STILLWATER — While it was a rough Saturday for a pair of teams with top three aspirations, the athletes on the Willmar boys and girls track and field teams weren’t dwelling on it.
At the end of the Class AA State True Team Championship Meet, members of both Cardinal teams were sprinting up and down the sidelines of the Stillwater High School football field to cheer on teammates in the 4x400-meter relay. While waiting for scores to be announced — both Willmar teams placed sixth — the kids’ spirits were high, with the occasional game of Duck, Duck, Gray Duck breaking out.
“They’re not too hung up on it,” said Willmar head coach Connor Haugen. “We were pretty bummed mid-meet, so we injected some energy into things and played with pride.”
The Willmar boys finished with 418.5 points. St. Thomas Academy locked up the boys team title with 561 points, followed by Mankato East with 555 and Stewartville with 486.
The girls finished with 525.5, putting them in a tie for sixth with Belle Plaine. Central Lakes Conference rival Rocori claimed the girls title with 589.5, followed by Mankato East with 551 and Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball with 471.
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“Ultimately in a day in which we needed excellence, not a lot of our kids had great days,” Haugen said. “In race after race, we didn’t perform to where we have done in the past. That lack of consistency kind of cost us because we know what we could have done.
“There’s still more to the season. It’s not the end of the world.”
On the track, Lauren Eilers had Willmar’s top finish. She won the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 22.41 seconds. She was also part of a 4x800 relay team that placed second at 9:57.28.
“I started out at a comfortable pace and just tried to stay in front,” Eilers said of her 800 win. “In the second lap, I just went for it.”
On the 4x800, Eilers added, “The three other people PR’d in that race, so after they said that, I said ‘Dang, I have to go, too.’”
Lauren’s twin sister, Erin, placed third in the girls’ 3,200 in 11:52.37. The girls’ 4x400 relay was the runner-up in 4:08.33. For the boys, William Sportel took fourth in the 300 hurdles (41.25) and Sam Raitz placed fifth in the 400 at 53.08.
Both Willmar squads found plenty of success in the field events. The throwers, in particular, pieced together a strong afternoon.
Leading the way was Makenna Larson, who won the girls’ shot put after a first-place toss of 39 feet, 6.75 inches on her last throw of the competition.
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“Everything felt pretty good,” Larson said on the winning throw. “The energy was good from my coaches and teammates all around. The energy really helped. The ball came off my hand and smiles all around.”
Avery Quinn took second in girls discus after uncorking a throw of 117-8.
Opposite of Larson, Hayden Venenga unleashed his biggest throw in the first throw of the entire boys’ discus competition at 144-5, putting him in third. It was a personal best for the junior.
“I had really good footwork,” Venenga said. “The release could have been a lot better, which is promising. It flipped mid-air. Hopefully it’ll go farther in the next meet.
“Usually my first or second throw (is the best).”
Jonathan Ritz added a fifth-place finish in the boys’ shot put at 49-8.75.
“It shows what the hard work does and how it pays off,” Larson said of the throwers’ efforts on Saturday. “I’m just glad everyone did good and had their own part in it.”
Venenga added, “We have a really good group that should continue to get better for the rest of the season.”
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The pole vault had a pair of top-five finishes, with Koda Helfinstine placing third for the boys (12-9) and Lyndi Koosman fifth for the girls (9-6).
Koosman also placed fifth in the girls’ triple jump (34-1.5). Ezra May was fifth in the boys’ triple jump (40-11.75).
“Field events were very strong,” Haugen said.
The Cardinals have the Central Lakes Conference championship coming up at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Sartell. Between that and the Section 8AA meet, Haugen’s hope is to rekindle the teams’ belief to have a strong end-of-year showing.
“For the boys, for the most part, it was average or below average. Even with that, our team was vying for fourth place at the end,” Haugen said. “There’s still conference and there’s still sections that we have to focus on.”
