Last Wednesday, the Becker Bulldog boys track team participated in the Mississippi 8 Conference track and field championships held in North Branch.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished in seventh place with 47.5 points, while the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets won the title with 187.5. However, just as they have done all year, several Bulldogs individuals showed they were near the top of their event and came away with All Conference honors.
“We placed three different athletes as All Conference in five different events,” Head Coach Paul Schmidt said.
In the conference meets, the top four individuals and top two relay teams earn All Conference status, with the fifth through eighth place individuals and third through fourth place relays earning Honorable Mention.
Leading the way for Becker was Tyson Ricker, who won the 3200 meter race and placed second in the 1600 meter to earn All Conference in both races.
“Tyson ran two great races finishing with a personal best in the 1600 with a 4:33.44 and a great time of 10:08.48 in the 3200,” Schmidt said. “Tyson ran incredibly smart in both races on a day that had heat indexes in the upper 90’s.”
Also receiving All Conference in the 1600 was senior Lukas Karel, who ran a great race as well finishing in 4:44.74.
Rounding out the All Conference awards for the Bulldogs was eighth grader Owen Angell, who tied for third place in the Pole Vault with a height of 11’6”.
“Owen also gained All Conference honors in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles with a season best time of 44.8,” Schmidt said. “It is amazing that an eighth grader makes All Conference in one event, not to mention two events.”
Michael Schmitz grabbed an honorable mention selection with an eighth place finish in the 110 high hurdles and also had a personal best in the triple jump with a leap of 34’3.5 inches.
Eighth grader Carter Reckelberg made finals in the long jump with a jump of 18’5”, but was unable to crack into the top eight for honors.
Becker’s 4x200 relay team of Carter Leither, Carter Reckelberg, Ben Howe and Luke MacDonald ran a season best time of 1:41.19 to take sixth place. The 4x800 team of Cade Stommes, Caleb Reckelberg, Mason Becker, and Alex Kinney also finished sixth. Keeping in line with the sixth place finishes was Becker’s 4x400 team of Leither, Stommes, Angell and MacDonald who also ran a personal best time of 3:44.74.
The Bulldogs were to compete in section prelims on Wednesday in Sartell and then the section finals in Fergus Falls on Saturday, June 12.
Complete details will be reported on in next week’s Patriot.
