Addison Armstrong releases the pole while sailing over the bar cleanly during the Section 2A Track Meet held at Mankato West on June 1. Armstrong qualified to compete in the Class A State Track Tournament which began on June 6.

Blue Earth Area senior Addison Armstrong earned a return trip to the Minnesota State High School Track Meet in the pole vault by virtue of her meeting the State qualifying standard at the Section 2A Track Meet held at Mankato West High School on Saturday, June 1.

The top two individuals and relay teams in each event automatically qualify for the State Meet along with any athlete or relay team that meets the State qualifying standard.

Armstrong finished third in the pole vault, but she successfully cleared the bar at 10-01 which was the qualifying standard for that event.

The BEA senior finished in fourth place at last year’s State Track Meet with a mark of 10-06.

Buccaneer junior Tailor Douglas had her best vault ever at the Section Track Meet when she made it over the bar at a height of 9-01.

A number of other BEA girls also competed at the Section Meet.

Chloe Groe placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 33-09.5 while Taylor Ripley was eighth with a heave of 32-00.

Groe placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 94-04. Her teammate Anna Mwangi was sixth with a distance of 92-02.

Sarah Dohm was seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 31-01.5 and Sidney Eitzmann was 14th with a mark of 29-06.25.

Kyannah Brandt placed 12th in the long jump with a leap of 14-06.5.

BEA’s 4×800-meter relay team of Sidney Eitzmann, Caitlin Eitzmann, Natalie Griffey and Aubrey Woodwick finished in eighth place with a time of 11:28.11.

It was also an eighth place finish for the 4×200-meter relay team of Brandt, Kate Armon, Douglas and Armstrong who crossed the finish line with a time of 1:54.84.

Armstrong placed seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.53.

River Valley was the winning team with 87 points followed by second-place Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton with 67. The Bucs had 29 points to finish in 11th place.

Boys Results

No Blue Earth Area boys qualified for the State Track Meet but many still had some fine performances at the Section 2A Track Meet.

Jacob Grandgenett sprinted to a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.34.

Grandgenett was fourth in the 200-meter dash when he crossed the finish line in 23.68.

Marcus Eckles took seventh in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.91.

The 4×200-meter relay team of Gage Barker, Caden Juba, Eckles and Tristan Hanson placed fifth with a time of 1:37.77.

Isaac Anderson cleared the bar at a height of 5-08 in the high jump to finish in fifth place.

Juba was 16th in the triple jump with a mark of 35-00.5 and Chase Gambell was 14th in the shot put with a toss of 38-10.

BEA placed 16th in team scoring with 18 points. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial-Nicollet had the highest team score with 75 points while runner-up Windom Area finished with 67 points.