Besting six other teams, the Mankato Loyola/Cleveland track & field team won the Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship in Sleepy Eye on May 15. The Crusader girls took a respectable second.
Both teams exceeded their pre-meet point projections, said head coach Casey Olson, who was named the Conference Boys Coach of the Year.
“It was because of the mindset they had going in. While the boys were favored, they knew they still had to back that up with their performances, and they did that and then some. The girls stepped up and had some great performances as well. The fact that we competed as well as we did and set 18 PRs in 30 mph winds is a testament to the determination and togetherness this team has displayed throughout the season. I was incredibly pleased with the performance we showed.”
The boys team racked up 156 points. In second was Wabasso with 102 points. Rounding out the field were River Valley (90.33), GFW (76.44), Lester Prairie (70), Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin (52) and GHEC/T/ML (11.33).
River Valley won the meet with 194 points, 79 more than the Crusaders’ total. Rounding out the field, were GFW (101), Wabasso (56), Lester Prairie (45), MCW/BO (22) and GHEC/T/ML.
With a PR 1:00.33 finish, Elijah Mons was eighth in the 400. The winning time was 53.69. TJ Waldron was fourth in the 1600 with a 5:11.71. The winning time was 4:41.03. In his first varsity meet, Luke Kortuem completed the 300-m hurdles in a PR 57.67 for eighth place.
Waldron ran the third leg of the 4x800-m relay. Andrew Tieva led off. Waldron took the baton from Jack Green and handed it off to Mitchell Buboltz.
Thayne Remiger’s long jumped 18-9.25 to win that competition. His PR 10-6 pole vault was good for second place while his 36-9.5 triple jump was good for a bronze. Kortuem vaulted a PR 7-6 for fourth place. Carter Kern long jumped 10-2.75. Mons triple jumped 30-8.
Charlotte Meyer was first in the 1600. Her 5:29.08 finish was over 14 seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
Miah Bauer crossed the finish line in the 100-m dash in 14.92 for 12th place.
Aubrey Blaschko ran the third leg of the first-place 4x200 team. The quartet's 1:57.21 finish was a fraction faster than the silver finishing team. Titoluwani Ehinmowo led off. Morgan Dimel handed off to Blaschko, and Kenna Forster ran anchor.
Blaschko also ran the second leg of the second-place 4x100 relay team and handed off to Bauer. Maddie Cooney led off and Kenna Forster was the anchor. Their 55.10 finish was just 0.39 seconds behind the first-place team.
Meyer ran anchor in the second-place 4x800 relay team. Lily Philips led off, Lea Taylor ran the second leg, and Izzy Endres ran the third leg. They finished in 11:05.15. The winning time was 10:53.37.
Liviana Lee long jumped 12-8 for sixth place.
As the athlete who scored the most team points, Chase Kijenski was named the Conference MVP. He was first in the 110-m hurdles with a 16.77, first in the 300-m hurdles with a 43:04 and first in the high jump with a 5-10 leap.
Remiger was second with 24 points. Maddie Huiras was third on the girls side with 22. She was first in both the 100-m hurdles (17.14) and 300-m hurdles (47.75).
Besides the big performances from those three, Charlotte Kirschner PRd by 4 inches in high jump. Allison Jandera PRd to get fourth in shot put. In her debut doing the triple jump, Sammy Kann was fourth. Bennett Foster PRd by a lot in both the shot put (30-5.25) and discus (95-0).
Brayden Hecksel set a PR to win the pole vault competition. Soren Kelly was second in the 800 (2:08.59) and first in the 1600 (4:31.03). With an 11:45 finish, Sam Vetter was second in the 3200. Eleven seconds behind, Buboltz came in third.
It was the first season of the newly-formed conference combo. St. Clair and LCWM/Nicollet, who were in the Valley last season, joined a new 2A conference.
The Crusaders return to the track on Thursday for the subsection meet at Norwood-Young America (Central HS).
“I’m very excited as we head into Subsections and Sections and potentially state,” Olson said. “The athletes have worked really hard and they’re ready to see that pay off at the end of the season. It should be fun.”
Above: Thayne Remiger vaulted a PR 10-6.
Miah Bauer (left) gets off the blocks in the 100-m dash.
Photos courtesy of Bree Meyer