Alphabet Programs Send Multiple Track Athletes to State

Each needs a simple name to encompass their track programs.  There are just simply too many letters in the Lanesboro/Fillmore Central/Mabel-Canton and Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland/Southland programs.  But each is sending multiple athletes to state in track and field.  The GM “Bulldogs” are sending two relays and their stand-out senior hurdler.  The “Burros” boast two “triple-threat” girl athletes, a recurrent state relay, and an impressive young male runner.  Rushford-Peterson/Houston, which isn’t as hard on the old enunciation abilities, gets two state entrants — a pair of senior throwers.  All involved will make the public address announcer at Hamline University do his or her due diligence in announcing athletes and their school.  The county program highlight of the Section 1A track and field meet was the GMLOKS’ girls 4×200.   Anika Reiland (7th), Emily Hovden (senior), Lauren Buchholtz (junior), and Riley Queensland (sophomore) are collectively fast, real fast.  In 1985, a team from Chatfield set the 1A Meet girls 4×200 record (1:45.14).  Twenty-eight years later, team R-H-B-Q broke it, setting the new mark at 1:44.54.  Often times with Jordyn Glynn, the 4×200 hasn’t lost a race this year (10 for 10).  It’s the team’s third straight state qualification.   The GMLOKS girls 4×100 (Isabelle Olson, Hovden, Kassidy Kirtz, Reiland) also made state.  They had the fastest preliminary time (50:71) but got clipped (50:72 to 50:66) by Rochester-Lourdes in the finals.  It was their first second of the year (eight firsts).  The 4×100 repeat state qualifies.  Also making a repeat run is the sections premier male hurdler Drew Lewison. The senior defended his 1A 110-meter hurdle and 300-meter hurdle crowns.  His 15.50 time in the 100-hurdles was a season best.   By taking first in both the prelims and finals, he ran his 100 and 300-hurdle first place streak to eight straight races.  LFCMC’s track and field darlings are Emma Breitsprecher and Ashley Miner.  Each qualified for state in three different events.  Breitsprecher took her place as 1A’s top 300-meter hurdler, winning the prelims (47.26) and finals (45.74).  She’s won the nine 300-H events she’s competed in this year (best time 45.99 at Sub-1 Meet).  The sophomore made state by standard (3rd place, 46.49) last year.  Breitsprecher is state-bound in the 100-meter hurdles as well (1st prelims 16.08, 2nd finals 15.88).  Byron’s Emma Weatherly (15.80) won the event.   Ashley Miner punched through individually in the Pole Vault and 100-meters.  The former was expected.  Miner and Hayfield’s Kalli Jo Klocke each made 9’11”.  By courtesy of less misses, Klocke took first.  In nine vault competitions this year, Miner took first seven times, second twice, eclipsing 9’ every time (best 10’3”).  The 100-meter qualification was less expected.  Ashley wasn’t an every meet solo sprinter.  She took second (13.08 and 13.05) to Lourdes’ C.J. Adamson (12.84 and 12.70) in the prelims and finals at make state.  Emma B. and Miner then joined with Bailey and Brielle Ruen to cap the night.   In the meet’s final race, the 4×400, the foursome took third (4:05.06) behind Stewartville (4:00.63) and PEM (4:03.17).  LFCMC advanced to state by standard.  The girls won the prelims (4:02.28), setting the meet record, only for Stewie to top that in the finals.  It’s the third straight year the LFCMC girls 4×400 has qualified (Breitsprecher, Miner, and Bailey R. included).  LFCMC’s sole male entrant is Carson Kiehne.  The freshman didn’t run the 400 all the time this year, but when he did, he was a front-runner (two firsts, two seconds heading to sections).  When it counted, Kiehne nipped nemesis Bradley Miller of L-A (51.09 to 51.19) for second place, securing his first state bid.  Miller thrice beat Kiehne this year (including in prelims).  For RPH, it was all about the shot put.  On the first day of the meet, senior Cullan Olson finished second (48’1”) to Stewartville’s Shane Byrne (48’4”) to earn a trip to St. Paul.  Olson’s toss was his second longest of the year (48’10 ½”).  He also took fourth in the discus.  On the second day of the meet, senior Nicole Blagsvedt finished second (36’10 ¾”) to L/P’s Kristi Fett (37’6”) to earn her trip to state.  Blagsvedt came into sections hitting 38-feet-plus twice.  Olson and Blagsvedt, on six different occasions this year, swept shot firsts at meets.  It was Olson’s first shot second place of the year, Blagsvedt’s second.  Both were close to state last year (third and fourth place).  Other high GMLOK finishers were Hailey Hindt (4th 100-H), Queensland (4th H-Jump, 6th 200), Hovden (5th 100), and the girls 4×400 (5th > J. Glynn, Reiland, H. Hindt, Queensland).  Other high LFCMC finishers were the girls 4×200 (4th > Aubrey Norby, Brielle R., Miner, Bailey R) and 4×800 (4th > Katie Prinsen, Kaylee Arndt, Brielle R., Bailey R.) teams, the boys 4×200 (5th > Drew Wyffels, Sebastian Kuehn, Josh Peters, Kiehne) and 4×800 (4th > Lutes, Nate Betz, Ben Snyder, Tyler Raaen) teams, Matt Lutes (5th 800), and Greysen Higbe-Hurrah (5th-tie P-Vault).  Other high RPH finishers were Triton Meldahl (3rd L-Jump, 4th T-Jump), the girls 4×100 (5th > Kjersta Hinz, Kaitlyn Bieberdorf, Olivia Hoff, Allison Papenfuss), and Bieberdorf (5th T-Jump).  Chatfield’s only top five finisher was Ben Muller (5th 200).  GMLOKS’ Queensland (H-Jump) and RPH’s Meldahl (L-Jump) each needed just two inches to qualify for state.