Showing who's boss in the recently combined Tomahawk and Valley Conferences, both Mankato Loyola/Cleveland/Mankato Christian Academy boys and girls track and field team’s earned first places.
The meet was held in the fieldhouse of Minnesota State University, Mankato on Monday.
“I knew we had a good team coming in,” said head coach Casey Olson, “but it’s still early in the season, so anything could happen, but it’s definitely a good starting point, having the whole team together and seeing what we are capable of.”
The Crusader girls’ 140 points bested second place River Valley by 32 points. GFW was third with 93 points. Rounding out the field were Wabasso with 66 points, Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin with 38 points, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther with 33 points and Lester Prairie with six points.
The Crusader boys totaled 112 points. River Valley’s 104.5 points was good for second place while Wabasso was third with 76.5 points, just a half point more than fourth place GFW. GHEC/T/ML was fifth with 57 points, Lester Prairie was sixth with 43 points, and MCW/BO was seventh with 33 points.
Girls results
Emma Kortuem triple jumped 31-3, almost 2 feet longer than she ever has, to win that event. With a 13-9 leap, the freshman also took second in the long jump. Teammate Jocelyn Kortuem long jumped 13-1 for fourth place. The winning jump was 14-6. There were 13 competing. Liviana Lee triple jumped a personal best 29-4 for third place.
With a 11:17.85 finish, Charlotte Meyer was over 2 minutes in front of the second place runner in the 3000-m race. Meyer also anchored the second place 4x800 team. Their 10.58.2 finish was just 0.28 seconds behind the first-place team.
It was a good day for Clara Hilfer. The freshman’s 8-0 pole vault earned her gold while her personal best 9.82 finish in the 55-m hurdles was just a quarter of a second behind the winner and good for a silver. Nine competed in that race.
With a 5-2 leap, Charlotte Kirschner tied the school high jump record in the and took home gold. Jocelyn Kortuem was second with a 4-10 jump. There were a dozen competing.
Riley Quigley took first in the 1500 (5:42.01). Aubrey Blaschko finished the 55-m dash in 8.31 for fourth place while teammate Vivian Hilfer was ninth with an 8.63. The winning time among the 21 runners was 7.88.
Rayna Williams shot put toss of 26-5 was a personal best and good for seventh place. The winning put was 31-10. There were 19 competing.
Boys results
For the boys, Soren Kelly set a new school record in the indoor 3000 with a first-place 8:30.23 finish. Kelly also ran very strong legs on the 4x8 and 4x4 relays. Christian Barker hurled the shot put 42-7 for first place.
Wyatt Krenik’s 27.11 personal best finish in the 200-m was good for ninth place among the 20 runners. Jack Shouler completed the 55-m dash in a personal best 8.31.
With a 1:00.13 finish, Elijah Mons took fifth in the 400. There were 18 competing, and the winning time was 57.17. Mons also cleared 5-0 in his second meet high jumping for sixth place. Sam Ternes finished the 400 in 1:07.01 for 12th place.
With a 5:03.05 finish, Griffin Rutz was fifth in the 1500-m run. Reece Nelson took ninth with a 5:38.55. The winning time among the 17 competitors was 4:43.58. Luke Kortuem earned bronze in the 55-m hurdles with a 10.29 finish. The winning time was 9.20. Kortuem also pole vaulted 8-7 for second place.
Rutz ran the second leg of the first-place 5x800 team. Mitchell Buboltz led off. Fancies Bierer handed off to Kelley, who crossed the finish line in 9:22.55.
The Crusaders return to the track tomorrow (Tuesday) when they road trip to St. James.
Above: Emma Kortuem triple jumped almost 2 feet longer than her previous best to earn gold.
Charlotte Meyer was Charlotte Meyer in the 3000-m run.
Liviana Lee scratched in the long jump but came back in the triple with a personal best for the bronze placing.
Wyatt Krenik took ninth place in the 200.