The Becker Bulldog boys and girls track teams traveled to Foley last weekend to participate in their first Granite Ridge Conference  indoor track and field meet of the 2016 season. 

 

“It was an exciting start to our season with the Becker girls finishing in first place as a team,” said Head Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy.  

 

Reimer-Kealy’s girls started off with an exciting 4x800 relay, which went back and forth between Milaca and  Becker. The Bulldogs prevailed under the talents of Julia Bengtson, Alli Hendrickson, Tate Spinner and Lexi Dehmer.  

 

Becker’s other relays were the 4x200  (Sam Angell, Shannon Sydow, Lexi Michels and Kayden Westin) placing sixth and the 4x400 team (Kayden Westin, Miranda O'Brien, Julia Bengtson, Lexi Dehmer) placing fourth.

 

In the individual events, Becker earned five more first places; Angell in the 55 Hurdles, Bengtson in the 1600, Dehmer in the 800, Madi Kerzman in the shot put, and Morgan Youngdahl in the high jump.

 

Becker’s lone second place finish came from Alli Hendrickson in the 1600, where she was close behind Bengtson as those two worked together well in their race.

 

Seniors were big contributors Saturday with Angell placing in all four of her events (hurdles, 4x200, 400 and high jump) and Youngdahl winning the high jump and placing third in the long jump. 

New-comer Alex Johnson placed seventh in the triple jump in her very first competition, Shannon Sydow placed seventh in the 55 and also ran on the 4x200. 

 

A special mention goes out to Hannah Schmidt, who has been recovering from a high ankle sprain and has been limited in her participation. With  a modified approach, she still placed third in the pole vault.

 

Kailey Cleaver also supplied leadership as she participated in the pole vault and did well.

 

1). Becker 101.625;  2). Foley 97.125;  3). Little Falls 89.75; 4). Mora 85; 5). Albany 53.25; 6). Milaca 43.125; 7). Zimmerman 41.125; 8). St Cloud Cathedral 34.

 

4x800 relay: Bengtson, Hendrickson, Spinner, Dehmer 10:46.45 (1st); 55 hurdles: Angell 9.59 (1st),  Miranda O'Brien 10.46, Kaitlyn Janisch 11.44; 55 dash: Sydow 8;23 (7th); Lexi Michels 8.30 (9th),  Summer Somrock 9.13; 4x200 relay: Angell, Sydow, Michels, Westin 2:01.48 (6th); 1600 run: Bengtson 5:47.21 (1st), Hendrickson 5:48.65 (2nd),  Victoria Kolbinger 6:10.9 (11th);    400 meters: Westin 70.22 (7th),  Angell 70.85 (8th), M. O'Brien 71.03  (9th); 800 run:  Dehmer 2:32.73 (1st), Jada Rositas 2:55.42 (9th), Alli Garding 2: 58.51 (12th);  200 dash: Payton Anderson 30.67 (9th), Allyna Storms 31.40 (16th), Michels 31.8 (17th); 4x400 relay: Westin, O"Brien, Bengtson, Dehmer  4:42.5 (4th).

 

Shot Put: Madison Kerzman 33:5 (1st),  Reana Cavegn 25.9, Jessica Sand 20.9; Long Jump: Youngdahl 14'9 1/4 (3rd),  O"Brien 13'3 (8th),  Janisch 10' 3/4"; Triple Jump: Johnson 27'10 1/4 (7th), Youngdahl 27' 1/4 (11th),  Bailee Thorson 20'9; High Jump: Youngdahl 4' 8 (1st),  Angell 4'6 (5th), Lawrence 4'4  (6th); Pole Vault: Schmidt 8'  (3rd),  Keeley Holm 6' (8th).

 

The boys track team came ever-so-close to bringing home a conference championship in Foley.  Seven hundredths of a second separated the boys from first and second place.  

 

With the meet on the line, the Becker boys 4x400 relay team — consisting of Sydney Boros, Kevin Andres, Mathew Davalos and Andrew Davalos — were nipped at the finish line by the team from Foley.

 

That win gave Foley the extra two points they needed to beat Becker 104-103 in the team competition.

 

“We talked about it as a team afterwards and we discussed all the different places in the meet where an extra inch or two in the field events or an extra tenth of a second in a race can make a difference,” said Head Coach Paul Schmidt. “But man, I tell you, that was a fun meet and to have the kids compete the way they did was exciting.”

 

Two indoor records we captured by Bulldog athletes and teams. 

 

Dillon Radunz now owns the new GRC shot put record as he took first place with a throw of 51' 1".  The boys 4x200 team, consisting of Beau Pauly, Sydney Boros, Kevin Andres and Andrew Davalos, set the new indoor record at 1:37.21.

 

Other place winners were  Pauly (4th) and Alex Meidt (5th) in the 55 Meter Dash.  Andrew Davalos took second in the 400 and his brother, Mathew, finished in fifth place.  Brett Parson captured fifth place in the 800 and Luke Pappenfus finished eighth.  Parson also helped lead the 4x800 team to a fourth place finish along with teammates Olsen Pancoast, Jonathan Novak and Justin Kringler.

 

 Pancoast also placed seventh in the 1600.

 

Pauly (2nd) and Andres (3rd) ran in the 200 and Pauly added a third place finish in the long jump with a jump of 17' 9.5".

 

William Schendel had a nice meet for Becker, placing fifth in the pole vault, seventh in the high jump and seventh in the triple jump.

 

Brady Scheeley finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 37' 3.5 " and Ethan Holm grabbed the eighth place spot in the triple jump.

 

In addition to Dillon winning the shot put, Becker had two others make finals. 

 

Brady Roesler placed eighth with a throw of 39'6" and Dawson Thom placed ninth.

 

“As you can see, while we only had firsts in two events, we had many other places that all add up to our team score,” said the head coach.  “I feel we have much more depth as a team this year and it was really exciting for the kids and coaches to be in it right up till that last race.”

 

Outdoor competition starts for the Bulldogs Monday (weather permitting) at a meet in Zimmerman.