Senior Stars: 5 MN Senior Girls Who Shined in High School

Jul 21, 2023

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Minnesota's Class of 2023 was filled with record-breaking athletes, state champions, state record holders, national standouts and so much more!

Here we look at five Minnesota girls from the Class of 2023 who stood out the most among their class and look at their high school accomplishments.

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Related: Vote for the Minnesota Girl's Track and Field Athlete of the Year

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Abbey Nechanicky

Nechanicky graduates this year as arguably the greatest girl's distance runner Minnesota has ever seen. She graduates holding the #2 times all-time for the 1600m & 3200m, the #2 5K time for cross country all-time, and was a part of Wayzata's state record holding 4x800m team.

Abbey Nechanicky PRs (* Denotes Converted Time)

Event	Time	All-Time Rank	Year
1600m	4:43.99*	2nd	2023
1-Mile	4:45.65	2nd	2023
3200m	10:05.74	2nd	2023
2-Mile	10:09.27	2nd	2023
5K (XC)	16:43.70	2nd	2022

For her cross country career Nechanicky has:

Won the 2022 Minnesota Class AAA XC individual title

Led the Wayzata girls to the 2023 Minnesota Class AAA State Team Title

Helped lead the 2018 Wayzata girls to a 3rd place finish at Nike Cross Nationals

Finished 4th individually at the 2022 Nike Cross Nationals

Finished 4th in the 2023 U20 USATF National Cross Country Championships

Won the 2022 Nike Heartland title, setting a meet record time of 16:44.70

Owns Six of the Top-Ten Minnesota Girls 5K times All-Time

Moving to the track, Nechanicky owns some of the fastest times in state history as previously mentioned. She also owns the Minnesota Indoor records for the 1-mile, 3000m, and 2-mile. This indoor season, she finished 5th in both the mile at Nike Indoor Nationals and 2-mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor, running the #2 times all-time for Minnesota in both events. In 2022, she finished 3rd at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in the 2-mile, running a time of 10:10.07.

Nechanicky may have won only two individual state titles overall, but with her body of work, the times she has run, and her national results; she has a case as the best distance runner Minnesota to ever come out of Minnesota.

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Jordyn Borsch

Borsch graduates as one of the most complete sprinters in Minnesota state history, owning top times all-time in the 100m, 200m, and 400m; with her 400m time being a Minnesota state record.

Jordyn Borsch PRs

Event	Time	All-Time MN Rank	Year
100m	11.78	8th	2022
200m	24.33	12th	2023
400m	53.47	1st	2023

If you expand that to include all-conditions time where she ran faster with the wind, Borsch owns times of 11.65 in the 100m, which would be a state record, and a time of 23.70 in the 200m which would rank #2 all-time in Minnesota.

Over the past two seasons (2022+2023), Borsch has won 39 finals in the 100m/200m/400m, has won five state titles, and finished 3rd in the 200m dash final at the 2022 state meet. She also set the state meet record in the 400m in 2022 when she ran a time of 54.27.

Borsch is committed to run track and field at the University of Notre Dame next year.

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Jade Rypkema

Rypkema finished her career last month by winning the 1600m/3200m titles for Class A at State for the second year in a row. This caps off an incredible career for the Nevis senior that saw her win six state titles, qualify for state 10 times, win 11 Sections titles, and record the #3 1600m and #5 3200m times all-time for Class A.

Rypkema's six state titles make her the most successful athlete in the Minnesota Class of 2023 by the number of state titles regardless of gender:

Class of 2023 - Most Individual State Titles (T&F + XC)

Athlete	School	# of Individual State Titles
Jade Rypkema	Nevis	6
Jordyn Borsch	Maple Grove	5
Cameron Stocke	Rock Ridge	4
Hayden Bills	Rosemount	3
Jordan Hecht	Rosemount	3
Richlu Tudee	Champlin Park	3
Brandon Kampsen	Sauk Centre	3

In winning the past three 3200m titles for Class A, Rypkema became the first Class A girl to win three straight distance titles (1600m or 3200) since Julie Gifford (1600m) in 1998-2000. In the 1600m, she was the first Class A repeat champion since Kayla Huhnerkoch in 2014 and 2015.

