Eloise Blair, above, will be competing in the 100-meter hurdles at the State Track Tournament after taking first place at Sections.

The smiles on the faces of Blue Earth Area State Track qualifiers Eloise Blair and Luke Norman were more than enough to brighten up the gloomy day at the Section 2A Track Meet held at Mankato West High School on June 4.

The start of the meet was delayed due to rain, but Blair was ready to go when the starting gun was fired for the first preliminary heat of the 100-meter high hurdles.

Blair grabbed the lead right out of the blocks and cruised to an easy victory with a time of 16.67.

When it was time for the finals in the hurdles, the BEA junior followed the same recipe she utilized in the prelims – she got out to a fast start and then held off the competition to finish first while achieving a personal best time of 16.60.

But, here is the interesting part of the story. The races at Section were only the third and fourth time she had competed in the event.

The first time was on May 10, at the True Team Section Meet in Mapleton. She went down after hitting the second hurdle and finished with a time of 37.96.

Her second time competing in the high hurdles was back in Mapleton again, this time at the Sub-Section meet.

She finished fourth at that meet with a time of 17.37 and was fortunate to advance to the Section meet.

“Due to her labrum surgery last fall and other health issues, this was only the third meet all season she had competed in the 100-meter hurdles,” BEA track coach Tom Plocker said. “But, she put all of the waiting and frustrations of the year behind her at Sections.”

Now, she is headed to the State Meet as the champion out of Section 2A.

“She dominated the preliminary heats, recording the fastest time going into the finals,” Plocker stated. “And in the finals, she led from the outset and recorded her fastest time ever to become BEA’s only Section Champion in 2022.”

Luke Norman knew it would be tough for him to make it to State in either the discus or the shot put events.

The top two finishers in each event move on to State. Plus, any competitors who meet the State standard also move on.

With Mapleton’s Ethan Fischer all but assured of the top spot in the discus, Norman needed his best effort to secure a place at State.

And, that is what he got.

The senior threw a personal-best 148-02 to break the school record he set earlier this year. He finished in third place but his throw was better than the required State Standard of 145-8, so he is headed to State.

“Luke had been pointing to this day all season. With the best discus thrower in the State (Fischer from Maple River), as well as an excellent newcomer (Vancura from Jackson County Central) in our Section, Luke knew he would probably have to reach the State Standard to qualify for the State meet,” Plocker explained. “And he did just that in the finals, uncorking his best-ever (and new school record) toss to make State. This was a gratifying day indeed for Luke (and his dad the coach).”

The Class A State Track Meet was held at St. Michael-Albertville on Thursday and Friday, June 9-10. Look for results of the meet in next week’s Faribault County Register.

Although Blair and Norman were the only two BEA athletes to qualify for State, a number of other Buccaneers had good showings at the Section Meet.

All-Section Honors

Any relay team or individual finishing sixth or higher receives All-Section honors.

In addition to Blair and Norman, the Bucs earned All-Section honors in 10 other events.

Blake Ripley had a personal-best throw of 47-3/4 in the shot put and was holding on to second place for quite awhile before finally finishing in fourth place. Ripley’s toss also put him in 10th place on the BEA Honor Roll.

Chloe Groe also had a good day in the shot put. Her throw of 33-1 3/4 was her best throw ever and put her in 10th place on the BEA Honor Roll. She placed fifth at the Section Meet.

Addison Armstrong moved into fourth place all-time among Buccaneer girl pole vaulters with her personal-best height of 9-10 which was good for third place.

One of the most exciting relay races of the day was when the girls took the track for the 4×200-meter relay. BEA’s Tailor Douglas took the final handoff in third place well behind the second-place runner.

Douglas kept closing the distance but could not quite pass the runner before crossing the finish line. BEA’s time of 1:53.83 was .91 of a second behind the second-place team. Other members of the 4×200 team were Armstrong, Kate Armon and Lauren Bleess

The girls’ 4×100-meter relay team of Blair, Sophie Keister, Armon and Douglas finished in sixth place with a time of 55.36.

Armstrong also had a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 64.38.

Groe also finished third in the discus throw with a distance of 104-10.

Sophie Keister finished sixth in the high jump. Her best jump was 4-9.

Other BEA athletes competing at the Section meet were the 4×400-meter relay team of Armstrong, Armon, Bleess and Douglas who finished in seventh place with a time of 4:39.09.

Bleess had a time of 13.91 in the girls’ 100-meter dash to finish in 13th place. Bruk Sonnicksen competed in the boys’ 100-meter dash and clocked a time of 12.50 to finish 15th.

Jacob Grandgenett just missed achieving All-Section status with his seventh-place showing in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.00.

Ripley’s throw in the discus measured 117-10 to give him ninth place and Norman’s toss of 41-7 1/4 put him in ninth place in the shot put.

Gabe Torres was eighth in the long jump with a distance of 19-1 1/4 and Alicia Machacek was 15th for the girls with a mark of 13-6.

Austin Stauffer had a triple jump distance of 37 9 1/2 to finish in 10th place. On the girls’ side, Lizzy Uecker finished 14th with a jump of 29-7 3/4.