A gritty outing for BEA
The Big South Conference track meet held in Fairmont on May 13 turned out to be a scorcher both on and off the track.
Blue Earth Area’s girls team stuck it out earning third place with 121 points for the Buccaneers while their male counterparts earned fourth with 85.5 points.
In the girls side of the conference, Luverne placed first with 167 points with Redwood Valley coming in second with 136.5 points. Pipestone followed behind BEA in fourth place with 97 points and Jackson County Central earned fifth place with 77 points.
“Good stuff, indeed, for the girls’ team,” said head coach Tom Plocker of the girls’ efforts.
Lindsey Norman popped a big one, 38-3 to be exact, to become a Big South Conference champ in the shot put competition.
Teammates Sofie Blair and Nicole Lium were two more Buccaneers able to achieve gold for the day. Lium placed first with a 10-0 pole vault through the air while Blair earned first in the high jump with a height of 4-10. Lium also placed second in the high jump (4-10).
Melissa Hagedorn also earned All-Conference honors by earning second place in the 100 meter high hurdles (17.03), the 300 meter low hurdles (50.25) and the pole vault (9-0) competitions.
And Skylee Bell was also able to place second in two events. Bell earned a 15-3 1/2 long jump distance as well as a time of 14.05 seconds during the 100 meter dash.
Other Girls Results:
4×200 meter relay: BEA (fourth, 1:55.76) Sofie Blair (28.0), Alissa Norman (30.4), Ta Armstrong (28.3), Hannah Johnson (28.8).
4×100 meter relay: BEA (fourth, 53.84) Sidney Blair, Melissa Hagedorn, Ta Armstrong, Skylee Bell.
4×400 meter relay: BEA (fourth, 4:37.06) Hannah Johnson (649), Kaitlin Johnson (66.4), Alissa Norman (69.8), Callie Stevermer (72.7).
100 meter high hurdles: Sidney Blair (17.85), Heidi Herrmann (18.32).
300 meter low hurdles: Sidney Blair (54.01), Heidi Herrmann (54.55).
100 meter dash: Izzy Walker (16.31).
200 meter dash: Heidi Herrmann (29.99), Ta Armstrong (30.02).
400 meter dash: Hannah Johnson (fourth, 63.45), Amanda Jacobson (66.68).
800 meter run: Kaitlin Johnson (2:49.61), Kiera Osmundson (2:53.20), Emma Germain (3:10.65).
1600 meter run: Callie Stevermer (6:13.33), Mariah Halvorson (6:23.89), Kiera Osmundson (6:41.09).
Pole vault: Heidi Herrmann (fourth, 8-0).
Long jump: Hannah Johnson (fourth, 15-1 3/4), Kenya Whitlow (10-7 1/4).
Triple jump: Sidney Blair (30-5), Kenya Whitlow (24-6 1/2), Elizabeth Jacobson (23-1 1/2).
Shot put: Brittany Johnson (28-4), Ta Armstrong (26-3 1/2).
Discus: Lindsey Norman (96-0), Brittany Johnson (78-8), Grace Mensing (72-10).
Boys Results:
In the boys track competition, Redwood Valley was able to take home the gold, earning first place with 156 points, Luverne followed closely behind in second with 137.5 points and Pipestone had a solid third-place win with 134 points. Behind the Buccaneer boys’ 85.5 fourth place win was JCC with 81.5 points for fifth place.
“A pretty solid meet for the maroon and gold guys,” said Plocker.
Seth Becker earned a solid second place in 110 meter high hurdles with a time of 16.85, earning him All-Conference honors. His teammate, Reed Krieger, also placed second for BEA in the pole vault competition with a height of 12-3, earning his first All-Conference recognition.
Gunnar Fering (third, 17.23) earned All-Conference honors in the 110 meter high hurdles as well. Jordan Frandle (third, 12.43) also earned his first All-Conference honor in the 100 meter dash, as well as teammate Grant Strukel (third, 10:37.66) in the 3200 meter run.
Other Boys Results:
4×800 meter relay: BEA (third, 8:42.45) Grant Strukel (2:09.8), Brady Olsen (2:11.7), Clayton Johnson (2:11.5), Adam Griffin (2:09.5).
4×200 meter relay: BEA (fourth, 1:38.10) Jordan Frandle (24.3), Cameron Anderson (24.8), Adam Griffin (24.7).
4×100 meter relay: BEA (fourth, 47:34) Jordan Frandle, Cameron Anderson, Austin Thielfoldt, Ben Babcock.
4×400 meter relay: BEA (4:01.40) Gunnar Fering (58.9), Brady Olsen (57.5), Caden Ochsendorf (68.8), Adam Griffin (56.3).
110 meter high hurdles: Owen Naumann (21.57).
300 meter intermediate hurdles: Gunnar Fering (44.30), Owen Naumann (53.08).
100 meter dash: Riley Anderson (13.12), Mason Mauris (14.19).
In the 400 meter dash: CadenOchsendorf (63.08), Matthew Krause (66.97).
200 meter dash: Austin Thielfoldt (25.83), Ben Babcock (25.96), Riley Anderson (26.34).
800 meter run: Akeira Morrow (2:26.53), Xavier Morrow (2:41.18), Eric Hatch (2:44.66).
1600 meter run: Davis Sunken (5:40.59), Derek Lium (6:12.75).
Pole vault: Rylee McGuire (10-6), Thomas Lindsey (9-0).
Long jump: Ben Babcock (fourth, 17-8), Cameron Anderson (17-2), Austin Thielfoldt (17-1 3/4).
High jump: Clayton Johnson (5-2).
Triple jump: Clayton Johnson (37-3), Gunnar Fering (36-5 3/4).
Shot put: Reed Krieger (fourth, 37-11 1/4), Jared Armon (36-3 1/4), Colin Hurley (33-1 1/2).
Discus: Jordan Frandle (112-0), Grant Madetzke (104-6), Johnny Hynes (77-11).