After both Loyola/Cleveland/Mankato Christian Academy boys and girls won the Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship in Sleepy Eye on May 14, 27 Crusader athletes earned the right to compete in the section championship by finishing at the subsection meet among the top eight in an individual event or as a member of the top four relays.
The subsection meet was held at Sibley East High School in Arlington last Thursday. The number of Crusaders heading to sections is up 10 from last year and their biggest group of qualifiers since at least 2015. All told, the Crusaders also set 36 PRs and four new school records at the subsection meet.
“We had a great night,” said head coach Casey Olson. “To send 27 athletes to sections is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to all the work these kids have put in throughout the course of the season. This time of year is fun as a coach because all the hard work is done, and now we just get to see it pay off.”
Advancing from Cleveland to the section meet, which will be held on Saturday in Janesville this year instead of Mankato West, are as follows:
Charlotte Meyer: 1600, first, 5:02.44 (PB, Cleveland school record); 3200, first, 11:00.60
Jocelyn Kortuem: 100H, eighth, 17.83 (PB); 300H, fifth, 50.08 (PB, Cleveland school record); HJ, sixth, 4-10
Clara Hilfer: 100H, fifth, 17.23; PV, fourth, 9-0 (PB, Cleveland school record)
Aubrey Blaschko: 4x100 (Kailey Campbell, Blaschko, Morgan Dimmel, Kenna Forster), fourth, 53.52
Emma Kortuem: LJ sixth, 15-04.50; TJ, sixth, 31-06.75; also competed in the 4x200 (Emma Kortuem, Dimmel, Liviana Lee, Forster), fifth (school record), 1:54.30
Rayna Williams: SP, seventh, 29-05.50
Griffin Rutz: 3200, fifth, 10:39.05 (fifth)
Luke Kortuem: 110H, sixth, 18.69 (PB); 300H, eighth, 48.58
Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship, Sleepy Eye, May 14
Both the Crusader boys and Crusader girls emerged as conference champions. Last year, the first year of the conference combo, the boys were first and the girls were second.
In addition, the Crusaders totaled 13 first place/All-Conference finishes and 10 second place/All-Conference Honorable Mention finishes. In addition, they had 41 PRs.
“I couldn't be prouder of the way our athletes showed up and carried themselves throughout the day,” Olson said. “They had confidence in themselves and their teammates and supported each other throughout the entire meet.”
The Crusader boys totaled 130 points. Wabasso was second with 118. Rounding out the field were River Valley (105.5), GFW (61), GHEC/T/ML (44), Lester Prairie (43.5) and MCW/BO (22).
“When the boys score got close at the end, everyone on the team united to support the person competing at that moment, and the people competing stepped up to secure the win,” Olson said.
Totaling 176 points, the Crusader girls owned the meet. River Valley was second with 130 points. Rounding out the field were GFW (81), MCW/BO (50), Wabasso (49), GHEC/T/ML (29) and Lester Prairie (7).
“It's an incredible accomplishment to win both girls and boys conference championships,” Olson said, “but I'm really impressed with everyone who stepped up to pull it off. I talked about the idea of stealing points and moving up relative to what they were seeded as, and we did that time and again, which was the difference between winning and being second. We're starting to find our stride at the right time, so we'll look to carry this momentum over to subsections next week.”
The top six in an event earn points. Scoring the most points of any girl competing, sophomore Jocelyn Kortuem was conference MVP. She earned an Honorable Mention in both the high jump and the long jump.
“She's been great to have around this year,” Olson said. “She's taking on a bunch of more technical events: high jump, long jump and hurdles, but she's finding a lot of success in them despite still learning. It's been impressive to watch her approach to learning and see it pay off in the biggest moments of the season so far.”
Charlotte Meyer was All-Conference in both the 800 and 1600 and PRd in both. As a member of the second-place 4x400 team, she also earned an All-Conference Honorable Mention. Aubrey Blaschko made All Conference as a member of the first-place 4x100 team. Liviana Lee made All-conference as a member of the first-place 4x200 team.
