MANKATO — Minnesota Valley Lutheran junior Lexi Fosburgh had a big smile on her face as she crossed the finish line in the 200-meter dash finals at the Section 2A Track and Field Meet at Mankato West Saturday.

Just past the finish line, Fosburgh put her hands up over her face, as if she couldn’t believe what she just saw. Then she took a moment to gather herself and get some air, before walking into the infield, hugging teammates.

Fosburgh finished second in the 200 finals on 27.13 seconds, a personal best, qualifying for the state track meet. She came into the section meet with the fifth-best qualifying time in the event but that meant little after the finals.

“I finished a lot higher than I expected. I beat my previous best time by almost three tenths of a second,” Fosburgh said. “I guess the conditions were right. I had good competition. The weather was nice. Everything worked out well.”

Fosburgh finished in a tie for fourth in the 100 dash finals in 13.48 seconds.

She was also the lead runner on the MVL 4×100 relay team that that finished second in 51.22 seconds, a season-best, earning a trip to the state meet. Other members of the 4×100 relay team were junior Megan Seidl, freshman Anna Schwartz and senior Hannah Marzinske.

Fosburgh talked about the relay team.

“We really had good handoffs. We really worked hard on that,” Fosburgh said.

Seidl and Schwartz joined to track team for the first time this year.

“My friends were on the track team, so I joined,” Seidl said. She also enjoys softball and plans to play this summer.

Another MVL junior, Mara Weisensel, earned a state meet trip, finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.28 seconds. Weisensel finished ninth in the high jump.

Marzinske finished sixth in the triple jump and seventh in the long jump.

Abby Nelson of MVL placed sixth in the 800 and 1,600-meter runs. Mia Johnson of MVL was ninth in the 3,200 run, just behind Grace Feder of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (GFW). Emma Nelson of MVL placed ninth in the shot put.

For River Valley, the girls’ 4×800 relay team of Kira DeMaris, Ellie Tonn, Abby Hagen and Lilly McCone finished fourth in 10:20.69. Sydney Hauger finished sixth in the 400, Abby Hagen seventh in the 1,600 run and Sophie Gustafson eighth in the 300 hurdles.

Olivia Schwarzrock, a GFW freshman, placed third in the discus with a 110 feet, one inch toss, just four inches from a state meet trip.

Bob Vrklan, GFW weights coach, said Schwarzrock bettered her best toss last year by 20 feet.

“She improved all year and will continue to grow,” Vrklan said. “We’re excited to see what she’s capable of doing.”

The Chargers finished tied with Janesville-Waldorf Pemberton, for fifth place in girls team points, with 41 points.

Izayah Harrison of MVL just missed a state meet trip, finishing third in the 100 dash in 11.66 seconds. Freshman Christian Edwards was sixth.

The MVL boys 4×100 relay team of Zach Helget, Edwards, Carlos Ramirez and Harrison finished third in 45.04 seconds, just missing going to state.

Jake Kettner of MVL was ninth in the high jump and 11th in the long jump. Trent Fluegge was 12th in the pole vault.

For River Valley, Jose Ibarra finished sixth in the 400 in 52.32 seconds. James Hagen powered his wheelchair to second in the 100 and 200 dash and third place in the shot put.

McKray Schmidt of GFW finished fifth in the discus.

For complete Section 2A results, visit www.herostiming.com

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).