Becker boys track coach Paul Schmidt has to like what he sees when he looks at his team’s lineup.  Not only are his veterans performing at a high level, but the future also looks bright as some of his younger athletes are showing flashes of excellence.

Both ends of the spectrum were on display last Friday as the team finished second place at a four team event held in Pierz.

Becker scored 67 points, second only to Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball’s score of 77.  The host Pioneers finished with 44 points, followed by Upsala-Swanville’s 26.

Schmidt said his team was again at less than full strength because of some injuries and illness, but still strung together some impressive performances.

Cade Stommes again led the way by winning the Pole Vault (10’6”) and the Triple Jump (34’7”). 

A pair of 8th graders also performed extremely well for the Bulldogs, with Owen Angel placing second in the Pole Vault (10’) and Carter Reckelberg placing third in the Triple Jump (33’5”) and winning the Long Jump (17’6”).  

“It is really exciting to see these 8th graders compete in their events at this level,” Schmidt said.  “These are really great jumps by 8th graders.”

Angell also grabbed a 2nd place in 300 Meter hurdles with a time fo 48.29 and Reckelberg took a 4th place in the 200 with a time of 26.52.

In the distance races, Tyson Ricker led the way in the Mile and 2 Mile races, winning both events in personal record times (4:42.91 in the 1600 and 10:31.53 in the 3200).  “Tyson has really worked hard in the offseason to get himself in track condition,” Schmidt said.  “He is one of those athletes that I would like to be able to have in 4 events, but the nature of the 1600 and 3200 makes that difficult.”

Lukas Karel finished 2nd in both distance races, running personal best times in both as well (1600 - 4:57.07 and 3200 - 10:53.7).  

Other notable performances came from Michael Schmitz in the 110 Hurdles, where he grabbed a second place finish with a time of 19.33, as well as a 4th place finish in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 52.1.  Caleb Reckelberg and Alex Kinney ran good races in the 800, with Caleb taking second (2:28.58) and Alex taking fourth ( 2:33.4). 

Becker was scheduled to participate Tuesday in a track meet in Big Lake, but inclement weather forced a postponement until late May.  Thursday that team traveled back to Pierz for another meet.  Details will be available in next weeks Patriot.