The Minnewaska Area track and field teams opened up the 2023 spring season at the Concordia Invitational.  The girls team, coached by Jennifer Johnsrud, placed third of 14 teams, while the boys team, coached by Zach Traphagen, placed fifth.

Earning titles for the Lakers was the girls’ 3200 meter relay team of Piper Citrowske-Lee, Teagan Stark, Elsey Hagen and Lauryn Ankeny (11:00.11), the boys’ 3200 meter relay team of Zach Palmer, Jayce Kovarik, Nick Ankeny and Maeson Tank (9:23) and Tank in the 1600 meter run (5:01.62).  “I was happy to see our kids actually compete on a track after such a slow start to spring,” coach Jennifer Johnsrud said.  “We needed a starting point and a place to set some season goals and strive for growth.  We did set a couple personal bests and that is always nice to see in the first meet of the season.”

Next up for the track teams is the Morris Invitational, set for Tuesday, April 11 and the Litchfield Invitational, scheduled for Thursday, April 13.  The first home meet is set for Monday, April 24.

Coaching the teams this year are head girls’ coach Jennifer Johnsrud, head boys’ coach Zach Traphagen, and assistants Jacey Schlosser, Kayla Sorenson, Linda Mills, Gabe Eisenbacher and Nathan Snider.

Track rosters

The 50-member roster for the girls track team includes seniors Kiearra Wilmes, Makena Thoen, Serena Mellgren, McKenzie Luetmer, Miranda Longtin, Mya Lindemann, Brooke Kolstoe and Elsey Hagen; juniors Teagan Stark, Isabelle Bautista, Kylee Berg and Brooklyn Meyer; sophomores Payton Andreas, Lexi Bosek, Alannah Christensen, Dacia Fleury, Autumm Hess, Amber Peabody, Sydney Perry, McKenna Uhde and Kendra Wilmes; ninth-graders Lauryn Ankeny, Piper Citrowske Lee, Olivia Danielson, Taylor Hicks, Haylee Kasper, Jayda Kolstoe, Ashley Murken, Phemie Oeltjen, Alia Randt, Lyla Stadtherr and Aubrey Stark; eighth-graders Kiarra Bosek, Esryn Dahl, Kylie Erickson, Jazlyn Fleury, Leah Greseth, Emma Hellermann, Adysen Hess, Brielle Hess, Maggie Hjelm, Ella Nielsen, Sophia Wallin and Kileigh Wilmes; and seventh-graders Sydney Ankeny, Allison Curry, Hannah Hoeper, Addisen Johnson, Sydney Klaussen, Ella Larson and Aubri Suckstorff.

The 41-member boys track and field roster includes seniors Conner Stein, James Ward, Hunter Kloos, Nick Ankeny, Jaden Anderson and Blake Andreas; juniors Jose Contreras Mondragon, Jayce Kovarik, Maeson Tank, Kenneth Czech and Hunter Stadsvold; sophomores Kaiden Harvey Ryan Kaiser, Ryan Koehntop, Brady McCrory, Owen Meulebroeck, Carter Meyer, Ian Mills, Zach Palmer, Drew Winter, Josh Hippe, Lucky Hippe, Jacob Mrnak and Lucas Tauber; ninth-graders Mason Danielson, Caden Manderscheid, Tristan O’Neil, Asante Adam, Evan Radil, Kolton Rogers, Ryan Greseth, Riley Week and Carter Dinsmore; eighth-graders Caden Christensen, Preston Wilson, Caleb Kath and Eyan Wait; and seventh-graders Alex Adams, Weston Hawkins, Nolan Stark and Rylan Tank.

Concordia Invitational

The Minnewaska Area girls team was third and the boys were fifth at the Concordia Invitational last Monday at Concordia College.

Barnesville won the girls’ title with 102.5 points, followed by Park Christian with 87.5 points and Minnewaska Area with 79.  The meet awarded points to the top-8 finishers using a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring format.

The 3200 meter relay team of Piper Citrowske-Lee, Teagan Stark, Elsey Hagen and Lauryn Ankeny earned 10 points for the Lakers with a first-place time of 11:00.11, and Minnewaska Area also picked up major points in the 400, 800, 1600 meter relay and shot put.

