The Lakeville North Mega Meet again proved to be one of the top meets of the high school season with 24 National Milesplit Elite performances, showcased in front of an announced crowd of 1,500. The Lakeville North Mega Meet is known for treating student-athletes well and this year they added the large professional scoreboard showing the results of all races immediately after completion. Add the race announcer who does a fantastic job of introducing all competitors and calling the race and you have the feel of a national elite meet with a Minnesota flavor!
The Chanhassen 4 x 800 guys relay team (Austin Miller, Kieran Kelly, Spencer Mertes, and Alec Olson) set the tone for the meet by running a fast 8:07.26 (national elite performance) followed by perennial Class A 4 x 800 power Minnehaha Academy at 8:17.06 and Chaska at 8:17.23. All three teams appear to be on track for a Hamline Elite appearance, as one of the main themes of the night was athletes and relays attempting to post times and marks to qualify for the Hamline Elite meet next Friday. The Prior Lake 4 x 800 gals relay team showed why they are the team to beat in the 4 x 800 this season running an easy 9:43.35 (national elite performance, 10 seconds slower than their season best) followed by Mounds View at 9:58.
Of the 24 national elite performances, 10 were posted in the gals discus, shot, and pole vault. Emma Erickson of Lakeville North swept the throws with a shot of 38-10.75 and a discus of 129-8 (after being in third place after the preliminaries). Kasie Vollmer of Prior Lake finished second in the discus with a throw of 128-11 and third in the shot 38-6.75. Delaney Miller of Lakeville North finished third in the discus 122-5 and fourth in the shot 37-5; and Mickel Dunbar of Prior Lake finished second in the shot 38-6.75 to round out the national elite performances. In the gals pole vault, three competitors cleared 10-6, Carolyn Nye of The Blake School, Paige Clements of Mounds View, and Riley Claude of River Falls. Freshman Carolyn Nye scored in four events on the night (triple jump, pole vault, 100H, and 300H) and while running the 300 hurdles the pole vault bar moved from 10-6 to 11-7 and Carolyn just missed clearing on all attempts at 11-7 (her only misses of the night).
On the guys field side, the national elite and meet winning performances were set by Auggie Pupungatoa of River Falls (discus 153-11), Tiano Pupungatoa of River Falls (shot 52-5), and Grant Krieger of the Blake School with a vault of 14-7. Eddie Clifton of Buffalo cleared 14 in the pole vault posting a national elite mark.
On the track, Brandon Clark of the Blake School comfortably won the 1600 by running a 4:23.69 edging perhaps the surprise runner of the meet Dustin Johantgen of Maple Grove with a national elite time of 4:24.91. Dustin won the 800 two hours later in perhaps the deepest field of the night running a 1:58.99. The other two national elite performances were in the 300 meter hurdles, with Angus Stoudt of Minnetonka running the fastest time in the State so far this year at 38.80 edging his teammate Rashad Cohen with a time of 39.50.
Taylor Scholl of Prior Lake won the 800 with a time of 2:17.25 edging Stephanie Knight of Orono with a national elite time of 2:19.82. Two hours earlier, Taylor Scholl finished second to Clare Flanagan of the Blake School in the 1600, as Clare set the fastest time in the State with a time of 5:02.90 followed by Taylor with her second national elite time of 5:05.70.
The Lakeville Mega Meet also has one of the State's best track traditions, as they award a high tech shirt to all student-athletes that finish in the top three in their respective events (including relays). The race for third is just as exciting as the race for first. The gals event winners not mentioned above include Angie Anyaogu of Lakeville North (100), McKenna Krause of Chanhasssen (200), Madison Lesmeister of Prior Lake (400), Anastasia Korzenowski of Chanhassen (3200), Lauren Bruha of Prior Lake (100H and 300H), Max Leake of Lakeville North (HJ), Megan Andre of Prior Lake (LJ), and Hudson Van Slooten of The Blake School (TJ). The gals Chanhassen 4 x 100 relay prevented Prior Lake from sweeping all relays as Prior Lake won the 4 x 200, 4 x 400, and 4 x 800.
The guys event winners not mentioned above include Brandon Bell of Bloomington Kennedy (100), Cole Boughner of Anoka (200), Tyler Olson of Buffalo (400), Jan Ketterson of Bloomington Jefferson (3200), Stewart Heltemes of Anoka (110H), Jamie Crum of Minnetonka (HJ), Maverick Edmunds of Chanhassen (LJ), and Ky'Eric Baynes of Anoka (TJ). The sprint relays were won by Lakeville North (4 x 100), Anoka (4 x 200), and Minnetonka (4 x 400 with a very fast 3:25.04 mark).
The team champions were Prior Lake for the gals and Minnetonka for the guys.