Chanhassen's Caldwell wins two sprints at Hamline Elite meet

Chanhassen sprinter Jedah Caldwell reminded herself of the fast company in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at Friday's Hamline Elite Meet.

"There's great talent in Minnesota; the girls are very fast," Caldwell said, ignoring her well-earned place among them on purpose.

"I like to get the adrenaline pumping so I play mind games with myself."

Whatever works. Caldwell, a junior, won the 100 and 200, the latter a repeat of last season's victory. A year ago she ran for Centennial. New team, similar results.

She edged out defending Class 2A state champion Brieasha Hunter of Cretin-Derham Hall in the 100 in 12.17 seconds. Caldwell ran 25.76 in the 200.

Unhappy trails

St. Croix Lutheran senior Jon Tollefson appeared to sweep the 110 and 300 hurdles events, a feat he accomplished the past two years at the Class 1A state meet.

However, a trail leg violation later cost him the 300 hurdles title, the second of his two events. Experimenting with his lead leg might have cost Tollefson, who was disqualified after he enjoyed a winner's spoils of giving a live infield interview and throwing a T-shirt into the crowd.

"The nice thing about it is this happened here and not the state meet," meet director Paul Schmaedeke said.

Tollefson's 110 hurdles victory earlier in the meet, in a meet record of 14.16 seconds, bested a Class 2A-heavy field.

"I'm so excited to come here because being from a small school, if you win state some people say, 'If you were in 2A you wouldn't have won,' " Tollefson said.

Soggy anniversary

The Elite Meet marked its 10th anniversary this spring, a milestone greeted with cold temperatures, gusty winds and intermittent rainfall.

The pole vault and high jump were moved to the fieldhouse. Discus throwers struggled. One discus flew off course into the crowd, made up of many folks holding umbrellas and sporting stocking hats. The wet track did not prevent five meet records from being set and another tied.

Blaine senior Alexandra Williams set a 100 hurdles record. Her time of 14.542 seconds edged East Ridge's Karina Joiner by .006 of a second.

The victory was sweet for Williams, who suffered a fall at the state meet last spring en route to an eighth-place finish.

"Usually on rainy days like this I feel like I almost do better because I'm working harder to keep my body warm and ready to go," Williams said.

Comeback for sprinter

Injuries wiped out the past two track and field seasons for Blaine senior Taylor Morgan, discouraging but no match for her competitive fire.

Morgan ran the anchor leg as Blaine won the 4x200 relay.

"This 4x200 team is full of competitors," said Morgan, daughter of Gophers women's track and field coach Matt Bingle. "We all want the same thing."

Morgan won the 100 at the Elite Meet as a freshman.

"All last year I was working hard to be ready for track season, but it was impossible," she said. "And that really broke my heart because I love being a part of the Blaine team."

Noteworthy

Lakeville South's Caraline Slattery and North St. Paul's Akeem Sirleaf each won individual events and anchored first-place relays. Slattery won the 300 hurdles, Sirleaf the 200. … Anoka's Ky'eric Baynes (triple jump), Kasson-Mantorville's Taylor Wiebke (high jump) and Eastview's Natalie Manders (discus) were repeat champions.