The Becker Bulldog boys and girls track team competed Wednesday in Section 8AA prelims at Moorhead.
Girls Track
There were also several finals held for discus, high jump and long jump along with 3200 meters on the track.
The 3200M was the last event of the day and provided some great competition for the Bulldogs. Willmar took the top two spots (Kayla Rudie and Heidi Schmitz), which advanced to the state meet. They were given stiff competition by Brainerd's Meritt Miller, who stuck with them for seven of the eight laps and came in third.
Becker's runners ran great races, with Victoria Kolbinger not far off the leaders, who set a fast pace. Alli Hendrickson was back a bit in the first half of the race but worked her way back up to be close to Kolbinger in the last three laps.
They finished in fourth and sixth with a Sartell runner barely nipping Hendrickson at the finish line. Kolbinger’s time was 11:39.60 and Hendrickson’s, 11:41.20.
In other events, Becker girls earned seven personal record times. Miranda O'Brien took 11th in the 100 meter hurdles in 16.85 and Aubree Lahr took 13th in the 100 meter hurdles in 17.18.
Cassidy Pleoger PR’d in the 200M (28.16), Cienna Pleoger in the long jump (15' 5") Miranda O'Brien in the long jump (14'11"), Makenna Noaeill in the 400M (66.10) and Adeline Kent in the 800M (2:36.22).
In the 100M, Stommes finished in 13.43, C. Pleoger in 13.77 and Holm in 13.91.
In the 200M, C. Pleoger finished in 28.16, Adu-Gyanfi in 28.35 and Holm in 28.36.
In the 400M, Anderson completed the course in 65.23, Noaeill in 66.10 and Kirchner in 67.73.
In the 800M, Kent finished in 2:36.22, Lindquist in 2:36. 86 and Yoerg in 2:41.67.
In the 3200M, Kolbinger finished in 11:39.60 and Hendrickson in 11:41.20.
In the 100M hurdles, O'Brien crossed the line at 16.85 and Lahr in 17.18.
In the 300M hurdles, O'Brien finished in 52.32 and Lahr in 52.57.
In high jump, Hendrickson leapt 4'8 and Hubbard 4'6.
In the long jump, Cienna Pleoger soared to 15'5 and O'Brien to 14'11.
In discus, Madi Kerzman tossed a 105'5 and McKenna Edling 79'00.
Saturday (today) will feature the finals in all other events and the relays at Sauk Rapids/Rice with field events at 9:30 a.m., running at 10 a.m.
Boys Track
“The prelims went pretty much as planned with a few added bonuses,” said Head Coach Paul Schmidt.
Austin Hemmelgarn advanced to the finals in the 100M and the 200M, running personal best times in both events. In the 100M, Hemmelgarn ran 11.38 and in the 200M he turned in the third best time at 22.92.
“Austin is definitely peaking at the right time,” said Schmidt.
Kevin Andres did exactly what Schmidt expected him to do by winning his heat in the 400M easily and moving on to the finals Saturday.
Sidney Boros surprised everybody by gaining the eighth spot in the finals and will race Saturday. Boros just returned to the lineup from injury a week ago and ran a great race to earn that final spot.
Matt Davalos will run the 300M hurdles Saturday as he finished with the fastest non-winning time.
Some of the events on Wednesday were finals and Ethan Holm saved his best for last. Holm came into the triple jump ranked 15th and had a great day. Holm leapt to a 41'2.5" triple jump, which was a personal best by almost two feet and earned him a sixth place medal.
Dawson Thom and Sam Ricker also had good showings in the shot put and the 3200M run. Thom had a personal best by almost two feet and made the finals in the shot put with a toss of 46' 2", finishing in ninth place. Ricker ran a 10:14 in the two mile and finished in ninth place.
Both Thom and Ricker were one place off the medal stand.
Saturday will be the finals of all running events and the relays where Becker has a 4x800M and 4x400M team running.
“Hopefully we can find a way to get some of our athletes down to state,” said Schmidt.
Finals start at 9:30 a.m. in Sauk Rapids.
