PREP BOYS' AND GIRLS' TRACK AND FIELD: Luverne boys and girls win Section 3A True Team meet

LUVERNE — Utilizing their superior depth, the Luverne Cardinals were able to win both team titles Monday at the annual Section 3A True Team track and field meet at Cardinal Field.

LHS will send its entire girls’ and boys’ squads to the Minnesota State Coaches Association State True Team Meet at Stillwater High School May 19.

Luverne repeated as the boys’ champions with a winning total of 503 points, while the Cardinal girls earned a sixth consecutive state meet qualification by racking up 494.5 points.

“We are pretty tickled about taking both teams back to the state meet,” summed up LHS head coach Craig Nelson. “It was a little windy, but there were some great performances turned in by lots of kids on all of the teams.”

Murray County Central finished second in each division, scoring 436 points in the boys’ meet and tallying 393 in the girls’ events.

MCC junior sprinter Jack Thony was the day’s top overall individual performer, winning all four of his events.

Thony won the 100-meter dash (11.79), 400 (50.83), long jump (19-11.5) and 200 (23.30) to rack up a total of 72 points himself.

In true team competition, each squad enters two participants in each event and every place is scored.

Monday’s meet had nine teams competing, so first place in an individual event was worth 18 points, second was worth 17, and so on all the way down to 18th place, scoring one point.

In the relays, the scoring was 27-24-21-18-15-12-9-6-3 for all nine teams.

Jackson County Central edged Tracy-Milroy-Balaton by four points, 352.5 to 348.5, for third place in the girls’ standings, followed by Pipestone Area (308.5), Windom (298), Adrian (288.5), Hills-Beaver Creek (208.5) and Wabasso (150).

JCC was also third in the boys’ meet, scoring 422.5 points. Windom was fourth with 306.5 points, followed by PA (287), T-M-B (278), H-BC (233.5), Adrian (189.5) and Wabasso (55).

Luverne sophomore Makayla Hohn was a double individual winner for the Cardinal girls, finishing first in both the 1,600-meter run (5:26.82) and 3,200 (11:40.25).

Paige Nath (200-meter dash, 28.34), Kynzie Smedsrud (300-meter low hurdles, 49.84) and Chelsea Curtis (long jump, 15-6.25) were Luverne’s other individual girls’ winners.

Windom’s Hannah Steele won both the shot put (36-11) and discus (129-7) by large margins, while Eagle teammate Kelcey Olson cleared nine feet to win the pole vault.

JCC’s Sydnee Donnelli won the 100 (13.64), H-BC’s Siera Wilgenburg finished first in the 400 (60.22), Adrian’ Austyn Their won the 800 (2:21.71), PA’s Tia Muller finished first in the 100-meter high hurdles (17.14), T-M-B’s Sammie Gervais won the high jump (4-9) and H-BC’s Paige Leuthold placed first in the triple jump (33-1).

Adrian won the 4x800-meter relay (10:05.96) and the 4x400 (4:15.41), while JCC finished first in both the 4x200 (1:53.36) and 4x100-meter relay (52.72).

Luverne senior Daniel Muller won a pair of events, finishing first in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (44.24) and the pole vault (12-6), while Cardinal teammates Cody Rofshus (discus, 137-9), Josh Friedrichson (1,600, 4:46.38) and Ryan Oye (3,200, 10:44.38) also won individual boys’ events.

PA’s Aaron Kozlowski (high hurdles, 16.19), T-M-B’s Marco Perez (800, 2:08.51), MCC’s Tanner Nepp (shot put, 46-7), T-M-B’s Eric Donner (high jump, 5-8) and JCC’s Darnell Taylor-Breck (triple jump, 38-4) were the other first-place finishers in boys’ competition.

JCC effectively loaded its relay races, winning three of them and finishing second in the other. The Huskies won the 4x800 (8:59.16), 4x200 (1:37.16) and 4x400 (3:38.13).

H-BC clocked a fine time of 45.24 to win the 4x100-meter relay.

Both of MCC’s second-place teams will enter a wild-card “computerized” meet against the other seven sectional runner-ups to determine a ninth entrant to next weekend’s True Team State Meet.

Tags: track and field, murray county central, jackson county central, tracy milroy balaton, hills beaver creek, pipestone area, sports, prep, luverne, adrian, windom