ST. PAUL — Two days of work, two first-place medals to bring home.

New Ulm’s Ben Mathiowetz took home a second state title after Saturday in the Class AA wheelchair discus, a day after winning the title in the wheelchair shot put with a personal best. It wasn’t a personal best for him on Saturday, but it was an improvement from his performance last year at state where his best throw topped out at 23-feet, 10 inches.

This year, Mathiowetz threw for 24-feet, 6 inches, earning him a second medal to take home this weekend.

The New Ulm track and field team have rallied behind Mathiowetz, and team members Sean Howk and Emma Gauert were on hand to support Mathiowetz at state.

Mathiowetz said he thought he threw pretty good on Saturday. He also thanked his team members for being there to support him and thanked his coaches again for the work they put in all year with him.

“These coaches are really nice. Also, Sean Howk and Emma Gauert — Emma Gauert’s one of my girlfriends,” Mathiowetz joked, drawing laughs from his teammates, family and coaches around him.

Mathiowetz has shown improvements each season, and this year has been no different.

“Every year, he’s gotten better and better,” New Ulm head coach Breanna Olson said. “He’s come such a long way, so I’m pretty proud of him. Like you saw, he’s good for a smile. So he keeps the morale on the team up, and it’s really cool to see the kids rally behind him.”

Assistant coach Megan Asleson said that even though Mathiowetz didn’t set a personal record like he did the day before, she was still happy for him and was glad that he was happy.

“Yeah, it would have been good to have a PR today, but he’s still doing pretty good,” Asleson said. “And he’s still happy with his performances and that’s all that matters. He defended his title.”

If the trend continues for Mathiowetz, one shouldn’t be surprised to see him back at state next year and passing this year’s performances.

FEDER BREAKS GFW 1,600 SCHOOL RECORD AGAIN

Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Grace Feder finished 10th in the 1,600-meter run finals on Saturday with a time of 5:19.53. That was not only a personal best on the year for her but also a GFW school record.

She previously set the record last season with a 5:31.39 and set the record again last Saturday in sections with a time of 5:20.66. Grace Ping of Winona Cotter took first in the 1,600 on Saturday with a time of 4:57.86.

Despite missing a medal by one place, Feder was in good spirits after the race and after her record-breaking day.

“I was just really happy with how I did,” Feder said. “Especially with it being my first time coming to state. The race — it was fun to run against people that are really competitive and fast. It really pushes you, and I was happy with my time.”

Feder said that she’s going to put in even more work over the summer to improve so that she can return to state.

“I’m really going to work hard,” Feder said. “And I’m hoping I can get back to state.”

Feder, just wrapping up her freshman year, certainly still has plenty of time to convert that hope into reality.

OTHER AREA ATHLETES COMPETE

Carl Swedzinski of Wabasso competed in the discus finals on Saturday, finishing 14th overall with a top throw of 128-feet, 10 inches. Mitchell Weber of St. Clair/Immanuel Lutheran took first with a throw of 185-8.

Sleepy Eye Unified’s James Hagen competed in the wheelchair 100 and wheelchair 200 on Saturday. He finished third in the wheelchair 100 in 48.51 and third in the wheelchair 200 in 1:37.74. Both times were improvements from his qualifying times of 52.54 in the wheelchair 100 and 1:43.80 in the wheelchair 200.