Champions returning to defend 26 individual titles, nine relay titles
Twenty-six individual event champions and representatives from nine relay teams that won gold medals last year have qualified to defend those titles this Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11, when high school athletes gather at Hamline University in St. Paul for the 2011 State Track and Field Meet.
Preliminaries in track events for both classes will be conducted on Friday. All of the 3,200-meter run events will be finals only on Friday, as will be some field events. Friday’s schedule begins at 9:00 a.m. with the Class AA competition. The Class A events are scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m., but possibly may start later depending on the pace of the Class AA meet. The same schedule will be followed on Saturday.
Class A Girls Highlights
Champions return in seven individual events and one relay.
Analisa Huschle, a senior at Bagley/Fosston, is looking for her third consecutive title in the long jump and the triple jump. She set the Class A record in the triple jump last year and is the top qualifier in both events this year.
Katlyn Sawtelle, a Luverne senior, will defend her 100-meter high hurdle title with a qualifying time of 16.63. Senior Alanna Dietz of New London-Spicer owns the fastest qualifying time of 15.15.
Senior Bree Woelber of Pipestone Area returns in search of more gold in the 300-meter hurdles. She shares the fastest qualifying time of 45.32 with senior Danielle Larson of St. Peter.
In the 1600-meter run, Kasson-Mantorville junior Taylor Mikkalson will race for a second-consecutive title. Her qualifying time is 5:25.32. McKenzie Holt, a ninth-grader at St. Cloud Christian School, has the best time of 5:08.90.
Junior Ashley Thooft of St. Clair will defend her shot put championship. She holds the best qualifying put of 41-09.00.
Sophomore Malayshia George of Breck School of Golden Valley is the final returning champion. She won the 400-meter dash last year and holds this year’s fastest qualifying time of 57.36.
The KoMets of Kasson-Mantorville are looking for their third consecutive crown in the 4x800 relay and they own this year’s best qualifying time of 9:33.11.
Class A Boys Highlights
Three individuals and representatives of two relay teams are returning to defend titles.
Calvin Clark, a senior at St. Paul Humboldt, returns to defend his title in three events: the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 400-meter dash. He also owns the fastest qualifying time in each event: 11.07 in the 100, 21.85 in the 200, and 49.35 in the 400.
Defending champions also return in two of the distance races. Junior Mubarik Musa of Worthington is looking for his second consecutive crown in the 1600-meter run and senior Mason Ferlic of Mounds Park Academy of St. Paul is searching for more gold in the 3200-meter run. Wasbasha-Kellogg senior Cullen Shanrock has the fastest qualifying time of 4:24.20 in the 1600, and Ferlic owns the best time of 9:31.54 in the 3200.
The 4x200 team from Pipestone Area will attempt to win its second title, but must get past Caledonia/Spring Grove which has a qualifying time of 1:31.09, more than one second faster than Pipestone Area’s time of 1:32.94.
Jackson County Central’s 4x800 team returns for more gold. Its qualifying time of 8:30.97 is nearly 13 seconds slower than the top qualifying time of 8:17.54 belonging to Fairmont.
Class AA Girls Highlights
The Class AA girls field is well represented with previous title holders. Defending champions in 10 individual events return and representatives from all four medal-winning relay teams will be competing.
Richfield sophomore Jessica January will defend her title in both the 100-meter high hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. She owns the best qualifying time of 14.67 in the 100 hurdles, but Hopkins junior Mariah Witt has the fastest qualifying time of 44.56 in the 300.
Sashanavian Davis, a senior at Park Center of Brooklyn Park, is also defending multiple titles. She won the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter dashes in 2010 and returns in every event. She owns the best qualifying time in both the 100 (12.34) and 200 (24.45), but she’ll face tough competition from Duluth Central senior Paige Stratioti in the 400. Stratioti’s qualifying time is 55.83 to Davis’ 56.90.
The 1600- and 3200-meter runs may also be premier events with a battle between Alexandria junior Jamie Piepenberg and Shakopee sophomore Maria Hauger. Piepenberg won the 1600 last year, but Hauger has this year’s best qualifying time of 5:04.36. Conversely, Hauger won the 3200 in 2010, but Piepenberg has the fastest qualifying time of 10:48.81 this year.
Hopkins is looking to repeat in three relays: the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400. The Royals have the best qualifying time of 3:56.35 in the 4x400, but Apple Valley has the fastest qualifying time in the 4x100 (47.53) and Osseo has the best qualifying time in the 4x200 (1:41.81).
Roseville Area is the final returning relay team. The Raiders will try to make it two in a row in the 4x800, but Rochester Century’s best qualifying time of 9:14.97 is nearly 27 seconds faster.
Alexandria senior Rosey Erickson qualified to defend her long jump title and is almost a foot off the best jump of 18-08.00 which belongs to Farmington sophomore Nadia Lorencz.
Eastview of Apple Valley senior Alexandra Beckman will defend her triple jump title. Her qualifying jump of 36-06.50 is more than a foot behind the top qualifying jump belonging to Edina junior Kathryn Biewen.
Maggie Ewen, a sophomore at St. Francis, is the final returning individual. She is looking for her second consecutive discus title and has this year’s best qualifying throw of 165-07. It’s worth noting that Ewen’s qualifying throw surpasses the All-Time State Meet record of 162-04 set by Jessica Cagle of Grand Rapids in 2006.
Class AA Boys Highlights
Many new champions will be crowned, with only two relays and four individuals qualifying to defend 2010 titles.
Junior Rilwan (RJ) Alowonle of Park of Cottage Grove will defend his 300-meter hurdles title. He has the second-fastest qualifying time of 38.95, behind senior Jerome Begin of Buffalo with 38.32.
The 4x200 relay team from White Bear Lake Area is looking for its third consecutive title. Last year’s squad of Ryan Olson, Matt Glasgow, Cody Thibault, and John McCoy set a new All-Time State Meet record of 1:27.63 in the preliminaries. Their qualifying time of 1:28.95 this year ranks third. Hopkins has the best qualifying time of 1:28.50.
Wayzata returns in search of a third consecutive gold medal in the 4x800. The team qualified with the fastest time of 8:01.06.
Senior Trevor Yedoni of Benilde-St. Margaret’s of St. Louis Park, senior Rumeal Harris of Eden Prairie, and senior Michael Sandle of Eden Prairie round out the returning champions. Yedoni is looking for his second title in the high jump and Harris is seeking his second in the long jump. Frank Veldman, a senior at Eastview of Apple Valley, owns the best qualifying jump in both events. He jumped 6-11.00 in the high jump and 23-04.00 in the long jump.
Sandle, who qualified to defend his triple jump crown, also has the best qualifying distance of 50-04.50. That distance is almost a foot farther than he jumped last year when he set a new All-Time State Meet record at 49-5.50.
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