The Becker boys and girls track teams competed in the finals Saturday at the MSHSL Section 8AA track and field meet held in Alexandria.

 

The Becker girls track team  finished in 10th place out of 16 teams.

 

The highlight of Becker’s day was when Hannah Schmidt qualified for the MSHSL state meet with a second place finish in the pole vault. She vaulted 9'8"  to finish behind Bemidji's Adriane Rickert, who vaulted 10'8". Both girls will   compete  today (Saturday) morning at Hamline University at the state meet.  

 

This is the third year for Schmidt to be participating at state. She has previously competed in the high jump and the pole vault. 

 

In the 100 meter hurdles, Samantha Angell ran a personal record time of 15.72 and placed fifth.  Her time was close to a Becker High School record just behind Nikki Anderson's time of 15.69 from a few years ago.

 

Angell also ran the 300 meters hurdles and placed eighth with a time of 51.73. 

 

“Sam has been an excellent hurdler for Becker and will be hard to replace next year,” said Head Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy.

 

In the 800 meters, Becker had eighth grader Lexi Dehmer in the finals.  This was an elite race and Dehmer  ran well, placing ninth with a time of 2;26.87.

 

Seventh grader Julia Bengtson ran the 1600 meters for Becker and placed sixth with a  5:25.02. First and second place went to Alexandria's twins Bethany and Megan Hasz,  who also were first and second in the 3200.  

Madi Kerzman placed 12th in the shot put with a throw of 33' 5 1/4".

 

In the 4x100 relay, Shannon Sydow, Kaitlyn Janisch, Bailee Thorson and Allyna Storms had decent hand offs and  placed 16th in 57.20.

 

In the 4x200, Sydow, Payton Anderson, Kayden Westin, Miranda O'Brien ran well for a season-best 1:54.55, placing 12th.

 

In the 4x400, Dehmer, Anderson, Angell and Bengtson  had a bit of trouble and were DQ’d, but their time of 4:25 would have put them in the 10th place range.

 

In the 4x800, Bengtson, Alli Hendrickson, Alayna Lindquist and Dehmer  ran very well to better their MSHSL honor roll time to a season best 9:59.34, placing fifth.

 

“It's been a great season and are looking forward to the state meet with Hannah (Schmidt) and Dillon (Radunz),” said Reimer-Kealy. 

 

1). Alexandria 153; 2). Willmar 90.3333; 3). Moorhead 76; 4). Thief River Falls 66; 5). Rocori 54; 6-tie). St Cloud Tech and Brainerd 53; 8). Bemidji 43; 9). Monticello 31.1111; 10). Becker 24; 11). Fergus Falls 19; 12). Detroit Lakes 15; 13). Sartell St. Stephens 10.3333; 14). Sauk Rapids Rice 7; 15). Little Falls 5; 16). St Cloud Apollo 2.

 

All the boys relay teams placed as well as athletes in the 200, 300 and 400 hurdles.

 

Dillon Radunz made state by capturing first place in the shot put.

 

Becker finished ninth among 16 teams.

 

In the 100M dash, Austin Hemmelgarn finished ninth in a time of 11.63. In the 200M dash, Sidney Boros finished fourth in a time of 22.90.

 

In the 400M dash, Andrew Davalos captured sixth place with a time of 53.06. He also finished seventh in the 300M hurdles with a time of 43.51. Jake Lieberg of Sartell won the event with a time of 40.08.

 

The 4x100 team of Davalos, Hemmelgarn, Meidt and Beau Pauly took sixth in a time of 45.46. Monticello’s foursome won the event with a time of 43.98.

 

The 4x200 team of Pauly, Davalos, Boros and Kevin Andres took fourth in a time of 1:34.11. Monticello’s foursome won the event with a time of 1:31.02.

 

In Becker’s 4x400M relay, Boros, Andres, and the Davalos brothers (Matthew and Andrew) took fifth in a time of 3:38.35. Bemidji’s team captured first place with a time of 3:28.59.

 

In the 4x800 race, Becker’s Jonathan Novak, Justin Kringler, Brett Parson and Mason Makarrall took eighth in 8:44.06. Bemidji’s team won the event with a time of 7:56.49.

 

In the high jump, Becker’s Jacob Drury finished tied for ninth with a leap of 5’ 6”. William Schendel took 19th with a 5’ 6”. Moorhead’s Matt Bye won the event with a 6’ 02”.

 

In pole vault, Schendel tied for 15th place with a 10’ 03”. The winner was Kyle Johnson of Moorhead with a vault of 13’ 09”.

