Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sean Howk (left) and Justin Fuhrman (right) compete in the Section 2AA boys’ 400-meter dash final on Friday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

ST. PETER – The New Ulm boys’ and girls’ track and field teams had a tough day in the Section 2AA finals at Gustavus Adolphus College on Friday, leaving Ben Mathiowetz the lone Eagle to make the trek to state next week.

The junior will make his third appearance at state after qualifying in the wheelchair shotput and wheelchair discus. The State Track and Field Tournament will be held June 8-9 at Hamline University in St. Paul.

The New Ulm boys finished 14th overall (11), while the girls finished 13th overall (17). The Mankato West boys took first with 102 points, while the Chaska boys took second (68).

The Marshall girls finished first with 87 points, while the Waconia girls finished second (73).

New Ulm head coach Breanna Olson had nothing but positive things to say about her state-returning athlete.

“Ben is such an awesome kid,” Olson said. “He has come so far, and we have had the honor of having him out for our track program three years. And he has just come leaps and bounds. We’re really excited for him.”

Olson also said that she was proud of the team as a whole for improving as the late-to-begin season went on. She also said that with the section being as good as it is, she was still proud of how her squad performed on Wednesday and Friday.

“Our section is so talented,” Olson said. “It’s really a fun meet to be at and watch the talent that comes. We had so many personal bests today at the meet, so I hope the kids feel really accomplished because with the good competition, they were pushed.”

PERSONAL BESTS

Setting personal records on Wednesday and Friday in sections for New Ulm were Paige Kalis in the long jump (16-11), Elle Cooper in the 400-meter dash (1:07.17), Morgan Eikanger in the 400 (1:06.23), Brandon Ocampo in the 400 (55.83), Wyatt Huard in the long jump (20-07.25, fifth place), Olivia Wick in the shot put (27-09) and Mathiowetz in the wheelchair discus (27-02). Also having personal bests in the 800 were Dan Rosenhamer in the (2:14.40), Carter Brandes (2:29.62), Hannah Osborne (2:35.05) and Sarah Preisinger (2:38.91).

The 1,600 saw Nick Schultz (5:08.37), Kaye Rysdahl (5:49.26) and Alexis Rustin (6:28.27) each set personal records as well. Sean Howk (51.98, fifth place) and Justin Fuhrman (52.50, eighth place) also finished with personal bests in the 400.

Erika Ebert (50.53) finished with a personal best in the 300-meter low hurdles, while Connor Foley (48.86) and Jacob Beranek (47.69) finished with personal bests in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.

Olivia Owens, Emmy Munson, Rylee Wendinger and Paige Kalis set a personal record as a relay team in the 4×100-meter relay, while the 4×200 team of Shamel Gordon, Molly Scheid, Osborne and Ebert (1:58.72) set a best as well. The girls’ 4×800 team consisting of Osborne, Elle Cooper, Morgan Eikanger and Rysdahl set a best of 10:18.40.

Ethan O’Connor, Foley, Dalton Helget and Brandon Ocampo set a best in the 4×200 (1:38.20), while in the 4×100, Michael Tardzenyuy, Huard, Jack Howard and Howk set a best with 45.14.

Although not personal bests, Emma Gauert tied for sixth in the pole vault (9-06), while Kalis took seventh in the 200 (27.21) and Howk took eighth in the 100 (11.72).