The South Subsection Track Meet, like the playoffs of most CCHS sports, represents the end of the season for most athletes. Only about 20% of the athletes move on to the Section 7A finals. Of that select group, only about 15% move on to the state meet. Only the top 3% advance to state. With a large group of young athletes and first time track competitors, most of us were looking to close out our season with a PR (personal record), enjoy a beautiful day in the sunshine at UMD, and share a last meet with teammates. Heading down to UMD before the start of school on Wednesday, May 20, 22 athletes, four vehicles and an excited coach were looking forward to the all-day 16-team meet. As promised, the weather was beautiful, although when a record of 88 degrees was hit in the afternoon, the distance races became a challenge.
For our 12 girls, only one, Michelle Weitz, ran track last year. The odds of placing were very small. Our best chance, the 4 x ½ mile relay, got disqualified because of over exuberant teammates. After Kristin Ramey opened with an outstanding first leg of 2:47, she handed off to Martha Wilkes. As Martha was coming in to hand off to Ida Gulbrandsen, our sprinters were running along side Martha cheering her on. Alas, the officials called that pacing and we were disqualified. Oh well, we had the best team spirit.
Long jumpers Amber Todd and Mara MacDonnell both set PRs, Amber going 12′ 7″, and Mara 11′ 11.5″, placing in the middle of the field. Cheyenne Sorlie broke 40 seconds for the first time in the 200 with a 39.53, while Jordyn Kirk improved by three seconds to 40.05. Ida continued her steady improvement with a 3:11 in the open half mile. Michelle won the first heat of the mile in 6:15, tying her all-time best, while Kristin ran a 6:33, almost a minute faster than her prior best. Emily Martin ran a PR 17:07 in the two mile. Maureen Holmberg continued her improvement in the discus, throwing 60′ 7″. Adrianna Berglund and Sarah O’Phelan had their best performances in the 4 x 200 relay. Combining with Mara and Amber, they took 10 seconds off their best previous time.
Our 10-boy team had a little more track experience, half of them competing last year. Most of them are still junior high age however, so expectations were realistic. Peter Warren threw the shot put, ran the 100 meter dash, and led-off our 4 x 200 relay. Running with eighth grader Bjorn Johnson, seventh grader Joey Chmelik and sophomore Darren Waha, they tied their season best and beat two varsity teams. Cy Fortunato broke 3:00 in the half mile for the first time this year, running 2:59.8. David Bergstrom and Ben Seaton both set PRs in the mile, running 5:33 and 5:54 respectively. Joey had a big PR in the two mile, running 13:27.
Expectations for our big guns, senior Losha Senty and eighth grade star Kieran Scannell were considerably higher. Losha came in seeded third in the quarter mile, with a season best 54.5, and seeded ninth in the 200-meter dash, with a best of 24.9. In the 200-meter preliminary race, Losha ran 24.6 to qualify sixth best for the finals. In the finals, he started out a little slow, but mowed ’em down at the finish, running 24.5, good for fourth place and a spot in the section finals Friday, May 29. He then came back and placed third in the quarter mile, clocking 53.9. Looks like he will be as busy as ever at Sections. In the two mile, a lead group of six was slowly whittled down to four in a relatively slow first mile of 5:35. Favorite Jackson Lindquist of Esko finally made a move on lap five, which broke up the pack. Kieran bided his time for a lap, before separating himself from the rest of the field, coming in an unpressed second in 10:54, three seconds behind the winner.
Looking forward to next week’s Section meet, only the top two advance to state. Losha is seeded fifth in both the 200 and 400. He has an outside chance to qualify, probably best in the 400. Kieran is the #3 seed in the two-mile, with six runners within 10 seconds of each other. Despite his age, I’ve already learned not to discount him. Will we have our first state meet track qualifier in 20 years? Maybe.
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