•  Minnewaska boys win five titles and girls earn two championships

The Minnewaska Area track and field teams had a great day at the sub-section meet, Thursday, and proved that track and field meets can be decided by the narrowest margins in the process.

The Laker girls team continued its strong season with the team title in the 11-team field, while the boys team also earned the sub-section championship, edging runner-up Pelican Rapids by a half-point and third-place Osakis by two points.

Yes, that’s right, the team title was decided by a half point, possibly the point earned by Jacob Mrnak in the 400 meter dash.    Mrnak ran a time of 57.77 to earn eighth place and one point for his team.  He edged the ninth-place finisher by .01.  Yes, that’s as close as it gets.

The Laker girls had titles by Jayda Kolstoe in the shot put and the 3200 meter relay team of Alia Randt, Ella Larson, Olivia Danielson and Lauryn Ankeny, while the boys team had titles by Owen Meulebroeck in the 300 meter hurdles, Asante Adams in the 200 meter dash, Maeson Tank in the 400, the 400 meter relay team of Caden Christensen, Adams, Kaiden Harvey and Carter Meyer and the 800 meter relay team of Meyer, Tank, Meulebroeck and Harvey in record time.

“The boys and girls had a great day,” said boys head coach Zach Traphagen.  “Honestly, when it comes to sub-section and section, we are not as much focused on the team points as we are setting up kids to do their best in their best individual events and relays.  So, for us to still be able to win the meet is just a nice added bonus to the great day we had with advancing kids to sections.”

The top place finishers advance to Thursday’s Section 6A Track Meet at Pillager where they will compete for berths at the State Class A Track Meet, set for June 6-7 at St. Michael-Albertville.

Sub-section track

The Lakers won both team titles at the Sub-section Track Meet at Pelican Rapids last Thursday.  The girls team won the title by 16 points over runner-up Barnesville with Pelican Rapids one more point behind, while the Laker boys edged Pelican Rapids by a half-point and Osakis by two for the 10-team title.

The boys team won five titles, including firsts by Asante Adams in the 200 meter dash (23.8), Maeson Tank in the 400 (50.69) and Owen Meulebroeck in the 300 meter hurdles (40.13).

In addition, the  400 meter relay team of Caden Christensen, Adams, Kaiden Harvey and Carter Meyer was first in 44.79 and the 800 meter relay team of Meyer, Harvey, Meulebroeck and Tank was first in 1:31.71.

The 400 meter relay time is just off the state standard, while the 800 relay time is below the standard and also broke the school record.  The old record was 1:31.77 set in 2018 by Nathan Pitzen, Nolan Weisel, Jackson Meyer and Sam Nyqvist.

Adams was also second in the 100 (11.74), while Meyer was second in the 200 (23.92), Hunter Stadsvold was third in the 110 meter hurdles (17.56) and eighth in the 300 hurdles (46.41), Ian Mills was second in the 3200 meter run (10:45.37) and Zach Palmer was third (11:18.56), Luke Hoffmann was fourth in the 1600 (5:08.33), Kovarik was third in the pole vault (11-0), the 1600 meter relay team of Carter Dinsmore, Kovarik, Meulebroeck and Tank was second in 3:33.15 and the 3200 meter relay team of Hoffmann, Ryan Koehntop, Josh Hippe and Dinsmore was third in 9:13.66.

“There are a number of events where we are flirting with school records heading into sections, including Maeson in the 400, Owen in the 300 hurdles and the 1600 and 400 meter relays, but it was really fun to break the 800 relay record,” Traphagen said. 

The Lakers picked up 18 points in the 200 meter dash, 11 in each of the 300 hurdles and 400 meter dash, 14 points in the 3200 meter run and 34 points in the relays combined for  88 of their 114.5 points.

One other top-eight placing for the boys; it was mentioned earlier that any number of extra efforts by the Lakers could have won Minnewaska the team title.  Another example is Mason Danielson, who tied for seventh in the high jump to earn 1.5 points.  He tied with six other athletes, but won out over five of them due to less misses.  Wow!

•  In the girls competition, the Lakers earned titles by Jayda Kolstoe in the shot put (38-5 1/2) and the 3200 meter relay team of Alia Randt, Ella Larson, Olivia Danielson and Lauryn Ankeny, which was timed in 10:02.63, just three seconds off the state standard.

The Lakers earned the girls title thanks to superior depth.

Dacia Fleury was among a number of Laker athletes placing in several events.  She was third in the 100 (13.18), sixth in the 200 (28.37), fourth in the triple jump (33-5 1/2) and seventh in the long jump (15-1 3/4).

Kolstoe was also third in the discus (110-1), while Ankeny was also second in the 300 hurdles (48.11), seventh in the triple jump (31-9) and also ran on the winning 3200 meter relay and second-place 1600 meter relay team with Aubrey Polzin, Alia Randt and Ella Larson (4:18.53).

Ella Larson was also third in the 800 (2:29.2), while Maia Larson was third in the 1600 (5:34.27) and seventh in the 800 (2:42.22), Polzin was sixth in the 400 (1:03.67), Brooklyn Meyer was sixth in the 100 hurdles (18.65), Aubrey Stark was eighth in the 100 hurdles (18.92) and eighth in the 300  hurdles (54.83), Jillian Deutsch was second in the 3200 meter run (12:36.36) and Sydney Ankeny was fourth (12:41.12), Mya VanLuik was seventh in the shot put (30-10), Melena Longtin was seventh (93-6) and Danielson eighth (93-0) in the discus, Lyla Stadtherr was sixth in the high jump (4-9) and Lexi Bosek earned seventh in the pole vault (8-0).

