Five medals, including two bronzes, three new PRs and one matching PR, eight solid performances…
The state meet at St. Michel-Albertville on Tuesday and Wednesday was a productive one for the six Mankato Loyola/Cleveland-Crusaders who made it there.
With a 5:11.91 finish, eighth grader Charlotte Meyer earned a bronze medal in the 1600 on Wednesday. Meyer was ranked third by her 5:08.72 section qualifying time and PR as well while Meyer’s cross country teammate from St. Clair Valerie Quast was ranked second. With a 4:07.71, Quast lived up to her ranking too. The winning time was 5:02.28.
Meyer took fifth in the 3200 (above) on Tuesday. Ranked third, her 11:20.49 finish was 24.66 behind her 10:55.83 PR. Last year she took sixth in the 3200 at state.
Quast, who Meyer beat during the regular season and at the section meet as well, jumped out to an early lead, held it until two runners passed her in after the sixth lap and finished in third place. But the scenario was different than usual with both Meyer and Quast coming in fresh and not off a 1600 several events earlier as they did at sections and during the regular season.
“Charlotte ran exactly the race strategy that I gave her,” said head coach Casey Olson. “Given the conditions and how the race played out, I was really happy she was up a place from where she was last year. This race and the one at Hamline (Elite Meet) will be big for her development.”
Charlotte Kirschner competed in the high jump on Tuesday. Kirshner, who, as a freshman, has a ton of upside, cleared the opening 4-10 in one attempt and equaled her qualifying height and PR 5-0 on her third try. On her third attempt at 5-2, she contacted the bar just enough to knock it off its pedestals. The winning jump was a towering 5-7.
With a PR 9:42.62 in the 3200 for fifth place and a new school record, Tuesday was also a good day for ninth-seeded Soren Kelly, a junior. The winning time was 9:25.68 and set by the same freshman runner who won the state class A cross country meet last fall. Kelly beat his previous best by 13 seconds.
“Soren ran a really smart race,” said Olson. “I wasn’t really happy with him leading the first 600 meters, but he figured it out and got himself where he needed to be. Then it is just the last 800 and who has it more, and Soren wasn’t going to be denied. That was so fun to watch.”
With a 15.96, Maddie Huiras was 13th in the 100-m hurdle prelmins on Tuesday. She missed the ninth spot, the finals qualifying place, by just 0.25 seconds. The best prelim time was 15.13.
But ranked 10th in the 300-m hurdles, Huiras finished the prelmins in ninth place with a PR 45.74 to advance to finals on Wednesday. There, with a 45.71 finish, she held her position for another PR and a new school record. The winning time was a blistering 43.22.
“It was an awesome finish after, I wouldn’t say ‘disappointing’ 100 hurdles but one she wanted to bounce back from,” said Olson.
Senior Chase Kijenski’s stock rose sharply throughout the meet. Ranked ninth in the 300-m hurdles, he finished the premims on Tuesday in sixth place with a PR 40.04. In the finals the next day, the senior overperformed again, this time for a bronze PR 39.48 finish. The winning time was 37.39.
With a 2:24 finish in the 800-m run for 17th place on Tuesday, Savannah Meyer’s high school track career ended. But she got back to state after missing out last year, not an easy thing to accomplish.
