These are the kids that qualified for the Section 7A track meet held last Friday at the University of Minnesota Duluth. (L-R) Jessica Berg-Collman, Ailee Larson, Molly Zafft, Peter Warren, Kieran Scannell, Rachel Todd, Amber Todd, and Matea Acero. Larson, Scannell and Zafft all qualified for the State Track meet.
Heading down to the Section 7A finals Friday, June 3, we were pretty confident that three-time state meet participants Ailee Larson and Kieran Scannell would make it through to state. Beyond that we were just happy to have eight athletes at the Section finals. Track is a very hard sport to qualify for the state meet. There are 30 teams in the section, only two individuals go to state in each event, and there is no team qualifying. For the rest of our qualifiers, the goal was to close the season with a personal best, and maybe get a medal for a top 6 performance. Lofty, but attainable results.
First up for the Vikings was Rachel Todd in the 100 hurdles preliminary race. The 100- meter dash and hurdles have preliminary rounds with the top 8 times qualifying for finals, other event only have finals. Rachel came into the meet as the number 9 seed. So we were all happy that she squeaked into the finals as the number 8 qualifier, with an 18.15 PR. We were delighted and shocked when she took another 3/10s of a second off her best in the finals and placed 4th. What a way to start!
Molly Zafft ran a lifetime best of 26.83 in the 200 meters at the Section 7A track meet. Zafft won the slow heat and finished second overall to qualify for state.
Next came Peter Warren in the 100 dash. Peter was the #8 seed, so again we were hoping for a spot in the final. He came through, finishing with the 4th best time, a PR of 11.7. In the finals, Peter got out a half step slow and “only” finished 4th. Our second medal and PR in 2 events. All right!
Our girls’ 4×200 relay team of Molly Zafft, Ailee Larson, Amber Todd and Jessica Berg- Collman were our only qualified relay team, with a 5th seed. We were shooting to catch Albrook/ Cherr y who came in about a second faster than we had. Molly and Ailee, our fastest 200 runners, got us in the hunt with favorites Esko and Marshall, but surprisingly, Albrook was right there. Although Amber and Jessica brought ushomeina1secondPR,itwasn’t enough,asAlbrookgota4secondPR. We did medal, finishing 5th.
Scannell scores ticket to State
Then came Kieran in the mile. As mentioned last week, he was trying to qualify for state in both the 1 and 2 mile. It was a daunting task, as none of the other top runners were doing the same. He came in as number 2 in both, behind Proctor’s Romeo Benish in the mile and Matt Welch in the 2 mile. Plus, long time archrival Jackson Lindquist was in the 2 mile. At the gun, Romeo was predictably off like a shot. Surprisingly, the number 3-5 seeds followed him to 61-second first lap. That wasn’t going to last, but Kieran stayed a short distance back, just in case. By the 3rd lap, they were toast. Kieran finished with Romeo in sight and the others over 10 seconds back. A PR of 4:33, and more importantly,
a ticket punched for the state meet.
Ailee came in as a big favorite in the ½ mile, not really having been pushed to the max yet this season. Her combination of great endurance (a top 1/3 finish in the state cross country meet at 2.5 miles) and great sprint speed is hard to beat. Talking to some of the other top girls, she heard the north subsection girls had run 2:25 – wrong, don’t listen to that I told her, “no one in the field is close to you.” If no one takes it out fast enough, she might have to keep it honest by leading. If they do go out hard, great, just wait until the final 100. They did go out hard, so plan B was on. Coming around the final corner, she kicked it into high gear. And it was a thing of beauty, as she quickly opened up a 15-yard lead and cruised to victory in a season best of 2:22. A second ticket to state!
Zafft surprises with second
Next was Molly in the 200 dash. As the 9th seed, she was stuck as the fastest runner in the slow heat. So when she won that heat by a couple strides, we were happy, hoping not too many of the girls in the fast heat beat her, so she could medal. We couldn’t believe it when they awarded the medals right after race. Not 8th, not 7th … no place? Then “2nd, Molly Zafft of Cook County in 26.83”, a big PR and only 3/100’s of a second out of first. I about fell over. 3 to state!
Peter Warren quickly followed in the boys’ 200. As the number 6 seed, we were hopeful. But another half-step slow start, and Peter was unable to close the gap, finishing 10th in 24.2, just off of his 24.0 PR. Meanwhile Amber ran into bad luck in the long jump, fouling on her first 2 of 3 tries, having to settle for a conservative 13’ 0.5” safe final jump, good for 13th place.
Next up, and last for us, was the 2-mile. Seventh-grader Matea Acero was the 13th seed in the 2-mile. Her plan was to start out in the back of the 14-girl field, and pick them off in the last half of the race. She started out correctly, but started her move a little too early. After a rough stretch in the middle, she dug deep and climbed up to 10th place in a 10 second PR time of 13:14.
After a 2-hour rest, Kieran came back for the 2 mile. Jackson had dropped out of the relays, saving himself for this race. He knew Matt and Kieran could out-sprint him if they were close at the end. His plan would be to force the pace, to get rid of one or the other. They all had PR’s of about 10:00, so 75-second laps would be the rule. At the gun, Jackson immediately took the lead, and the top 3 separated from the field. Jackson pushed the 2nd and 3rd laps at 73 seconds, and they passed the mile under 5 minutes. When he threw in another 73 on lap 5, Kieran’s shoulders tightened up from the effort, and he dropped back a few yards. That was the opening Jackson was looking for, so he pushed the next 2 laps. Kieran faded, and Matt blew past in the last ½ half lap, as both set big PR’s, and Kieran finished in a very good, but not good enough 10:03 for 3rd.
Looking toward state
Now it is down to state, with preliminaries on Friday afternoon June 10, and finals Saturday afternoon, although the 1-mile is run as a final only on Saturday. It took 26.15 to make the girls’ final, compared to Molly’s PR of 26.8. So far this year, if I tell her she can’t do something she does it, so I guess I’ll say she can’t. It took 2:20 to make the finals in the 800, which is well within Ailee’s range. Kieran still hasn’t run an all out mile against competition, so he has room to improve on his 4:33. The top 14 last year was bunched between 4:22 and 4:30. Expect him to be in the bunch.
Go Vikings!
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