MN State Boys' and Girls' Track and Field Meet

Champions returning to defend 25 individual titles, 11 relay titles

            Twenty-five individual champions and representatives from 11 relay teams that won gold medals last year have qualified to defend those titles this Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7, when high school athletes gather at Hamline University in St. Paul for the 2014 State Track and Field Meet.

            Preliminaries in track events for both classes will be conducted on Friday, as well as a few finals. All of the 3,200-meter events will be run as 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 3:30 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 five individual events and three relays.

            Vanessa Lane, a Pequot Lakes senior, will defend her 100-meter dash title. Ninth-grader Jia Lewis of Minneapolis Edison owns the fastest qualifying time of 11.91.

            In the 100-meter hurdles, Staples-Motley senior Jaelin Beachy will race for a third consecutive title. Fairmont junior Sierra Schultz has the best qualifying time of 15.14.

            Blue Earth Area sophomore Taylor Grandgenett is looking for her second consecutive crown in the 300-meter hurdles. Brielle Bierman, a senior at La Crescent owns the fastest qualifying time of 45.77.

Sophomore Katie Heilman returns for a second shot at the triple jump title. She also qualified with the best jump of 37-05.25.

Senior Katelyn Weber of St. Clair is the final returning champion. She is seeking her second consecutive title in shot put. She owns the best qualifying put of 45-00.00.

            The Osakis Silverstreaks return in search of their third consecutive title in the 4x400. They will face tough competition from Blue Earth Area which qualified with the fastest qualifying time of 4:02.89.

            Pequot Lakes returns to defend its title in the 4x100 with the best qualifying time of 50.39.

            Chatfield is the final returning relay team. The Gophers are looking for their second consecutive title in the 4x200. La Crescent comes in with the fastest qualifying time of 1:45.84.

            Class A Boys Highlights

            Five individuals and representatives of one relay team are returning to defend titles.

            Tyler Beehler, a senior at Foley, returns to defend his titles in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Senior CJ Moise Damey of Prairie Seeds Academy of Brooklyn Park has the fastest qualifying time of 10.73 in the 100, and Beehler owns the fastest qualifying time of 21.88 in the 200.

            Junior Shane Streich of Waseca, who has the best qualifying time of 4:18.55, is looking for his second consecutive title in the 1600-meter run.

            Junior Jon Tollefson of St. Croix Lutheran of West St. Paul is searching for more gold in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. Tollefson has the fastest qualifying time of 14.54 in the 110-meter hurdles. Mitchell Kollodge, a senior at Albany, enters the 300-meter hurdles with the fastest time of 39.48.

            Senior Tyler Tappe of Pequot Lakes, who has the highest qualifying vault of 14-06.00, is looking for his second consecutive title in the pole vault.

            Eighth-grader Blake Collier of St. James Area is in the hunt for his second consecutive title in the shot put-wheelchair. He qualified with a put of 10-02.75.

            Perham’s 4x800-meter relay team returns for more gold. Holdingford has the fastest qualifying time of 8:11.33.

            Class AA Girls Highlights

                The Class AA girls’ field is well represented with previous title holders. Defending champions in nine individual events return and representatives from all four medal-winning relay teams will be competing.

            Senior Stacy Bates of Andover returns to defend her title in the 100-meter dash-wheelchair. She also has the fastest qualifying time of 22.73.

            Senior Megan Linder of Cretin-Derham Hall of St. Paul returns in search of her third consecutive title in the 400-meter dash. Linder’s teammate, sophomore Brieasha Hunter, owns this year’s best qualifying time of 55.08.

            Senior Jolyne Super of Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony Village is looking for her second championship in the 800-meter-wheelchair event. She will face tough competition from Delano junior Marissa Bartels, who qualified with the fastest time of 2:50.84.

            Junior Jenna Truedson of Bemidji is in the hunt for her second crown in the 1600-meter run. Sophomore Bethany Hasz of Alexandria owns the best qualifying time of 4:56.10.

            Titles in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles may belong to Rosemount junior Rachel Schow, having won both last year, but she does not have the best qualifying time in either event this year. Blaine junior Alexandra Williams qualified with the best time of 14.21 in the 100, and Thief River Falls sophomore Meleah Biermaier qualified with the fastest time 43.00 in the 300.

            Lakeville South junior Caraline Slattery qualified to defend her high jump title, but was two inches off the best qualifying jump of 5-08.00, which belongs to Kasson-Mantorville junior Taylor Wiebke.

            Minnetonka senior Mia Barron is looking for her second title in the long jump and qualified with the best jump of 19-10.00.

            Rochester Century sophomore Andrianna Jacobs set the All-Time State Meet record of 13-00.00 in the pole vault last year and she owns the best qualifying vault of 12-03.00 this year.

            The Hopkins Royals are looking for their fourth consecutive title in the 4x100-meter relay. Last year’s team of Dami Manuel-Moore, Elise Anderson, Siona Fitzhugh, and Taylor Anderson set a new All-Time State Meet record of 47.48. A team from Woodbury enters this year’s meet with the best qualifying time of 48.67.

            The two-time defending champion Minnetonka Skippers return a relay team to both the 4x400- and 4x800-meter events. The Skippers also own the fastest qualifying time in each event — 3:54.97 in the 4x400 and 9:12.04 in the 4x800.

            Prior Lake is the final defending relay champion. They won the 4x200 last year, but Waconia has this year’s best qualifying time of 1:42.37.

            Class AA Boys Highlights

            Three relays and six individuals qualified to defend their 2013 titles.

            Senior Shaheed Hickman of Hopkins will defend his 100-meter dash title with the best qualifying time of 10.57.

            Junior Akeem Sirleaf of North of North St. Paul also returns, looking for his second consecutive crown in the 200-meter dash. Karl Olsen, a senior at Bloomington Jefferson, has the best qualifying time of 21.89.

            Richfield senior Obsa Ali is looking for his second consecutive title in the 3200-meter run, but Hopkins junior Joe Klecker has the best qualifying time of 9:06.62.

            Stillwater Area sophomore Eli Krahn is looking for more gold in the 1600-meter run. Ali, however, has the fastest qualifying time of 4:11.57.

            Bloomington Jefferson senior Matthew Rosen is looking for his second title in the 800-meter run. Eden Prairie senior Cal Lawton has the fastest qualifying time of 1:52.52.

            Hopkins senior Terrance Bowers is looking to repeat in the triple jump. Anoka junior Kyeric Baynes has the best qualifying jump of 47-08.00.

            Wayzata is looking for a second consecutive title in the 4x200-meter relay and a third consecutive championship in the 4x400-meter relay. The Trojans’ 4x200 team of Michael Smith, Jeff Borchardt, James Smith, and Chris Pierson set a new All-Time State Meet record of 1:26.92 in 2013. Wayzata owns the fastest qualifying time in both events: 1:27.06 in the 4x200 and 3:19.65 in the 4x400.

            The 4x800-meter relay team from Eden Prairie is looking to defend its 2013 title. Stillwater Area owns this year’s best qualifying time of 7:55.36.