 6AA
Jordan Carlson Rosemount 4:14.98 State TT
Tom Burke Edina 4:15.44 7AAATT
Andy Richardson Irondale 4:15.80 6AAATT
Doug Debold Hopkins 4:16.70 Section 6AA
(10)
Matt Yak Northfield 4:16.85 1AAATT
Tyler King Lakeville North 4:17.25 Section 1AA
Hassan Mead Mlps. South 4:17.36 6AAATT
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 4:17.64 Section 6AA
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 4:17.9* STMA
Zach Mellon Buffalo 4:19.05 State TT
Mike Hutton Apple Valley 4:19.41 Lake Conference Relays
Jon Stublaski Henry Sibley 4:20.02 Hamline Elite
Travis Burkstrand Eastview 4:20.37 Lake Conference
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 4:21.58 Lake Conference
(20)
Pieter Gagnon Minneapolis Washburn 4:21.76 Section 5AA
Harry Backlund Highland Park 4:22.24
Nick Saucedo Henry Sibley 4:22.25 Section 3AA
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 4:22.34 Lake Conf. Relays
TC Lumbar Edina 4:22.52 7AAATT
Mahad Hassan Willmar 4:22.69 Eden Prairie Booster
Mike Schelendich Mounds View 4:22.88 6AAATT
Matt Volz Lakeville South 4:22.99 1AAATT

3200m
Elliott Heath Winona 8:57.65 Section 1AA
Rob Finnerty Burnsville 9:04.55 Hamline Elite
Hassan Mead Mlps South 9:06.07 Hamline Elite
TC Lumbar Edina 9:06.69 Hamline Elite
Tom Burke Edina 9:11.36 Section 6AA
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 9:13.00 Section 6AA
Ben Blankenship Stillwater 9:15.46 Lakeville Invite
Ryan Little Eden Prairie 9:15.85 Carleton
Matt Yak Northfield 9:18.90 1AAATT
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 9:19.55 Section 2AA
(10)
Mike Hutton Apple Valley 9:22.05 Section 6AA
Jon Stublaski Henry Sibley 9:23.71 2AAATT
Andrew Quinn BSM 9:26.79 Hamline Elite
Mahad Hassan Willmar 9:29.96 Central Lakes Conference
Pieter Gagnon Minneapolis Washburn 9:31.15 Section 5AA
Travis Burkstrand Eastview 9:32.53 Lake Conference
Jackson Wiley Eden Prairie 9:34.31 State TT
Mohammed Bedel Willmar 9:35.21 Section 2AA
Jon Lambert Wayzata 9:39.26 Hamline Elite
Danny Docherty Cretin-Derham Hall 9:39.41 SEC Conference
(20)
Kaafi Adeys Willmar 9:39.59 EP Booster
Mike Howard North 9:40.91 Section 4AA
Wade Hassel Mounds View 9:41.10 Hamline Elite
Tyler King Lakeville North 9:41.39 Lake Conference