Tuesday was a historic day for the Becker track teams, as both the boys and girls squads won their first Granite Ridge Conference Championships in Zimmerman. 

 

“We have been contacting previous boys track and field coaches and haven't been able to find another time in Becker's history that the boys track team has won a conference championship,” said Head Coach Paul Schmidt.

 

“I really couldn't have asked for more out of our guys. They went above and beyond everything we talked about and what it would take to win the Granite Ridge.” 

 

The Becker boys scored 162 points to win the meet,   Mora was second with 109, Little Falls, 107.5, Foley 107.2, Albany 69.2, St. Cloud Cathedral 60, Zimmerman 51.5 and Milaca 34.2.

 

Becker's depth in the events really showed off as they placed two or three athletes in many individual events and were high in the relays.

 

All-conference awards go to those that finished first or second in an individual event or first in a relay and those individuals were Jacob Drury, who won the high jump with a jump of 5'9" — besting his previous score of 5'4".  

 

“This was one of the highlights of the night to see Jacob peak at the right time,” said Schmidt.  

 

Also garnering all-conference was Sidney Boros, who took second in the 200M with a time of 23.14 and helped the 4x400 team to an all-conference championship by bettering their time at 1:32.93.  Other members of the 4x400 team included Andrew Davalos, Kevin Andres and Matthew Davalos.  

 

Matthew Davalos also captured all-conference honors by winning the 300M hurdles with a time of 42.85.  Hunter Golden finished second and earned all-conference with a time of 43.77.

 

“Those points were huge for us as a team and kind of put the championship out of reach at that point in the meet,” said Schmidt.  

 

Andrew Davalos also gained all-conference honors in the 400M by placing second.  Brady Shelley took second in the triple jump with a personal best of 40'2" and Dillon Radunz won the shot put with a season best of 52' 0.5".

 

Second place relay teams and third place individuals receive honorable mention all conference.  Those included the 4x200 team of Beau Pauly, Andrew Davalos, Sidney Boros and Kevin Andres, who  captured second place. While the boys did not win this race (which was won by Foley), they still re-broke the school record by running a time of 1:31.77.

 

The boys 4x100 team of Pauly, Austin Hemmelgarn, Alex Meidt and Matthew Davalos, took second place.  Gabe Dertinger injured his hamstring in the 100M finals and was unable to run with the team in this event.

 

 Hemmelgarn placed third in the 100M with a time of 11.55. Pauly was third in the 200M with a time of 23.45.  Keith Sorenson ran the best 3200 of his career, bettering his time by almost 30 seconds and finished third with a time of 10:47.87. Radunz took third in the discus with a toss of 127'5.5".  

 

Other notable finishes were Hemmelgarn taking fourth in the 200M. 

 

Becker went second, third and fourth in the 200 meters, which was huge points for Schmidt’s team.  

 

Ethan Holm placed sixth in the triple jump with a personal best of 38'0.25".  Andrew Davalos was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 18'7".  Dawson Thom was eighth in the shot put with a throw of 40'3".  Sam Ricker had a fourth place finish in the 1600M and a personal best time of 4:44.32.  Ricker also ran as part of the 4x800 team (Brett Parson, Jonathan Novak and Mason Makarrall) that ran their best time and placed third with a time of 8: 49.75.  

 

Makarrall also ran a personal best in the 800M, finishing fourth with a time of 2:08.99 with Brett Parson picking up an eighth place finish at 2:12.1.  Hunter Golden placed fourth in the 110M hurdles and Alex Meidt grabbed a fifth place finish in the 100M.

 

“I couldn't have been more proud of these group of guys than I was the other night,” said Schmidt.  “They poured everything into that meet and came away team champions.”

 

The Becker girls had eight athletes earn all-conference honors in nine events and had four named honorable mention.  The girls also had 17 personal records.

 

Becker’s 4x800 relay team got things off to an exciting start.  Alayna Lindquist, Jackie Yoerg, Siera Knick and Alli Garding each ran well to place third while cutting seven seconds from their seed time in the process.

 

Sam Angell ran a season best time in the 100 hurdles to dominate that event, taking first while Miranda O'Brien PR’d  (17.45) to take eighth.

 

In the 100 meter dash, Lexi Michels came through in fourth place (13.66) despite an injured ankle.

 

Kayden Westin, who has improved all season long, just missed a place in the 200M, coming in ninth place but PR-ing with a 29.08.

 

In the 4x200 relay, Alex Johnson, Westin, Payton Anderson and Shannon Sydow ran a season best time of 1:54.94 to place sixth.

 

The 4x100 relay suffered a bit from shaky hand offs, but managed to place seventh (55.78). Team members were  Michels, Morgan Youngdahl,  Johnson and Sydow.

 

The 1600 meter girls made a statement with their performances as they set a blazing pace the first lap to take control immediately. Lexi Dehmer, Julia Bengtson and Alli Hendrickson each raced to PR times, placing 1-2-3.  Dehmer crossed the finish line first (5:14.52), followed by Bengtson (5:15.96) and Hendrickson (5:25.09).

 

The girls nailed down two places in the 400M with Payton Anderson taking fifth (64.34) and Westin sixth (65.54 PR). Allyna Storms also PR’d with a 67.13 for 12th.

 

Angell came back in the 300M hurdles to place third with a time of 49.34. Miranda O'Brien took 11th (53.92) and Shannon Sydow PR’d with a time of 54.36.

 

The 800 meters saw three girls place with Dehmer and Bengtson coming back after the 1600M to battle it out for second (Dehmer 2:23.75) and third (Bengtson 2:25.64).

 

Seventh-grader Alayna Lindquist gave the Bulldogs a nice run for eighth place (2:33.49).

 

In the 3200M, it was Hendrickson's turn to shine, capturing first place with a commanding time of 11:49.54 — a full 10 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Victoria Kolbinger brought home seventh place (12:43.92) and Courtney Nuest improved her time to 12:55.21. 

 

The 4x400 relay team of Dehmer, Anderson,  Angell and Bengtson  raced to second place with a time of 4:20.15.

 

Field events provided plenty of excitement as well.

 

High jump champ Alex Johnson placed first with a jump of 4'10". Angell tied for fourth with a PR of 4'10" and Hannah Schmidt continues on the comeback trail with a sixth place tie for 4'8".

 

Schmidt captured the pole vault title with a vault of 10'6" — a full foot-and-a-half over the second place finisher.

 

Morgan Youngdahl brought some points in the long jump, placing seventh with 14'5".

 

The triple jump had Johnson placing fourth (30'11 1/2").

 

Madi Kerzman had a great day in the throws - winning the discus with a PR throw of 103' 5 1.2" (her first time over 100 ft.), and third in the shot put with a 33'5 1/2" effort.

 

“We were really looking forward to this meet, especially after winning the indoor conference title earlier this season,” said Head Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy. “ We as coaches knew the ability was there, but the kids had to come through with performances and they really did.”  

 

Reimer-Kealy commends her entire coaching staff on the great job they have done with each group they work with.   

 

“Mr. (Josh) Ihrke in the throws, Mr. (Dustin) Weege in the pole vault and vertical jumps and Mr. (Paul) Schmidt in the high jump  have all done a great job getting the kids where they are now.”

 

The boys and girls’ next meet is at home Tuesday, then they look to sections and hopefully state as the season winds down.