In winning back-to-back titles in the 1600m and 3200m, Rykema became the first to accomplish that feat since Clare Flanagan in 2012 and 2013. She is also the first Minnesota girl to win three straight 3200m titles since Bria Wetch in 2004-2006.

Over the past two track seasons, Rypkema has also had great success at national level meets. In 2022, Rypkema finished 4th at NSAF Nationals in the 5K with a time of 17:07.33 and in 2023 she finished 8th in the mile and 6th in the 5K at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

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Teegan Anderson

A University of Tennessee commit, Anderson during her senior season helped lead one of the best distance squads we've ever seen from this years Wayzata girls. Individually, Anderson won the 1600m Class AAA state title, finished 2nd in the 800m at state, helped Wayzata break the girls 4x800m state record, and helped the Wayzata girls finish 2nd in the girl's 4x1-Mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor.

Anderson graduates ranking 6th in Minnesota all-time for the 800m and 18th all-time in the 1600m (not including converted 1-mile times).

MN Girls All-Time 800m Rankings

Rank	Athlete	Time	Year
1	Ruby Stauber	2:03.43	2016
2	Jeanne Kruckeberg	2:08.24	1984
3	Zoie Dundon	2:09.51	2022
4	Kaytlyn Larson	2:09.87	2015
5	Emily Kompelien	2:10.25	2018
6	Teegan Anderson	2:10.26	2023
7	Jennifer Watson	2:10.39	1991
8	Heather Dorniden	2:10.42	2005
9	Grace Weber	2:10.44	2023
10	Tess Misgen	2:10.46	2013

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Irish ️ Jordan Hecht currently in second in the discus. pic.twitter.com/LIYFDDOGyC
-- Coach Harder (@RosemountCC) June 8, 2023

Jordan Hecht

A three-time state champion thrower, Hecht graduates from a prestigious Rosemount throwing program that has produced some of Minnesota's greatest throwers. Hecht is among those great throwers winning State Titles in the discus in 2021 & 2022, and a shot put title in 2023.

Hecht holds both the Rosemount school records for the shot put and discus ranks #22 all-time in Minnesota state history for the shot put and #23 all-time in the discus.

Throughout her high school track and field career, Hecht qualified for the state meet six times in three seasons and had top-three finishes in the shot put and discus five times. The other finish was a 7th-place finish in the shot put in 2022.

Jordan Hecht State Meet Results

Event	Mark	Place	Year
Shot Put	45' 4.25"	1st	2023
Discus	140 ' 0"	3rd	2023
Shot Put	38' 4.75"	7th	2022
Discus	148' 6"	1st	2022
Shot Put	40' 11"	2nd	2021
Discus	134' 11"	1st	2021

Hecht is committed to play soccer for Army West Point.

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Lauren Ping - Honorable Mention*

Though she hasn't competed in Minnesota since the 2019 outdoor track and field season, Lauren Ping made enough of an impact during her short Minnesota high school career to warrant a mention here. During her short career with Cotter, Ping won two Class A 3200m state titles, had a runner-up finish in the 1600m in 2016, twice finished as the runner-up at the XC State Meet, and won two Hamline Elite Meet titles.

While only running in Minnesota as a middle-schooler, Ping was still able to notch times of 4:50.64 in the 1600m, 10:19.66 in the 3200m, and a 5K time of 17:07.72 for cross country. All-time for Minnesota girls those times rank #17 for the 1600m, #7 for the 3200m, and #9 for the 5K (XC).

Ping also graduates holding the Minnesota 7th-grade class records in the 1600m/3200m and the #2 times for the 8th-grade class records for the same events.

Ping graduated from Valley Christian High School in Arizona and is committed to run at Oklahoma State University where her sister Grace also runs.

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