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WACONIA -- As they piled into the bus for a long and glorious ride back to Worthington, the Worthington High School track and field team was still reveling in what they had just done.
Friday was a red-letter day, indeed. Trojan red, actually.
“It was a day. It was a day,” said co-head coach Jessica Hogan in an obvious understatement. “We’re a very excited bus right now.”
The Trojans will send representatives from (count ‘em) 11 events to the Minnesota state Class AA meet Thursday through Saturday, June 9-11, at St. Michael-Albertville High School. Not only that, but the boys squad won the team championship at Friday’s Day Two of the Section 2AA meet.
Oh, and that’s not all. Head coaches Hogan and Cory Smidt earned Coaches of the Year honors.
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This is the first year Worthington has competed in Class AA in an expanded three-class format. But like every other year, the section competition in 2022 was fierce.
“Really tough competition,” Hogan said. “We really just competed as a team and acted as a team. We really supported each other all day. It was really a good day to be a Trojan.”
The top two entries in both individual and relay events automatically qualify for state.
It was a day when the WHS girls 4x100-meter relay team broke the school record for the second time this season -- the first time at the Trojan Relays, and now again in the sectionals, in a time of 50.80. Newmanyou Gora, Bailey Newman, Pham Gora and Brooklyn Scheitel-Taylor made up the foursome that ran Friday.
The 4x100 team finished first in the section field. Three other events made state with second-place finishes.
Newman was second in the 100-meter dash in 12.93, just a tad behind the first-place winner, Avery Hennen of New Prague (12.82). Scheitel-Taylor was second in the 200-meter dash (26.23), coming in very close behind the champ, Ruby Marble of Mankato West (26.20).
The 4x200-meter relay team of Newmanyou Gora, Newman, Pham Gora and Scheitel-Taylor was second in 1:47.30.
The Worthington boys painted Waconia in the Trojan school colors, red and black.
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On Wednesday, the first day of the Section 2AA competition, Abagotte Opiew qualified for state in the triple jump with a school-record leap of 44-10.75. On Friday, he added three more events.
Abagotte achieved first in the 110-meter hurdles with a 15.43 time. He was second in the long jump (21-6.50). And he teamed with Mikele Walu, Jacari Swinea and his brother Marenono Opiew for second place in the 4x400-meter relay (3:30.62).
Teammate Filmon Wolday placed second in the 1600-meter run, in 4:34.68. The WHS 4x800-meter relay team of Ofbeka Morke, Mason Bobb, Wolday and Walu placed second in 8:15.65.