Also Honorable Mentions, Clara Hilfer was second in the 100H, and Emma Kortuem was second in the triple jump.
Cleveland highlights:
Jocelyn Kortuem: 100H, third, 18.26; 300H, second, 52.12 (PB); HJ, second, 4-10; LJ, third, 14-10.5
Charlotte Meyer: 800, first, 2:22 (PR and Cleveland School record); 1600, first, 5:07 (PB and Cleveland School record); 4x400 (Meyer, Lily Philips, Izzy Endres, Charlotte Kirshner), second, 4:30 (season best)
Aubrey Blaschko: 4x100 (Kailey Campbell, Blaschko, Morgan Dimmel, Kenna Forster), first, 53:81 (season best); 100, 11th, 14.26 (season best)
Liviana Lee: 4x200 (Maya McMichael, Dimmel, Lee, Forster), 1:54.46 (season best); TJ, third, 30-2
Emma Kortuem: TJ, second, 30-7; LJ, third, 14.5
Clara Hilfer: 110H, second, 17.80; 300H, fourth, 54.74
Carson Lyons: 4x100 (Wyatt Krenik, Henry Andrews, Micah Lindberg, Lyons), third, 47.68 (season best); LJ, third, 18-2.75 (PB)
Wyatt Krenik: 100, sixth, 12.33; 4x100, third, (season best), LJ, eighth, 17-4
Tanner Simonette: 400, third, 54.96 (PB); 4x200 (Asher O’Brian, Brayden Hecksel, Simonette, Braeden Smith), fifth, 1:42.53; TJ, third, 38-5.5 (PB)
Luke Kortuem: 300H, fourth, 49.02
Griffin Rutz: 1600, fourth, 4:59.16 (PB); 3200, fourth, 11:09.86
Braeden Smith: 200, fifth, 24.46 (PB); 4x200, fifth, 1:42.53; HJ, fourth, 5-4 (PB)
Elijah Mons: 400, ninth, 57.21 (PB)
Reece Nelson: 1600, 11th, 5:34.46 (PB); 3200, eighth, 12:15.20 (PB)
Waseca, May 12
The Crusader boys were last of six teams while the girls were second to last.
On the boys side, Waseca won the meet with 172 points. JWP/WEM was second with 138 points, St. James/Madelia was third with 69 points, and NRHEG was fifth with 40 points, two more than the Crusaders.
On the girls side, JWP/WEM won the meet with 126 points. Waseca was second with 118 points, Blue Earth Area was third with 93.5 points and St James/Madelia was fourth with 79 points. The Crusaders had 54.5 points. NRHEG had 48 points.
“Overall, we had a good day,” said Olson. “It was windy as all get out, but we competed well. With the conference championship in two days, we were cautious with how much work each athlete was doing, but we got what we needed out of today. We will look to be very competitive at Conference with the boys attempting to defend their title from last year and the girls looking to claim the championship after coming in second last year.”
With a 32-0 triple jump, Emma Kortuem PRd and tied for Crusader fourth place all-time. Jocelyn Kortuem managed to PR in 100H directly into a strong headwind.
