Above: Senior hurdler Kyle Martinson shows his form at the Eveleth Golden Bear Invitational meet held last week in Virginia. Martinson placed in the top half of the field in the high hurdles race and ran 27 seconds flat in the 200 meters. Left: Meadow Adams (near) and Mara MacDonell (far left) ran 55.5 seconds and 61.3 seconds in the 300-meter low hurdle race. Adams also ran a 6:56 mile and MacDonell placed 9th in the triple jump with a hop, step and a jump totaling 25 feet 5 inches.
The Vikings headed over to Virginia again for the Golden Bear Invite, sponsored by Eveleth. Exactly the opposite of last week, the wind was out of the south, and it was sunny and 70 degrees. We joined 15 other teams in a big meet, as everyone is trying to squeeze something in before next weeks’ conference meets and Sub- Section competition the following week. The season is almost over and we have hardly started!
Overall, the boys and girls both finished in 6th place out of 16 teams. The girls scored in a broad range of events, led by senior Sarissa Falk’s 9 team points earned in the 800 and 1600, while the boys were led by senior Peter Warren’s 24 individual points earned by 2nd place finishes in all three sprints, and a nice contribution by our distance running corps.
Peter is trying to find the path to the State Meet this year. He was close last year. He finished 4th in the 100, while the top 2 go to state. Lots of the sprinters are returning this year, so we added the 400 (1/4 mile) to his list. He gave us the most exciting race of the day in the 400, straining side by side with the No. 2 returnee in the Section before losing in a near photo finish with a fine 52.9 time. He was a little further back, but still No. 2 in the 100 and 200 to a couple of Virginia’s fine senior sprinters. Luke Fenwick continued his development in the sprints, finishing 8th in the 200 and 11th in the 100 out of almost 50 competitors. Kyle Martinson added a 27.0 in the 200.
Underclassmen Cy Fortunato and Noah Warren add more strength to the boys’ sprint group, with Cy running 60 flat in the 400, and Noah improving to 13.6 in the 100. Eighth-grader Molly Thomas continued her steady improvement in the 400, placing 8th with a time of 68 in the 32-runner field, while fellow eighth-grader Marin Hay showed we have plenty of young middle distance talent by running a 76. Seventh-grader Wellesley Howard-Larsen also improved to 16.2 in the girls’ 100.
Seventh-grader Wellesley Howard- Larsen displays her sprinting form in a track meet held last week in Virginia. The Vikings boys’ and girls’ team placed in the top half of teams entered into the meet.
Both our boys’ and girls’ teams are deep in all the distance races, led by seniors Sarissa and Ben Seaton. A first year track runner (but many-year cross country runner) Sarissa is trying to find her best event. She improved her 800 by 3 seconds to 2:39.5, finishing 4th. In her first try in the mile, she ran a solid 5:56.7 for 5th. She’ll probably run them both again at the Polar League meet at Two Harbors.
Both our 4×8 relays scored good team points. The boys’ team of Ben, brother Will, Joey Chmelik and August Carpenter placed 4th in 9:50, while the girls’ team of Audrey Summers, Maya McHugh, Alyssa Martinson and Morgan Weyrens-Welch were 5th in 11:26. Maya came back in the 2-mile, running 13:14, good for 5th place, and finishing with a smile. Ah—we’ll try that again. Audrey trailed Sarissa in the mile with a 6:13, just ahead of Matea Acero’s 6:26. Hurdler Meadow Adams wanted to try something longer, but maybe not the mile? Well, her 6:56 was pretty good. Alyssa ran behind Sarissa in the 800, running 2:55 and 9th place in the 27-girl field.
The Seatons ran the 2-mile together, with Ben placing 7th in 11:41 and Will setting a personal best of 12:39. Joey scored in the mile with a 5:20, while Rusty Day ran 6:00, just two days after a solid Ham Run Half Marathon. Seventh grader Finn Garry got his first taste of the 800 with a solid 2:49.
Coach April Wahlstrom has developed a strong girls’ hurdle group. Rachel Todd placed 7th in the 100 highs, with an 18.4, while Meadow Adams and Melanie Stoddard were close behind in 19.0 and 19.2. In the 300 low hurdles, Meadow was 9th in 55.5, while Rachel and Mara MacDonell ran 61.2 and 61.3 respectively.
Jessica Berg-Collman led our throwers, placing 6th in the shot put with a 30’ 10”. Newcomer Alicia Smith improved to 19’ 9”, as did Noah Warren for the boys with a throw of 30’ 11.5”. Will S. and Luke continued to refine their discus technique, spinning to 81’ 11” and 70’ 3” respectively. We had three solid triple jumps. Mara placed 9th for the girls with a 25’ 5” jump, with Melanie close behind in 22’ 8”. Will Lamb led the boys with a 27’ 9” jump.
Next up for the Vikings is the Polar League Championships at Two Harbors on May 15. With state powerhouse Esko and strong teams from Barnum and Two Harbors among the 11 competing teams, the Vikings will be looking for individual improvement and a top 5 team finish. Go Vikings!
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