McKenzie Luetmer earned second (1:04.04) and Teagan Stark was third (1:06.61) in the 400 meter dash for another 14 points, while Elsey Hagen was second (13:15.94), Kiearra Wilmes fourth (13:55.35) and Sydney Ankeny sixth (14:14.06) for 16 points in the 3200 meter run.

The 1600 meter relay team of Teagan Stark, Makena Thoen, Lauryn Ankeny and McKenzie Luetmer was second in the 1600 meter relay (4:26.42), while Jayda Kolstoe also earned eight points with a second place finish in the shot put (35-6).

Mya Lindemann added a third in the 55 meter dash (7.98) and fifth in the 200 (29.15), while Ankeny was fourth in the 800 meter run (2:36.71), Brooke Kolstoe was tied for eighth in the high jump (4-5), Phemie Oeltjen tied for fifth in the pole vault (7-3), and the 800 meter relay team of Dacia Fleury, Alia Randt, Brooklyn Meyer and Lindemann was seventh with a time of 2:01.72.

In addition, the Lakers’ second 3200 meter relay team of Wilmes, Thoen, Brooke Kolstoe and Luetmer placed third with a time of 11:04.15, but did not pick up any points for the team because only one relay team was allowed to score per event.

“We are anxious to get to another competition next week to give kids opportunities in new events and find our strengths to be competitive in all 18 events,” coach Johnsrud said. 

Katrina Hitchen, a ninth-grader from Fertile-Beltrami, won the 55, 200 and 400 meter dashes.  Barnesville won three of the 15 titles to earn first place in the girls’ team competition.

•  In the boys meet, East Grand Forks had 102 points to win the title, followed by Pequot Lakes with 87, Park Christian with 75.5, Fertile-Beltrami with 59 and Minnewaska area with 52.

Maeson Tank earned 10 points for his team with a title in the 1600 meter run (5:01.62) and also ran on the winning 3200 meter relay team with Zach Palmer, Jayce Kovarik and Nick Ankeny (9:23).

“I expect our strengths to be in our distance and mid-distance runners as we return a great nucleus from last season, including 2022 state qualifier in the 800, junior Maeson Tank,” coach Traphagen said.  “We should have great balance in the sprints, jumps and throws, although we graduated a very productive group of boys from 2022.”

The Lakers also earned two fifths in the other two relays as the 800 meter relay team of Carter Meyer, Owen Meulebroeck, J. Hippe and Kaiden Harvey was fifth in 1:43.82 and the 1600 meter relay team of Kovarik, Hunter Kloos, Palmer and Tank was fifth in 4:03.64.

Ankeny added a third (2:17.23) and James Ward was fourth (2:19.19) in the 800 meter run for 11 points, while Ian Mills was third in the 3200 meter run (12:14.3), Kovarik was third in the pole vault (9-9) and Asante Adams was eighth in the 55 meter dash (7.15).

The Lakers earned just six of their points in the five field events.  Minnewaska’s second 3200 meter relay team of Carter Dinsmore, Hunter Kloos, Mills and Ward added a second-place finish, but those points did not count toward the Lakers’ team total.  East Grand Forks won the title despite winning only two of the 15 events.

“We hope to improve consistently throughout the season by developing proper practice habits, being coachable and embracing competition and hard work,” coach Traphagen said.  “We want to break multiple PR’s (personal records) throughout the season and be at our very best for true-team, conference, sub-sections and sections.”

at Concordia Invite

Girls team scoring:

(1) Barnesville 102.5  (2) Park Christian 87.5  (3) Minnewaska Area 79  (4) Pequot Lakes 76.5  (5) Fertile-Beltrami 56.5, East Grand Forks 41, Ashby-BE 38,Crookston 32, Fisher 27, United North Central 21, WCA 14, Ada-Borup West 5, Staples-Motley 3, Mahnomen-Waubun 1

Girls individual results:

(Champ and Waska top-10)

55m hurdles:  (1) Wales, ABE 9.43

55m dash:  (1) Hitchen, FB 7.73  (3) Mya Lindemann, Min 7.98

200m dash:  (1) Hitchen, FB 27.78  (5) Mya Lindemann, Min 29.15  (10) Dacia Fleury, Min 29.53