Tanner Simonette PRd in the triple jump Carson Lyons had a great debut in long jump
Girls:
100: Aubrey Blaschko, 15th, 14.67
200: Liviana Lee, 19th, 30.94 (PB); Emma Kortuem, 22nd, 31.43 (PB)
4x100: Kailey Campbell, Blaschko, Morgan Dimmel, Kenna Forster, third, 54.53
4x200: Samantha Baker, Vivian Hilfer, Sierra McCabe, Avaya Schultz, sixth, 2:17.74
SP: Rayna Williams, seventh, 28-8; Neenah Lassiter, 19th, 21-1.5
Discus: Williams, 18th, 54-9; Lassiter, 23rd, 40-7
HJ: Jocelyn Kortuem, third, 4-8
LJ: Emma Kortuem, fifth, 15-05; Jocelyn Kortuem, sixth, 14-10.25; Lee, ninth, 14-5.25; Sierra McCabe, 24th, 10-9
TJ: Emma Kortuem, second, 32-0 (PB), Lee, third, 30-9
Boys:
100: Carson Lyons, 11th, 12.68; Sam Ternes, 35th, 14.61 (PB)
200: Tanner Simonette, sixth, 26.47; Ternes, 20th, 30.41
400: Elijah Mons, ninth, 58.90
110H: Luke Kortuem, fourth, 19:92
4x100: Wyatt Krenik, Micah Lindberg, Simonette, Lyons, fifth, 49.89
SP: Jack Shouler, 19th, 32-5.5
HJ: Mons, sixth, 5-2 (PB)
LJ: Lyons, sixth, 17-9; Krenik, 17th, 15-3; Kortuem, 18th, 15-0 (PB)
TJ: Simonette, 37-2.275; Mons, 16th, 28-6.5
Section true team meet, Janesville, May 5
The goal of true team is to get two competitors—who are limited to two individual entries and one relay—in every individual event and one quartet in all four relays for maximum points, not an easy task.
The Crusader girls finished fourth of 14 teams, the highest placing in true team since at least 2015, and the boys followed up their fourth place last year with a sixth place this year, despite graduating several big point scorers.
“We had a great day,” Olson said. “We came in with high expectations and still managed to exceed them. With the cold, it wasn't necessarily a PR day for sprinters or jumpers, but the team competed really well. The entire team really stepped up and it was a real treat to see them applying what we're talking about in practice. We're looking forward to competing at the conference championship next week with the goal of winning both boys and girls.”
Leading the entire race, Griffin Rutz took gold in the 3200 in only his second time racing the event. Teammate Francis Bierer was just 0.67 seconds behind him for second place. Tanner Simonette, stepping into triple jump, an event he has never practiced or competed in, when a teammate went down with an injury still managed to jump 36-9.5 for 15th place.
Charlotte Meyer won both the 800 and the 1600. Emma Kortuem finishing 4th in triple jump
Girls:
800: Charlotte Meyer, first, 2:24.43
1600: Charlotte Meyer, first, 5:13.51
110H: Clara Hilfer, ninth, 17.74
300H: Clara Hilfer, 11th, 54.24 (PB)
4x100: Morgan Dimmel, Aubrey Blaschko, Kailey Campbell, Kenna Forester, fourth, 54.72
4x200: Maya McMichael, Dimmel, Liviana Lee, Emma Kortuem, sixth, 1:58.20
4x400: Charlotte Kirschner, Lea Taylor, Izzy Endres, Charlotte Meyer, eighth, 4:38.83
SP: Rayna Williams, 18th, 26-4
HJ: Jocelyn Kortuem, seventh (tie), 4-8
PV: Clara Hilfer, fourth, 8-0
LJ: Emma Kortuem, seventh, 15-0.25; Jocelyn Kortuem, 16th, 13-11
TJ: Emma Kortuem, fifth, 31-4
Boys:
100: Wyatt Krenik 14th, 12.32 (PB)
400: Tanner Simonette, ninth, 56.50
3200: Griffin Rutz, first, 10:50.01
110H: Luke Kortuem, 17th, 19.12
300H Luke Kortuem, 17th, 49.19
4x100: Wyatt Krenik Henry Andrews, Anthony Mai, Michah Lindberg, sixth, 49.30
4x200: Simonette, Asher O’Brian, Brayden Hecksel, Anthony Mai, seventh, 1:41.28
PV: Kortuem, 11th (tie), 9-0
TJ: Simonette, 15th, 36-9.5
New Richland quadrangular, April 30
With 128 points, the Crusader girls ran away with first place. The boys took second with 52.25 points.
