State Track and Field: Finals Hard to Come by for LFCMC, Chatfield, and Cal/SG

LFCMC sent six individuals and two relays, Chatfield two individuals and three relays, and Caledonia/Spring Grove two individuals to state track and field.  Podium appearances were hard to come by for said athletes. 

For LFCMC, senior Pole Vaulter Elizabeth Clarke was the only to do so.  Clarke vaulted 10’0” to tie for sixth place and make the podium.  She was four inches better than her 1A meet height of 9’8’ while setting the LFCMC Pole Vault record. Winning pole vault was Barnesville’s Ashley Maneval (11’0”).  From there, individuals Brody Niemeyer, Parker Krage, Autumn Rakosnik, Charlotte Ferrie, and Adrian Rindels did not make the finals.  Niemeyer, a senior in his second state appearance in the Shot Put, threw 51’5” to claim 12th place.  Lakeview’s Jackson Smith won the event (61’4 ¾”).  Niemeyer threw 51’8” at the section meet, 48’10” when taking 19th place last year at state.   Junior Parker Krage took on the guys’ Pole Vault.  His best attempt was to clear 12’6” and he tied for 10th overall.  Krage cleared 12’10” at the 1A Meet.  Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial-Nicolet’s Levi Freyberg won the state title clearing 15’0”.   Rakosnik took on her third state individual distance event.  In the 1,600-meters, she ran 5:17.38 and took 11th place.  St. John’s Prep’s Margaret Duffy won the event in 4:55.50.  Rakosnik ran at about exactly the same pace at sections (5:17.53). In the 3,200, she took sixth place at state last year and 12th in 2024.  Ferrie, a freshman, took on the Long Jump competition. Her best leap was 15’6 ¾” and she took 17th place. She was the third highest frosh in the competition.  Math and Science Academy’s Mckaylen Lewis won the event (19’1 ¾”). Ferrie leapt 16’10 ½” at sections.  Finally, from an individual perspective, sophomore Adrian Rindels took on the 100-meters. He ran 11.69 and did not make the finals, taking 23rd place.  United Clay-Becker’s Leif Shervey won the event, setting a Class A record (10.61).  Rindels ran 11.12 at sections. From a relay perspective, both the girls and boys 4x100s competed. Neither qualified for the finals.  The boys team (Krage, Bridon Bahl, Quinci Kaase, Rindels) ran 0:43.91 and took 15th place.  Cotter/Hope Lutheran won the state title by setting a state Class A record (0:42.05).  LFCMC ran 0:43.88 at the 1A meet.  The girls team (Ava Larson, Hannah Vaalemoen, Lillyan Kiehne, Ferrie) was disqualified for an exchange out of the zone, effectively taking 18th place. 

Chatfield also was short on Day 2 participants, as only Ross Stoehr competed (per scheduled) in the High Jump. On Day 1, Savannah Peterson (200), the boys 4×100 and 4×400 teams, girls 4×200 team, all failed to make the finals. Peterson, a junior in her second state 200-meter competition, ran 0:26.04 to just miss qualifying for the finals.  She took 10th place (with the top nine moving on).  Ely’s Violet Udovich (0:54.94) set a Class A record in winning the state title.  Peterson ran 0:25.88 in taking 12th place last year, 0:25.64 at sections this year. The girls 4×200 (Levi Kivimagi, Lillie Stejskal, Adeline Schild, Peterson) ran 1:47.20 and took 12th place.  St. Cloud Cathedral won the state title with a Class A record (1:42.46).  The Chatfield girls ran 1:47.18 at sections.  The boys 4×100 (Lane Schmaltz, Brooks Lea, John Thieke, Logan Pearson) also took 12th, running 0:43.71. Cotter/HL won the event, setting a Class A record (0:42.05).  Chatfield ran 0:43.90 at sections. The boys 4×400 (Ezra Schild, Kash McBroom, Treyten Lanning, Schmaltz) took 13th place, running 3:30.97.  Sauk Centre won the state title in the event (3:21.90).  Chatfield ran 3:29.10 at sections.  Of all the Gopher relay members, only Lanning is a senior. That left Stoehr as the only Gopher Day 2 competitor.  In the High Jump, the junior leapt 6’0” to take 25th place.  Triton’s Pierce Petersohn went 6’6” to win the state title.  Stoehr went 6’2” at the 1A meet.

Finally, for Caledonia/Spring Grove, 100-meter qualifiers, junior Coby Hammell and 7th grader Finley Wait competed.  Neither made the finals.  Hammell ran 11.51 to take 21st overall in the boys’ competition.  United Clay-Becker’s Leif Shervey won the state title with a Class A record time of 10.61.  Hammell ran 11.01 at sections.  Wait ran 13.21 and took 17th place in the girl’s competition. Hills-Beaver Creek’s Brynn Bakken won the event setting the all-time Minnesota record (all classes), 11.69.  Wait ran 12.70 at sections.