Prep track: Sabres shoot for the trifecta

STILLWATER The slogan for Sartell is "Double Blocks Trifecta," a clever way of summing up the Sabres' goal Saturday afternoon at the state true-team track and field championships.

Sartell wants to get both its boys' and girls' teams on the blocks during the awards ceremony, which would mean top-three finishes for both. That would be the second time in school history for Sartell, which has made qualifying for state true-team a regular occurrence.

"Our goal is to make it on the blocks," said Sartell senior Katie Stuttgen, who hopes to score in the relays and the long jump, where she took first in the section meet. "Last year, our team was so young.

"This year, we have a lot of returning athletes and are hoping for a really good result again."

Last year, the girls won their sixth state true-team title and have finished second five times. They attempt to defend their state title at 3 p.m. Saturday at Stillwater Area High School.

Also competing in Class 2A girls is Rocori, which earned a wild-card berth. Each section champion qualifies, then the second-place finisher in each section is scored in a meet with all the other second-place finishers.

Rocori, which was runnerup to Sartell, won and earns its first state true-team berth since 2002.

"We felt great about our performance at Sartell (in the section meet)," Rocori head coach Jim Meyer said. "The kids were thrilled and excited about getting in.

"This is the third year in a role they've been in the wild-card hunt. This year, they finally got in."

Class A competition begins at 10 a.m. Holdingford's boys are back after taking fourth place last year.

Also competing are the Sartell boys at 3 p.m. The Sabres took second last year after earning a wild-card berth. Totino-Grace, which was in their section last year, won the state title and are formidable opponents again, Sartell head coach Jeff Kellerman said.

"Tip your hat to Totino-Grace," Kellerman said of the Eagles, who have won six straight state true-team titles. "They've got a nice run going and are going to be very, very good."

Sartell edged an excellent Foley squad to win the boys' section title. It enabled the Sabres to return to the state true-team meet for the 23rd time in 25 years.

"We're so pumped," said Sartell senior pole vaulter Trevor Nordlund. "We tried as hard as we could to give it away.

"Our 4-by-100 was DQ'd (disqualfied). And we had a no-height on the pole vault. We had a lot of obstacles and still won. We were sweating pretty good when Foley was ahead of us most of the meet. They are really good."

Foley's boys have been exceptional in the field events this year, led by Nordlund, who is trying to get back to the high school league's state meet in June. His best pole vault this season in 13 feet, 3 inches and he has a set goal of 14-4.

That would give him the school record and break the old mark of 14-3 set by his brother Tanner Nordlund in 2012. Tanner Nordlund is diving for Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay.

But now, the focus is on true-team, which is truly a passion for the Sabres.

"We're excited to be back," said Nordlund, who is headed to Bethel to continue his track and field career.

The girls edged Rocori by winning every relay event and also performing well in the field events. Stuttgen won the long jump and also ran on the winning 400 and 800 relays.

"It was awesome; Rocori has been our biggest competition," Stuttgen said. "We switched up on some races and had people running some things that they hadn't run before."

It'll take similiar efforts Saturday for a state title repeat, where Totino-Grace is expected to be strong. The Sabres' other girls' state championships are in 1992, '93, '94, '05 and '06.

Stuttgen was the Times' soccer player of the year last fall when the Sabres qualified for the state tournament. She said track has been difficult. The training schedule has been sporadic because of the poor weather.

"I've been struggling in the long jump this year," she admitted."I've been scratching a lot. That (at the true-team sectional) was only my third mark this year.

"Hopefully, I'll get more consistent."

It would be a good time. At Sartell, true-team is everything.

"Our whole track program is focuses on true-team," Stuttgen said. "We always have a countdown on the board for the day of sections."

Kellerman said he puts up a new countdown sign at the end of the season to get athletes fired up about the section meet. Now, he wants them to be excited about the opportunity for three straight top-three finishes.

"Sartell has accomplished this feat once before in school history," Kellerman said. "We had the opportunity to do this but failed."

They made it in '08 and '09, but came up short in '10. The girls have been on the blocks 14 times.

The boys' team has been on the blocks 12 times. They won the state title in 2000 and have finished second six times, including last year.

Besides Totino-Grace, Kellerman said that St. Croix Lutheran looks strong. Willmar also is good.

"We'd like to think that our group is right with them," he said.

In girls, Totino-Grace, Rocori and Detroit Lakes all look like tough teams.

"I'm excited," Stuttgen said.

State true-team participants

Here is a list of state true-team participants. Class A begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Stillwater Area High School. Class 2A begins at 3 p.m. Saturday. Class 3A competed Friday night.

Class A

Boys teams — Pine Island (Section 1), Mankato Loyola/Cleveland (2), Luverne (3), Maple Lake (4), Holdingford (5), Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (6), Moose Lake-Willow River (7), West Marshall (8), Jackson County Central (wild card)

Girls teams — Lake City (Section 1), Blue Earth (2), Luverne (3), Maple Lake (4), Osakis (5), Dillworth-Glyndon-Felton (6), Mesabi East (7), International Falls (8), Pine Island (wild card)

Class 2A

Boys teams — Plainview-Elgin-Millville (Section 1), Mankato East (2), St. Croix Lutheran (3), Totino-Grace (4), Sartell (5), Willmar (6), Cloquet (7), Detroit Lakes (8), Hutchinson (wild card)

Girls teams — Plainview-Elgin-Millville (Section 1), Mankato East (2), South St. Paul (3), Totino-Grace (4), Sartell (5), Willmar (6), North Branch (7), Detroit Lakes (8), Rocori (wild card)

Class 3A

Boys teams — Lakeville North (Section 1), Stillwater (2), Rosemount (3), Andover (4), Blaine (5), Mounds View (6), Wayzata (7), Brainerd (8), Hopkins (wild card)

Girls teams — Lakeville South (Section 1), East Ridge (2), Prior Lake (3), Anoka (4), Forest Lake (5), Mounds View (6), St. Michael-Albertville (7), Minnetonka (8), Eden Prairie (wild card)

Defending state champions

Class A

Boys – Winona Cotter.

Girls – Esko.

Class 2A

Boys – Totino-Grace.

Girls – Sartell.

Class 3A

Boys – Wayzata.

Girls – Lakeville South.

Follow Tom Elliott on Twitter @sctimestom.