400m dash:  (1) Hitchen, FB 1:02.86  (2) McKenzie Luetmer, Min 1:04.04  (3) Teagan Stark, Min 1:06.61

800m run:  (1) Chaney, Pequot 2:23.12  (4) Lauryn Ankeny, Min 2:36.71  (9) Brooke Kolstoe, Min 2:52.17

1600m run:  (1) Rotz, Barnes 5:28.1  (9) Piper Citrowske-Lee, Min 6:23.66

3200m run:  (1) Rogness, PC 13:09.02  (2) Elsey Hagen, Min 13:15.94  (4) Kiearra Wilmes, Min 13:55.35  (6) Sydney Ankeny, Min 14:14.06

800m relay:  (1) Park Christian 1:55.58  (7) Minnewaska Area (Dacia Fleury, Alia Randt, Brooklyn Meyer, Mya Lindemann) 2:01.72

1600m relay:  (1) Fertile-Beltrami 4:19.62  (2) Minnewaska Area (Teagan Stark, Makena Thoen, Lauryn Ankeny, McKenzie Luetmer) 4:26.42

3200m relay:  (1) Minnewaska Area (Piper Citrowske-Lee, Teagan Stark, Elsey Hagen, Lauryn Ankeny) 11:00.11  (3) Minnewaska Area #2 (Kierra Wilmes, Makena Thoen, Brooke Kolstoe, McKenzie Luetmer) 11:04.15

Shot put:  (1) Davis, Pequot 35-10 1/2  (2) Jayda Kolstoe, Min 35-6

High jump:  (1) Aakre, PC 5-3  (8) tie, Brooke Kolstoe, Min 4-5

Pole vault:  (1) Harris, PC 9-3  (5) tie, Phemie Oeltjen, Min 7-3  (10) Lexi Bosek, Min 6-3

Long jump:  (1) Follingstad, Barnes 16-1 1/2

Triple jump:  (1) Follingstad, Barnes 34-0  (10) Lauryn Ankeny, Min 29-5 1/2

———————————————-

Boys team scoring:

(1) East Grand Forks 102  (2) Pequot Lakes 87  (3) Park Christian 75.5  (4) Fertile-Beltrami 59  (5) Minnewaska Area 52, WCA 38.5, Barnesville 35, NCE-UH 33, Ada-Borup West 25, Rothsay 19, Staples-Motley 15, ABE 10, United North Central 8, Crookston 6, Fisher 6

Boys individual track results:

(Champ and Waska top-10)

55m hurdles:  (1) Schiessl, Pequot 8.44 

55m dash:  (1) Bredman, Barnes 6.62  (8) Asante Adams, Min 7.15

200m dash:  (1) Bredman, Barnes 23.09  (9) Asante Adams, Min 25.78

400m dash:  (1) Tofibam, PC 54.9

800m run:  (1) Hall, Pequot 1:11.42  (3) Nick Ankeny, Min 2:17.23  (4) James Ward, Min 2:19.19

1600m run:  (1) Maeson Tank, Min 5:01.62

3200m run:  (1) Jordheim, EGF 10:43.8  (3) Ian Mills, Min 12:14.3

800m relay:  (1) Fertile-Beltrami 1:40.38  (5) Minnewaska Area (Carter Meyer, Owen Meulebroeck, J. Hippe, Kaiden Harvey) 1:43.82

1600m relay:  (1) East Grand Forks 3:46.54  (5) Minnewaska Area (Jayce Kovarik, Hunter Kloos, Zach Palmer, Maeson Tank) 4:03.64

3200m relay:  (1) Minnewaska Area (Z. Palmer, Jayce Kovarik, Nick Ankeny, Maeson Tank) 9:23  (2) Minnewaska Area #2 (Carter Dinsmore, Hunter Kloos, Ian Mills, James Ward) 9:56.72

Shot put:  (1) Ganley, Pequot 46-1  

High jump:  (1) Scholl, ABE 5-11

Long jump:  (1) Spaeth, PC 19-7 1/2

Triple jump:  (1) Tofibam, PC 39-10

Pole vault:  (1) Beacy, SM 10-3  (3) Jayce Kovarik, Min 9-9

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!