BEA girls: ‘True’ Champs!

It was four days after the Blue Earth Area girls track and field team had won its first-ever True Team State title, and yet one could sense when talking to their head coach it was fresh on his mind.
“I’m still ecstatic. You don’t always get this opportunity,” says Tom Plocker.
The Bucs easily won the crown, collecting 417 points at the nine-team meet held May 16 in Stillwater.
Defending champion Luverne finished in second place with 375.5 points.
Plocker says on paper the meet looked like it was going to be close, however, the very first event of the day may have been a sign of good things to come.
Prior to the start of the 4 x 800-meter relay it was uncertain if LaNay Walker would be able to compete after spraining her ankle during the pole event in the conference meet.
Walker ran an anchor leg of 2:46.2 for the third-place squad of Krista Hassing (2:35.6), Sara Warmka (2:41.8) and Mandy Warmka (2:47.4) that posted a time of 10:51.10.
“All the girls came to compete and were real solid in each event,” he says. “It was a team effort and hard to single out one girl.”
Kate Hassing again led her team to victory by placing first in every event she competed in.
She won the 200-meter dash in 26.93 and 400 in 60.17.
Hassing added a first-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 35-.5. Her final leg of 59.7 in the 4 x 400-meter relay combine with Krista Hassing (65.8), Wagner (64.6) and Sara Warmka (67.2) for a winning time of 4:18.21.
Sprinter Lexi Holland was third in the 100-meter dash. She anchored the winning 4 x 100-meter relay team (54.49) that included Meghan Mittelstadt, Annemarie Hoyt and Sara Warmka.
Holland (27.3) also ran the final leg of the 4 x 200 squad that included Mittelstadt (29.5), Hoyt (28.1) and Katie Krieger (28.8) that was clocked in 1:53.74 to take second.
Courtney Grandgenett led the way for the distance runners, placing second in the 1,600-meter run in 5:37.62 and second in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:17.81.
In the 800-meter run, Krista Hassing was the third to cross the finish line in 2:38.91.
Marissia Hagedorn cleared 9-0 to grab second place in the pole vault and she added a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 17.20.
Sydney Ristau uncorked a toss of 32-10.5 to place second in the shot put and Wagner was fourth in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4-10.
Team results:
BEA 417, Luverne 375.5, Esko 361.5, St. Croix Lutheran 355.5, Chatfield 352.5, Paynesville 309, Pipestone 298.5, Breckenridge 241.5, Warroad 213.
Other BEA results:
100-meter dash: Meghan Mittelstadt, 13.64, 12th.
200-meter dash: Katie Krieger, 29.34, 13th.
400-meter dash: Rylee Wagner, 63.86, 6th.
100-meter high hurdles: Caitlynne Tyler, 18.17, 11th.
300-meter low hurdles: Hagedorn, 53.55, 8th; Tyler, 56.93, 16th.
800-meter run: Wagner, 2:41.18, 10th.
1,600-meter run: Walker, 6:11.07, 16th.
3,200-meter run: Mandy Warmka, 13:04.38, 10th.
High jump: Hoyt, 4-2, 15th.
Long jump: Holland, 15-1.25, 6th; Krista Hassing, 14-10, 10th.
Triple jump: Sara Warmka, 31-10.5, 5th.
Pole vault: Walker, 7-6, 12th.
Shot put: Krieger, 30-2.5, 12th.
Discus: Hoyt, 90-10, 11th; Krieger, 84-0, 14th.