Class AA State True Team
GIRLS TEAM SCORING -- (1) Rocori 589.5 … (2) Mankato East 551 … (3) Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 471 … (4) Detroit Lakes 469 … (5) Byron 426.5 … (6t) Willmar 425.5 … (6t) Belle Plaine 425.5 … (8) Chisago Lakes 386.5 … (9) Winona 361.5 … (10) Mound-Westonka 360 … (11) Simley 343 … (12) Holy Angels 332
Winner and area finishes
100 HURDLES – (1) Cecelia Woods, R, 14.77 … (14) Telilie Lange, Will, 17.99 … (22) Sophia Quinn, Will, 20.35
300 HURDLES – (1) Woods, R, 45.70 … (20) Lange, W, 54.11 … (23) Kezia May 55.33
100 DASH – (1) Ashley Fisher, HA, 12.28 … (17) Deshawna Hodges, Will, 13.24 … (22) Mallory Beier, Will, 13.36
200 DASH – (1) Fisher, HA, 25.36 … (13) Hodges, Will, 27.52 … (16) Beier, Will, 27.83
400 DASH – (1) Ellie Kuechle, EVWK, 56.75 … (8) Lauren Eilers, Will, 1:01.02 … (11) Lyndi Koosman, Will, 1:03.12
800 RUN – (1) L. Eilers, Will, 2:22.41 … (12) Hannah Quinn, Will, 2:32.98
1,600 RUN – (1) Emmy Schulz, ME, 5:16.60 … (6) Sophia Negen, Will, 5:27.77 … (10) H. Quinn, Will, 5:38.76
3,200 RUN – (1) Annika Hall, CL, 11:28.74 … (3) Erin Eilers, Will, 11:52.37 … (DQ) Negen, Will
4X100 RELAY – (1) Belle Plaine 49.96 … (12) Willmar 56.48
4X200 RELAY – (1) Mound-Westonka 1:47.57 … (12) Willmar 1:55.40
4X400 RELAY – (1) EVW/Kimball 4:06.54 … (2) Willmar 4:08.33
4X800 RELAY – (1) Mankato East 9:47.12 … (2) WIllmar 9:57.28
HIGH JUMP – (1) Paige Halder, B, 5-2 … (12t) E. Eilers, Will, 4-6 … (12t) Maddie Villnow, Will, 4-6
LONG JUMP – (1) Brielle Kuechle, EVWK, 17-10.5 … (8) Hodges, Will, 15-7.75 … (10) Beier, Will, 15-7.25
TRIPLE JUMP – (1) Ayisat Adebay, S, 35-5.25 … (5) Koosman, Will, 34-1.5 … (17) Carlee Brown, Will, 30-4.5
POLE VAULT – (1) Rylie Hansen, ME, 11-0 … (5) Koosman, Will, 9-6 … (21t) Lily Bastin, Will, 7-0
DISCUS – (1) Shay Berlin-Burns, Win, 131-8 … (2) Avery Quinn, Will, 117-8 … (17) Meryl Bos, Will, 88-3
SHOT PUT – (1) Makenna Larson, Will, 39-6.75 … (12) A. Quinn, Will, 32-10.5
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BOYS TEAM SCORING -- (1) St. Thomas Academy 561 … (2) Mankato East 555 … (3) Stewartville 486 … (4) Worthington 447.5 … (5) Faribault 423.5 … (6) Willmar 418.5 … (7) Pine Island 417.5 … (8) Rocori 386 … (9) Detroit Lakes 376 … (10) Cloquet 365 … (11) Totino-Grace 359 … (12) Byron 323
Winner and area finishes
110 HURDLES – (1) Abagotte Opiew, Wor, 15.34 … (7) Ezra May, Will, 16.18 … (10) William Sportel, Will, 16.64
300 HURDLES – (1) Marenono Opiew, Wor, 40.50 … (4) Sportel, Will, 41.25 … (7) May, Will, 43.28
100 DASH – (1) Aaron Stewart, ME, 11.01 … (13) Sam Raitz, Will, 11.50 … (20) Evan Burgess, Will, 11.94
200 DASH – (1) Stewart, ME, 21.94 … (12) Raitz, Will, 23.49 … (18) Burgess, Will, 24.23
400 DASH – (1) Stewart, ME, 50.77 … (5) Raitz, Will, 53.08 … (8) Kadar Muhumed, Will, 53.46
800 RUN – (1) Matthew Lindgren, TG, 1:59.20 … (21) Eli Heinen, Will, 2:14.54 … (24) Andrew Garcia, Will, 2:18.78
1,600 RUN – (1) Lindgren, TG, 4:20.83 … (8) Fathi Dubet, Will, 4:37.37 … (17) Alex Marcus, Will, 5:04.00
3,200 RUN – (1) Miles Fischer, C, 9:50.41 … (7) Dubet, Will, 10:09.19 … (12) Brandon Zepeda, Will, 10:40.28
4X100 RELAY – (1) St. Thomas Academy 43.16 … (DQ) Willmar
4X200 RELAY – (1) Faribault 1:31.05 … (11) Willmar 1:36.84
4X400 RELAY – (1) Worthington 3:29.28 … (11) Willmar 3:46.18
4X800 RELAY – (1) Worthington 8:10.90 … (6) Willmar 8:38.20
HIGH JUMP – (1) Ryan Stites, B, 6-4 … (15) Rich Becker, Will, 5-6 … (N/A) Raitz, Will, NH
LONG JUMP – (1) Savion Hart, STA, 21-4.5 … (7) Sportel, Will, 19-1.75 … (11) Kadar Muhumed, Will, 18-11.75
TRIPLE JUMP – (1) A. Opiew, Wor, 44-0.5 … (5) May, Will, 40-11.75 … (13) Sportel, Will, 39-1.5
POLE VAULT – (1) Sam Knox, PI, 13-3 … (3) Koda Helfinstine, Will, 12-9 … (8) Tyler Evans, Will, 12-0
DISCUS – (1) Torasbjorn Lunaas, S, 173-10 … (3) Hayden Venenga, Will, 144-5 … (14) Jacob Flannigan, Will, 119-6
SHOT PUT – (1) Lunaas, S, 52-5.5 … (5) Jonathan Ritz, Will, 49-8.75 … (12) Flannigan, Will, 44-5.75
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