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Welcome to week three of the Fabulous Five!!
The Fabulous Five highlights five individuals each week of the 2023 Minnesota outdoor track and field season that stood out to us from the previous weeks' track and field meets.
Related: Week 1 Fabulous Five | Week 2 Fabulous Five
The purpose of these five performances isn't to highlight state records or only top-ten performances. It's to highlight performances from across Minnesota that stood out in recent meet results. Any kind of result/performance is applicable.
Note: This is not a ranking of the five best performances of the week. This is a feature of five outstanding performances of our choice. There were many fantastic performances that were not highlighted in this feature.
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Laura McClary Runs Impressive 1600m
Laura McClary a sophomore at Saint Paul Central had a big week last week in the 1600m with a first place finish at the Roseville Invitational with a time of 5:04.53 and a 7th-place finish at the Hamline Elite Meet with a time of 5:03.03.
Going into last week, McClary had a personal best time of 5:19.21 in the 1600m from earlier in April. Within about two weeks time she dropped her PR by an incredible 16 seconds to now rank as one of the top 1600m runners in Minnesota and in her class.
McClary now ranks #7 in Minnesota overall for the 1600m, #2 in her class only behind Sydney Drevlow, and #68 in her class nationally.
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Sam Snitker Breaks Record in First-Ever Track Meet
Sam Snitker a junior for GMLOKs competed in his first-ever track and field meet at the 2023 GMLOKs Varsity Invite at Grand Meadow High School where he won the boy's high jump with a mark of 6' 0".
His mark of 6' 0" beats out the previous school record of 5' 10" set by Riley Olson in 2018.
GMLOKs Top High Jump Marks All-Time
| Rank | Athlete | Mark | Year |
| 1 | Sam Snitker | 6' 0" | 2023 |
| 2 | Riley Olson | 5' 10" | 2018 |
| T-3 | Drew Lewison | 5' 8" | 2017 |
| T-3 | Zachary Hauser | 5' 8" | 2019 |
The GMLOKs program was established in 2015, marks from before from any of the member schools were omitted.
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Linnea Ousdigian Breaks 11:00 in the 3200m
Linnea Ousdigian one of the breakout stars of last falls cross country season, ran in the 3200m at the Hamline Elite Meet and finished 4th overall with a time of 10:48.92. With her performance at Hamline, she became the 14th Minnesota 8th-grader to break the 11 minute barrier in the 3200m.
She now ranks fifth for Minnesota 8th-grade girls all-time in the 3200m, behind a a trio of state champions and former Breck standout Morgan Richter.
| RANK | TIME | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATE PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10:26.19 | Farmington High School | 2021 | |
| 2 | 10:32.04 | Cotter Schools | 2023 | |
| 3 | 10:38.01 | Breck School | 2020 | Hamline Elite Meet 3rd F |
| 4 | 10:47.09 | Minneapolis Washburn High School | 2019 | |
| 5 | 10:48.92 | Mounds View High School | 2027 | Hamline Elite Meet 4th F |
At the 2023 Hamline Elite Meet, Ousdigian tied with Lauren Lansing for the highest finish in any race by a middle-school athlete.
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Ethan Novak Flys High at Hamline
Ethan Novak a senior at Foley High School, was the first Foley boy to compete at the Hamline Elite Meet in five years and boy did he put on a show. Foley finished 5th overall with a jump of 13' 10". Novak came into the meet tied for the final qualifying spots with a seed of 13' 0" and outjumped his seed my about 8 spots.
Novak now ranks tied for 6th in Minnesota this season for the pole vault and ranks #4 in Foley school history behind Jason Beutz (15' 04"), William Brenny (14' 03"), and Steven Lewis (14' 00").
Novak came into the season with an outdoor personal best of 11' 9" from 2022 and now has increased his PR by 2' 1", which is the 10th biggest year-over-year improvement for the boy's pole vault in Minnesota 2022-2023.
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Abby Downin
Edina freshman Abby Downin became just the second Edina girls individual to win a Hamline Elite Meet title with her 800m win with a time of 2:15.12. Downin was just able to beat out Calia Chaney (2:15.29) and Taylor Heimerl (2:15.29) in a hotly contested race.
The only other individual girl from Edina to win a Hamline Elite Meet title was Emily Kompelien in 2018 when she won the 800m race.
Edina Hamline Elite Meet Girls Wins
| Athlete(s) | Event | Time/Mark | Year |
| Abby Downin | 800m | 2:15.12 | 2023 |
| Molly Bennett, Elsa Utoft, Grace Pohlidal, and Abby Downin | 4x400m | 3:56.11 | 2023 |
| Emily Kompelien | 800m | 2:12.79 | 2018 |
| Emily Kompelien, Maria Rickman, Amanda Mosborg, and Tate Sweeney | 4x800m | 9:13.33 | 2016 |
On top of the 800m, Downin was also a part of the Edina girls champion 4x400m team that a new meet record and Minnesota #1 time.
With her Hamline Elite Meet title as a freshman, Downin became the 12th freshman girl to win at Hamline. Both Downin and Samantha Carr became the first freshman girls to win at Hamline since Sydney Drevlow last year, but before that Olivia O'Brien in 2015.
Downin is only the second freshman girl to win the 800m alongside Tess Misgen who did it in 2014.