 

Becker’s Brady Scheeley captured seventh place in the triple jump at 41-04.75. Sartell’s Lieberg was the top triple jumper at 46-04.00.

 

Dillon Radunz took home the first place title in shot put with a throw of 55-09.50. In discus, he captured 10th place with a toss of 136-06.00. Dawson Thom had a throw of 111-11.00 for 29th place and Logan Lahr was at 110-01.00 for 30th place.

 

1). Bemidji 97.5; 2). Moorhead 87.5; 3). Willmar 84; 4). Sartell-St. Stephens 83; 5). Alexandria 62; 6). Rocori 55; 7). Monticello 53.5 8). Brainerd 42; 9). Becker 35; 10). Little Falls 32; 11). Detroit Lakes 24; 12). St. Cloud Apollo 17; 13). St. Cloud Tech 14; 14). Fergus Falls 9; 15). Sauk Rapids-Rice 5; 16). Thief River Falls 1.5.

 

The Becker girls track team held their end-of-the-season awards night Monday with a pot luck dinner at the high school commons. 

 

“It was a fun night to celebrate a successful season,” said Reimer-Kealy. “Our girls team was proud to be the indoor conference champions and the outdoor conference champions.”

 

The boys also took the outdoor  conference championship this season. 

 

“It was the first conference championship for each team and it is extra special to have both teams accomplish this in the same year,” said Reimer-Kealy.

 

The seven all-conference award winners for the girls were: Hannah Schmidt (pole vault), Sam Angell (100 hurdles), Lexi Dehmer (1600 meters, 800 meters), Julia Bengtson (1600 meters), Alli Hendrickson (3200 meters), Alex Johnson (high jump) and Madi Kerzman  (Discus).

 

Dehmer is the Granite Ridge Conference 1600 meter record holder.

 

The St Cloud Times sponsored an “All-Area Track and Field Team” for the first time this year and the athletes are chosen by the paper with input from some area coaches. Being named to the team from Becker was Angell, who runs both hurdles, high jumps and runs relays.  

 

Honorable mention members were Schmidt, Dehmer, Hendrickson and Bengtson.

 

Letter award winners were Angell, Sydow, Kerzman, Kailey Cleaver, Morgan Youngdahl, Miranda O' Brien, Siera Knick, Lexi Michels, Westin, Schmidt, Hendrickson, Alli Garding, Victoria Kolbinger, Tate Spinner, Dehmer,  Johnson, Storms, Anderson, Bengtson, Lindquist, Jackie Yoerg, Courtney Nuest and Abby Fingarson

 

Participation certificates went to Michaela Allen, Deedra Lawrence, Jada Rositas, Nikki O'Brien, Jessica Sand, Summer Somrock, Caylah Chonsky, Gabrielle Imm, Janisch, Karly Kowalsky, Bailee Thorson.

 

The academic awards had many “spotlight on scholarship” honorees and several “academic all conference”.   The team as a whole earned the "gold award" for academic excellence from the Minnesota High School Coaches Association. 

 

Academic all state (must have 3.6 or better GPA and MSHSL honor roll or all conference or state meet entrant) went to Angell, Schmidt, Johnson and Hendrickson.

 

Becker’s scholar athletes were Schmidt and Angell.

 

Team awards given for high point earner went to Angell. Most dedicated went to Hendrickson.  Most improved went to Kolbinger and Westin, Rookie of the year was Bengtson and  the 'Run With Heart' award went to Kowalsky.

 

Becker Athletes on the honor roll are  Anderson (400 meters), Dehmer (800, 1699, 3200), Bengtson (800, 1600, 3200), Hendrickson (1600, 3200), Kolbinger (3200),  Dehmer, Bengtson, Hendrickson and Lindquist (4x800),- Dehmer, Anderson, Angell and Westin (4x400).

 

Angell (100 and 300 hurdles, high jump), Miranda O'Brien (100 hurdles); Youngdahl (long jump), Johnson (triple jump and high jump),   Kerzman (discus and shot put), Schmidt (pole vault).

 

Captains for 2016 were Angell, Schmidt, Sydow and Knick and   captains selected for 2017 (voted on by team) are Michels and Hendrickson.

 

 “We say a fond farewell to our seniors this year,” said Reimer-Kealy. “Sam Angell, Kailey Cleaver, Alex Johnson, Siera Knick, Hannah Schmidt, Shannon Sydow and Morgan Youngdahl. These girls have been a big part of our team and we will miss them next year.  We wish them the best with their future plans.”