Also picking up points was the sixth-place 400 meter relay team of Stadtherr, Meyer, Payton Andreas and VanLuik (56.18) and the seventh-place 800 meter relay team of Randt, Meyer, Stadtherr and VanLuik (1:56.45). 

Sub-section Meet 

Girls team scoring:

(1) Minnewaska 114  (2) Barnesville 98  (3) Pelican Rapids 95  (4) Border West 84  (5) Osakis 69  (6) Ottertail Central 57.5  (7) ABE 54  (8) Breckenridge 34  (9) WCA 33.5  (10) Hillcrest 33  (11) Parkers Prairie 29

Girls individual results:

(Champ and Waska top-8 finishers)

100m hurdles:  (1) Wales, ABE 15.97  (6) Brooklyn Meyer, Min 18.65  (8) Aubrey Stark, Min 18.92

300m hurdles:  (1) Wales, ABE 47.01  (2) Lauryn Ankeny, Min 48.11  (8) Stark, Min 54.83

100m dash:  (1) Guler, PR 12.92  (3) Dacia Fleury, Min 13.18

200m dash:  (1) Guler, PR 26.97  (6) Fleury, Min 28.37

400m dash:  (1) Fiskness, Hill 59.97  (6) Aubrey Polzin, Min 1:03.67

800m run:  (1) Rotz, Barnes 2:24.71  (3) Ella Larson, Min 2:29.2  (7) Maia Larson, Min 2:42.2

1600m run:  (1) Rotz, Barnes 5:22.11  (3) M. Larson, Min 5:34.27  (4) Piper Citrowske-Lee, Min 5:46.36

3200m run:  (1) Forslee, OTC 12:12.62  (2) Jillian Deutsch, Min 12:36.36  (4) Sydney Ankeny, Min 12:41.12

400 relay:  (1) Osakis 52.54  (6) Minnewaska (Lyla Stadtherr, Meyer, Payton Andreas, Mya VanLuik) 56.18

800m relay:  (1) Osakis 1:52.13  (7) Minnewaska (Randt, Meyer, Stadtherr, VanLuik) 1:56.45

1600m relay:  (1) Hillcrest 4:17.62  (2) Minnewaska (Polzin, Randt, E. Larson, L. Ankeny) 4:18.53

3200m relay:  (1) Minnewaska (Alia Randt, E. Larson, Olivia Danielson, Lauryn Ankeny) 10:02.63

Shot put:  (1) Jayda Kolstoe, Min 38-5 1/2  (7) VanLuik, Min 30-10

Discus:  (1) Gallagher, BW 118-8  (3) Kolstoe, Min 110-1  (7) Melena Longtin, Min 93-6  (8) Danielson, Min 93-0

Long jump:  (1) Bormann, OTC 16-11  (7) Fleury, Min 15-1 3/4

Triple jump:  (1) Bormann, OTC 35-11 1/2  (4) Fleury, Min 33-5 1/2  (7) L. Ankeny, Min 31-9

High jump:  (1) Backstrom, PR 5-5  (6) Stadtherr, Min 4-9

Pole vault:  (1) Maneval, Barnes 10-0  (7) Lexi Bosek, Min 8-0

Boys team scoring:

(1) Minnewaska 114.5  (2) Pelican Rapids 114  (3) Osakis 112.5  (4) Border West and OTC, both 73.5  (6) Breckenridge 59  (7) Rothsay 40  (8) WCA 33  (9) Parkers Prairie 29  (10) ABE 22

Boys individual results:

(Champ and Waska top-8 finishers)

110m hurdles:  (1) Danielson, Roth 16.44  (3) Hunter Stadsvold, Min 17.56

300m hurdles:  (1) Owen Meulebroeck, Min 40.13  (8) Stadsvold, Min 46.41

100m dash:  (1) Evans, Breck 11.69  (2) Asante Adams, Min 11.74

200m dash:  (1) Adams, Min 23.8  (2) Carter Meyer, Min 23.92

400m dash:  (1) Maeson Tank, Min 50.69  (8) Jacob Mrnak, Min 57.77

800m run:  (1) Larson, PR 2:03.4 

1600m run:  (1) Larson, PR 4:48.54  (4) Luke Hoffmann, Min 5:08.33

3200m run:  (1) Newark, OTC 10:26.1  (2) Ian Mills, Min 10:45.37  (3) Zach Palmer, Min 11:18.56

400m relay:  (1) Minnewaska (Caden Christensen, Adams, Kaiden Harvey, Meyer) 44.79

800m relay:  (1) Minnewaska (Meyer, Harvey, Meulebroeck, Tank) 1:31.71

1600m relay:  (1) PR 3:33.05  (2) Minnewaska (Carter Dinsmore, Jayce Kovarik, Meulebroeck, Tank) 3:33.15

3200m relay:  (1) Osakis 9:09.05  (3) Minnewaska (Hoffmann, Ryan Koehntop, Josh Hippe, Dinsmore) 9:13.66

Shot put:  (1) Jacobson, PR 48-3 1/2

Discus:  (1) Jacobson, PR 160-0

High jump:  (1) Kunkel, Breck 6-2  (7) Mason Danielson, Min 5-4

Long jump:  (1) VanNyhuis, Osakis 21-5

Triple jump:  (1) Rinke, BW 42-7

Pole vault:  (1) Buhl, BW 11-6  (3) Kovarik, Min 11-0

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