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ST. PAUL -- Paige Kalis and Ben Mathiowetz both took home Class AA medals for New Ulm High School on Day 1 of the State Track and Field Meet at Hamline University on Friday, with Mathiowetz taking first in the wheelchair shot put and Kalis finishing ninth in the long jump.
Mathiowetz's performance was similar to his performance last year at state, with his throws going farther and farther after each throw. After starting out throwing under 12 feet on his first throw, his final throw of 14 feet, 8 3/4 inches set a personal record for him on the way to another first-place medal at state. Mathiowetz's top throw last year at state in the wheelchair shot put was 13 feet, 3/4 inches.
"It's good that he got to hit that mark and it was over a foot and a half of PR, and he was continually throwing better as he went," New Ulm head coach Megan Asleson said of Mathiowetz. "He feels pretty good about it. Once we give him something to focus on out there, he does well, and we kind of remind him to reach for those spots and it kind of helped him today. I was counting one, two, three push, just reaching out to where you know the marker was. Every time then he has something to focus on and can reach out there, where if he doesn't have that focal point, you can kind of see he kind of lobs it a little bit more. But he did well today and it's a great way to end his shot put career on."
Mathiowetz finishes his high school track and field career at 10:15 a.m. Saturday morning in the state wheelchair discus.
For Kalis, she wasn't only battling a tough field of elite jumpers, she was also battling strep throat. A jump of 16 feet, 10 1/4 inches was enough to get her into the finals and that was also her best jump of the meet, landing her at ninth overall.
Kalis, who jumped a 17-4 3/4 at the Section 2AA meet, said that she wished she could have jumped farther on Friday but was still proud to take home a medal considering her unfortunate circumstances.
"I'm actually sick right now from strep, so I'm not on any meds right now either, so I'm trying to battle that," Kalis said. "But I wish my jumps were a little bit farther, but what can you do. I made it into the finals and that's the important part, that was really my goal for the day was just to jump with my heart and have fun with it."
Kalis' finish on Friday also saw her become the first girl at New Ulm High School to earn a medal in the long jump. That's not too bad for her first appearance at the state meet, a meet that Kalis wasn't exactly expecting to compete in this year to begin with.
"It was kind of shock [to make state] actually because I was seeded fifth at sections, and then I just got a random 17-4 3/4 jump and I came out in first, which was so surprising," Kalis said. "It was such an awesome opportunity to come up here and enjoy the time with Ben Mathiowetz and Olivia Owens. We had a really fun time all together."
Olivia Owens also competed for New Ulm on Friday, taking 12th in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet, 2 inches. Owens scratched on 5-4 and wasn't able to top her section high of 5-5 but will have another shot to earn a medal when she competes at 9 a.m. Saturday morning in the triple jump.
She will also be the first New Ulm High School girl to compete in the triple jump at state.
FIVE MVL GIRLS COMPETE FRIDAY
Minnesota Valley Lutheran's Mara Weisensel was up first for the Charger girls on Friday, finishing 12th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.3 seconds, just .02 slower than her qualifying time at sections. She was less than fourth-tenths of a second shy of qualifying for the finals on Saturday.
MVL's 4×100-meter relay team, which consisted of Lexi Fosburgh, Megan Seidl, Anna Schwartz and Hannah Marzinske, fell short of a finals spot on Saturday after finishing 16th overall in the prelims with a time of 52.95.
Ending Friday for MVL was Fosburgh, this time competing in the 200-meter dash. She finished 12th in the 200 prelims with a time of 27.08.
That time was still a personal best for Fosburgh despite not qualifying for finals on Saturday. Her previous personal best was set at the Section 2A meet a week ago, where she turned in a time of 27.13.
OTHER AREA ATHLETES IN ACTION
Also competing on Friday from the area was Wabasso's Carl Swedzinski, who competed in the shot put.
Swedzinski finished ninth on Friday after reaching the finals with a top throw of 49-1 1/2. That throw topped his top throw at sections by an inch.
"It means a lot," Swedzinski said of medaling. "I've always wanted to get here and get on the stand and get a medal. So it means a lot to finish out with a bang."
River Valley's James Hagen also competed in the wheelchair shot put, finishing fifth after a top throw of 5-07, which beat his state-qualifying toss of 5-05. He will compete in the wheelchair 100 and wheelchair 200 on Saturday.