Section 8-2A Track: Spuds, Cardinals capture team titles

THIEF RIVER FALLS – Moorhead’s boys and Alexandria’s girls won team championships Saturday at the Section 8-2A track and field championships.

Moorhead scored 123 points to easily beat Brainerd (96). Sartell was the top area boys team with 50 points. Alexandria’s girls had 114 points. Sartell (80) was second. Rocori (67) was third.

“Overall, there were a lot of really fine performances from our athletes,” Sartell coach Jeff Kellerman said. “We had some heartbreakers, a lot of really close thirds.”

The top two finishers in each event qualify for the state meet Friday and Saturday at Hamline University in St. Paul. Any individual or relay team that did not finish in the top two but met a qualifying standard also advances to state.

Highlights of the day happened in hurdles.

In the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, Rocori‘s Erin Huls beat Thief River Falls’ Meleah Biermaier by 8/1,000 of a second, 14.912 to 14.920.

In the 300 hurdles, Biermaier beat Huls by 1/100 of a second, 43.00 to 43.01. Moorhead’s Mallori Johnson (49.37) and St. Cloud Tech’s Miranda Simon (45.06) also qualified for state. Sartell’s Maddie Meier finished fifth in 45.84, a school record.

In the boys’ 110 hurdles, Tech’s Matt Boettcher took second by 4/1,000 of a second to Moorhead’s Matthew Bye, 15.124 to 15.128.

Boettcher took second in the 300 hurdles in 39.65. Alexandria’s Mitch Peck won in 39.48. Sartell’s Jake Lieberg was third in 39.76, a school record.

Lieberg qualified for state by taking second in the triple jump (44-3).

Other area state qualifiers, by school:

• Becker – Hannah Schmidt (pole vault).

• Little Falls – boys’ 3,200 relay, Rachelle LeBlanc (pole vault).

• Rocori – Josh Peterson (800), girls’ 1,600 relay, Ben Mackedanz (high jump).

• St. Cloud Apollo – Benjamin Miller (discus).

• Tech – girls’ 800 relay, Grace Akubue (shot put).

• Sartell — Shelby Hall (800), boys’ 400 relay, Kia Grindland (triple jump).

The first day of the competition was Wednesday in Cold Spring, with finals in the 3,200, the long jump, the girls’ discus, the boys’ shot put, the boys’ pole vault and the girls’ long jump.

• St. Cloud Tech’s Jodi Lipp won the girls’ long jump in a section record distance of 18-5½.

• Little Falls’ Trysten Ross won the shot in 55-3½. The Flyers’ Daniel Mushel took second in the pole vault (13-0).

• Becker’s Schmidt won the high jump (5-2).

Boys

Team scores – 1. Moorhead 123; 2. Brainerd 96; 3. Monticello 88.5; 4. Alexandria 69.5; 5. Sartell 50; 6. St. Cloud Tech 45; 7. Little Falls 44; 8. Bemidji 40; 9. Fergus Falls 39; 10. Rocori 29; 11. Willmar 24; 12. Detroit Lakes 20; 13. St. Cloud Apollo 16; 14. Sauk Rapids 13; 15. Thief River Falls 4; 16. Becker 1.

100 meters – 1. Brady Andersen (Moor) 10.90; 2. Grant Reuer (Brain) 11.02; 3. Sam Johnson (Mont) 11.15*.

200 – 1. S. Johnson (Mon) 22.15; 2. B. Andersen (Moor) 22.16; 3. Jade Lawrence (Moor) 22.48*.

400 – 1. Brett Lawrence (Moor) 48.59; 2. S. Johnson (Mon) 48.91.

800 – 1. Sam Carlson (Bem) 1:56.18; 2. Josh Peterson (Roc) 1:56.39.

1,600 – 1. S. Carlson (Bem) 4:6.63; 2. Connor Danielson (FF) 4:29.97.

110 hurdles – 1. Matthew Bye (Moor) 15.124; 2. Matt Boettcher (Tech) 15.128.

300 hurdles – 1. Mitch Peck (Alex) 39.48; 2. Boettcher (Tech) 39.65.

400 relay – 1. Brainerd 43.50; 2. Sartell 44.01.

800 relay – 1. Moorhead 1:30.84; 2. Brainerd 1:31.45.

1,600 relay – 1. Moorhead 3:25.74; 2. Brainerd 3:27.12.

3,200 relay – 1.Moorhead 8:05.44; 2. Little Falls 8:05.93.

High jump – 1. Lowell Laudert (Mont) 6-1; 2. Sam Mackedanz (Roc) 6-1.

Triple jump – 1. Cole Smith (Brain) 45-2; 2. Jake Lieberg (Sar) 44-3.

Discus – 1. Jake Olson (Mont) 159-9; 2. Benjamin Miller (Apollo) 158-7.

Girls

Team scores – 1. Alexandria 114; 2. Sartell 80; 3. Rocori 67; 4.Detroit Lakes 56; 5. Moorhead 54.5; 6. Bemidji 51; 7. Tech 48; 8. Monticello 44; 9. Thief River Falls 36; 10. Willmar 35; 11.Brainerd 32.50; 12. Little Falls 30; 13. Fergus Falls 20; 14. Becker 18; 15. Apollo 12; 16. Sauk Rapids 3.

100 – 1. Wensla Johnson (Alex) 12.14; 2. Madelyn Urman (Alex) 12.47.

200 – 1. W. Johnson (Alex) 25.21; 2. Urman (Alex) 25.62; 3. Lindsey Heinecke (DL) 25.65*.

400 – 1. Sophie Schmitz (Wil) 58.49; 2. Elen Maea Wall (Bemidji) 58.78

800 – 1. Avery Selberg (Moor) 2:15.87; 2. Shelby Hall (Sartell) 2:19.67.

1,600 – 1. Bethany Hasz (Alex) 4:56.10; 2. Megan Hasz (Alex) 4:56.17; 3. Jenna Truedson (Bem) 4:58.30*.

100 hurdles – 1. Erin Huls (Roc) 14.912; 2. Meleah Biermaier (TRF) 14.920

300 hurdles – 1. Beiermaier (TRF) 43.00; 2. Huls (Roc) 43.01; 3. Mallori Johnson (Moor) 43.97*; 4. Miranda Simon (Tech) 45.06*.

400 relay – 1. Alexandria 48.74; 2. Detroit Lakes 50.27.

800 relay – 1. Detroit Lakes 1:45.45; 2. Tech 1:46.08.

1,600 relay – 1. Rocori 4:01.86; 2. Bemidji 4:02.51.

3,200 relay – 1. Moorhead 9:21.40; 2. Monticello 9:30.66.

Pole vault – 1. Rachelle LeBlanc (LF) 10-1; 2. Hannah Schmidt (Becker) 9-7.

Triple jump – 1. Karly Betterman (Alex) 36-2.75; 2. Brianna Rasmusso (FF) 35-7.

Shot put – 1. Shay Nielsen (DL) 42-2; 2. Grace Akubue (Tech) 38-0.5.

* Denotes met state qualifying standard.