Photo by Lee Epps
There are four sub-sections in Section 1A. The top six places earn team points and medals.
The top three places at sub-section qualify for the section meet. Individuals and relays may also advance by achieving a section standard (time, height or distance). And any athlete whose time, height or distance was among the top eight among all four sub-sections also qualifies.
Bjerke advances with a second-place in the 200-meter dash, third place in the 100-meter dash and part of the third-place 4×100-meter relay. He also ran section-standard times in both sprints – 11.65 seconds at 100M and 23.25 at 200M.
Banse had a third-place shot put of 42 feet, 10 inches and also ran on that 4x100M relay. He scored team points in all four of his events with fourth place in discus (129-06) and sixth place in the 100-meter dash.
C/SG had three of the top six 100M sprinters with sophomore Hunter Holland placing fifth. He also ran fifth at 200 meters and qualified for section on the 4x100M relay along with Bjerke, Banse and sophomore Eric Mauss, who posted their best time of the season (45.59 seconds). The third-place 4x200M relay also advances to section with legs run by eighth grader Wait, freshman Jason Schock, freshman Lewis Doyle and senior Mitchell Reynolds.
Wait will also compete at section in the 400-meter run after placing second at sub-section with a personal record time of 55.98 seconds. Reynolds just missed qualifying with a fourth-place triple jump as did sophomore Lyle Myhre with a fourth-place in the 400M run.
Pieper, who had his sophomore season canceled by COVID-19, returns to section as a junior in both high jump and long jump as he did two years ago as a freshman. He cleared 6-feet, 1 inch to win the 2021 sub-section high jump and placed third with a personal-record long jump of 19 feet, 5 inches.
After leaving the track with no assurance, the fourth-place 4x100M relay girls would find out the next day they qualified for section with one of the eighth best times among all four sub-sections. Taking their relay baton to section are eighth grader Aften Myhre, freshman Logan Koepke, sophomore Kloe Jore and senior Eliza Welscher. Also earning team points were Welscher with a fifth place in the 100M and Logan Koepke tasking fifth at 200M.
With only five girls competing, the Warriors entered only four of the 18 events. Scoring team points in three events, the Warrior girls placed sixth out of six teams. A dozen C/SG boys made the trip and earned team points in all 11 events they entered and qualified for section in eight events. The boys finished tied for third among six-teams. Lanesboro/Fillmore Central/Mabel-Canton won the boys team title while the Chatfield girls took home that team trophy.
BOYS: L/FC/MC 187, Rushford-Peterson/Houston 115, Cal/SG 75, Chatfield 75, Cotter 51, La Crescent-Hokah 51
GIRLS: Chatfield 126.5, L/FC/MC 116, Cotter 114, La Crescent-Hokah 100.5, R-P/H 89, Cal/SG 8