Host NRHEG was second for the girls with 84 points. Albert Lea was third with 46.5 points, and USC was fourth with 10.5 points. Albert Lea dominated the boys competition with 136.25 points. USC was third with 52.25, and NRHEG was fourth with 39.75.
Conditions were on the windy side, but so times were harder to hit, Olson said, but the Crusaders still saw 43 PRs to go along with 50 top-five finishes.
“It was nice for the team to catch our breath a little bit with only one meet this week. We got some good workouts in early this week and recovered well to compete at a high level. This was a good tune-up meet as we get ready for True Team and Conference over the next two weeks. We're rounding into form, so the last month of the season should be a lot of fun.”
Girls:
100: Aubrey Blaschko, fifth, 14.9
800: Charlotte Meyer, first, 2:23.8 (Crusader all-time fifth best, one spot behind her sister, Savannah)
100H: Clara Hilfer, second, 17.3 (Crusader all-time fifth best)
300H: Jocelyn Kortuem, third, 55.6; Hilfer, fifth, 56.4
4x100: Morgan Dimmel, Aubrey Blaschko, Kailey Campbell, Kenna Forster, second, 54.1
4x200: Maya McMichael, Morgan Dimmel, Liviana Lee, Emma Kortuem, first, 1:58.6; Vivian Hilfer, Samantha Baker, Marilyn Schletz, Oliva Schletz, fifth, 2:16.2
4x400: Lee Taylor, Maya McMichael, Kailyn McMichael, Meyer, third, 4:41.4
4x800: Izzy Endres, Maddy Siewert, Riley Quigley, Meyer, first, 10:25.6
SP: Rayna Williams, third, 29-1.5; Neenah Lassiter, 12th, 22-10 (PB)
Discuss: Williams, ninth, 70-2
HJ: Jocelyn Kortuem, first, 4-10; Lee, eighth, 4-4; Vivian Hilfer, 10th, 4-2
PV: Clara Hilfer, first, 8-6 (Crusader all-time third best)
LJ: Emma Kortuem, second, 15-8 (PB, Crusader all-time fifth best); Clara Hilfer, eighth, 13-3.5
TJ: Emma Kortuem, first, 30-10.
Boys:
100: Wyatt Krenik, fourth (four-way tie), 12.1
200: Tanner Simonette and Krenik, tied for sixth, 25.8 (PB for Krenik)
400: Simonette, fourth, 55.9
1600: Reece Nelson, eighth, 5:41.7
110 hurdles: Luke Kortuem, fourth, 18.8
300 hurdles: Kortuem, third, 49.8
4x100: Henry Adams, Krenik, Simonette, Micah Lindberg, fourth, 48.9
4x800: Jack Green, Griffin Rutz, Mitchell Buboltz, Soren Kelly, first, 8:59.9
SP: Jack Shouler, 14th, 31-9
HJ: Elijah Mons, ninth, 5-0
PV: Luke Kortuem, fifth, 9-0
TJ: Mons, 26-11
Above: Cleveland members of the Crusader boys and girls teams celebrate their conference victories. They are, from L-R, Luke Kortuem, Neenah Lassiter, Charlotte Meyer, Elijah Mons, Liviana Lee, Clara Hilfer, Jocelyn Kortuem, Rayna Williams, Aubrey Blaschko, Tanner Simonette, Braeden Smith, Wyatt Krenik, Jackson Shouler, Carson Lyons, Reece Nelson and Griffin Rutz. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer)
Clara Hilfer was fourth in the subsection pole vault. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer)
Jocelyn Kortuem made the section cut in the 110 hurdles. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer)
Charlotte Meyer runs in the subsection 1600. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer)
Griffin Rutz was fifth in the subsection 3200. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer)
Rayna Williams at true team.
Charlotte Meyer in the 800 at true team.
Aubrey Blaschko takes a handoff in the true team 4x100.
Emma Kortuem splashes down in the true team long jump.
With the most points during the Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship, Jocelyn Kortuem was the girls conference Player of the Year.
Jocelyn Kortuem launches in the true team long jump.