Photos by Rich Fortunato The Viking Track team competed in the Polar League Junior High Championships in Barnum on May 6. Never having tried the long jump before, Mara MacDonell and Lars Scannell gave it a try. Left: Mara made a terrific leap of 11’2″, only a foot behind the winner. Right: Lars jumped an impressive 12’8″.
A 12-member contingent of the Viking Track team headed down to compete in the Polar League Junior High championships in Barnum on May 6. TheVikings were joined by the 10 other Polar League schools at this large meet.
The meet started with the field events. Peter Warren threw the shot 29’10”, good for sixth. In a real show of bravery, Mara MacDonell and Lars Scannell tried the long jump. Since we don’t have a jumping pit, and haven’t had any practice, they just had to watch and try. Both did very well. Mara was ninth of 13 at 11’2″, only a foot behind the winner. Lars jumped 12’8″ scoring points by placing eighth.
In the girls’ sprints, Mara led Adrianna Berglund and Cheyenne Sorlie in the 100- meter dash, as they ran 16.7, 17.6 and 18.9 respectively. Adrianna came back to run the 200 in 36.4, while Mara placed seventh in the 400 in 79.3. The girls’ relay teams, consisting of Mara, Adrianna, Cheyenne and Jordyn Kirk placed fifth in the 4×200 and sixth in the 4×100. Our four versatile girls ended by placing eighth in the middle school team scoring.
Meanwhile, Peter was leading our young boys in the sprints. He was fifth of 23 in the 100, running 13.9, while Lars Scannell was 12th in 15.1. Peter came back to place second in the 200 in 27.0. Then Kieran made his big push to triple in the 400, 800 and 1600. All three events had over 20 competitors. He started with the 1600, a mile. Running a perfectly paced, solo race, he ran 5:03 to win by almost 30 seconds. Ben Seaton was 11th in 6:05, while Joey Chmelik was 17th in 6:28.
Next, Kieran ran the most challenging event, the 400. Normally a long sprint, we felt he was strong enough to get out fast and out-gut the sprinters. He did, just barely, winning in 58.1, with two other runners less than a half second behind. Ben was again 11th in 72.2, while Lars was 15th in 74.3. Pretty beat before the 800, Kieran just ran for the win. Sitting behind the leaders on the first lap, he moved ahead on the backstretch, winning in 2:27. Joey finished 14th in 2:57.4, while Cy Fortunato ran a solid 3:06.3 for 19th.
In the relays, Peter, Bjorn Johnson, Lars and Cy were fourth, while Lars, Ben, Bjorn and Joey were third in the 4×200. Overall, the young Vikings were fourth in the team scoring, only one point out of third, behind Esko, Moose Lake and Cromwell.
In the separate ninth grade competition, David Bergstrom was our only competitor. He did well, however, placing third in the mile in 5:41 and fourth in the 800 in 2:32.6. David scored enough points on his own to place seventh in the team competition.
This week, the Vikings will be traveling to Two Harbors again, to compete in the very tough Polar League Varsity Championships. Go Vikings!
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