The Becker boys and girls track teams competed  Tuesday at the Last Chance meet in Zimmerman. The meet’ s name comes from the last opportunity the athletes have to record a top performance before the section meet next week.  

 

 

Becker won the meet with a score of 87.5.  Foley finished second with 81 points followed by Zimmerman with 74.5 and Little Falls with 27.  

 

The highlights of the night came in two of Becker relay runs by the same four individuals.  The 4x200M relay of Sidney Boros, Jordan Gruenes, Austin Hemmelgarn and Kevin Andres had a great run as they broke the Becker  record set two years ago with a new time of 1:30.04.  The old record of 1:31.77 was held by Boros, Andres, Bo Pauly and Andrew Davalos.  

 

The four boys followed that race by breaking the 4x400M record that three of the runners already held from last year with a time of 3:24.58.  Newcomer Gruenes replaces Matthew Davalos and the old time of 3:28.28 in this record with Boros, Hemmelgarn and Andres.  

 

“These two times vault Becker into a great position for a top two seed in the upcoming section finals on Saturday in Moorhead," said Head Coach Paul Schmidt.  “After last years disappointing end to the season and finishing third in the 4x400M after a dropped baton, the guys have all had a bitter taste in their mouths and a huge desire to get down to the state meet.”

 

“The two relay times put the foursome in a great position to do that with one or maybe both of those races.,” Schmidt said.

 

Other great performances and tuneups for the sections came from David Myres, who won both the 110M and 300M hurdles.  Sam Ricker won the 1600M and 3200M races with brothers Basil and Tyson finishing second and third in the 3200M. 

 

“It was pretty cool to see the top three places in that event go to the Ricker boys,” said Schmidt.   

 

Jack Belde had a  nice meet by bettering his performance in the long jump (18' 10.5") and the triple jump (39' 5.5").  Belde also was part of the winning 4x100M team along with Boros, Andres and Ethan Holm, who ran a top time of the year with a 45.52 time.

 

Holm finished third in the triple with a 38'10.75" leap and fifth in the long jump with a jump of 18'5.25’.    Nick Radunz continued to throw well in the disc with a toss of 120' .  Jacob Drury had a good high jump with a height of 5'6", good for third place.

 

Tyler Matvik and Braden Weber ran well in the 200M, taking third and fifth and proving that Becker has good speed returning for next year.  

 

“For some of our athletes, this was their last meet of the season while others move on to compete on Wednesday in Willmar at the Section 8AA prelims,” said Schmidt. “Hopefully many will move on to compete along with our relays at the finals on Saturday.”

 

 

At this meet in Zimmerman, Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy likes to allow her kids to try some different events and give her seniors a chance to try some of their favorite events one more time before they graduate.

 

Miranda O'Brien and Kayden Westin had great races and earned their new PR times in the 100M hurdles.  O'Brien placed second with a time of 16.27 and Westin third in 16.33.  Becker had several other runners do well in the hurdles with Callie Doucette running 18.24, Ayla Brown 18.96 and Sarah Woelfel 19.24.

 

The 100M had O'Brien finish in 14.41. The 200 meters top runner for Becker was Alicia Slosarek with a time of 31.15 and Rachel Larson running 31.91.

 

Becker’s 400M runners were led by Julia Bengtson placing second with a time of 63.66, Dani Nuest third with 65.57, Westin fourth in 65.78 and Madi Pleoger sixth in 68.72.

 

In the 800M, newcomer Elizabeth Mackadanz earned second place with a time of 2:32.51.

 

Becker had several girls in the 1600M. Their first runner was Victoria Kolbinger placing second (5:54.48), followed by Abby Nelson third (6:03.25) and Kayla Gruenes fourth (6:04.06).

 

Becker’s 4x200M relay team of Cassidy Pleoger, Westin, Abby Maruska and Keeley Holm took first with a time of 1:53.11. 

 

The 4x100M team of Keeley Holm, Tate Spinner, Abby Maruska and Cassidy Pleoger came in third with a time of   54.56.

 

In the 4x800M, Becker placed second with a 10:53.7 running Lexi Dehmer, Madi Pleoger, Whitney Schug and Alyssa Gruenes.

 

The 4x400M team of Ayla Brown, Jessica Gruenes, Whitney Schug and Miranda O'Brien took fourth in 4:35.15.

 

In the high jump, Alli Garding earned a PR of 4'8 for third and Sarah Woelfel tied for fourth with 4'6.

 

Cienna Pleoger was seventh in the long jump (14'3 3/4) and Gruenes ninth (14'2 3/4).

 

In the triple jump, Cienna placed ninth (31'8 1/2).

 

Madison Kerzman placed third in both the discus (99'0) and the shot put (33'3). McKenna Edling took fourth in the discus (91'6) and fifth in the shot (30'11 1/2).

 

 

Next week the teams travel to Willmar Wednesday for the Section 8AA pre lim. Saturday the finals are to be held in Moorhead.