File photo by Fritz Busch Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Treay Taylor, center, competes in the 100 at the Section 2A Track and Field finals at Mankato West High School on June 4. Also pictured on left is River Valley’s Caden Kleinschmidt, who advanced to state in the 4x200 relay.

Class A State Track and Field Meet • St. Michael-Albertville High School • June 9-10

ST. MICHAEL — The 2022 State Track and Field Meet begins Thursday , with several of the area’s top athletes vying for state medals.

The Class A prelims begin at 4 p.m. Thursday at St. Michael-Albertville High School. This year, area relay teams have raced to the front the line.

Minnesota Valley Lutheran/New Ulm Cathedral and River Valley will each have two relay teams going to state this year, while Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop will have one.

For MVL/NUC, the girls’ 4×100 and 4×200-meter relay teams of seniors Mia Johnson, Kaylee Hunter and Anna Schwartz and freshman Avery Hopp will compete. They both qualified with season-best times of 52.96 in the 4×100 and 1:52.92 in the 4×200 at the Section 2A finals at Mankato West High School last Saturday. Those times were good enough to finish second in both events.

Johnson also qualified for state in the 300 hurdles after taking second at the section meet in 48.72. Her top time this year in the 300 hurdles came at the Tomahawk Conference meet on May 19 when she ran a PR of 48.57.

Sam Blomberg will be MVL/NUC’s lone boy to compete at state this year, but he’ll be plenty busy as he qualified in both the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. In the section 110 hurdles, Blomberg took first with a time of 15.17. In the 300 hurdles, Blomberg finished third but qualified for state under the state qualifying standard with a time of 40.65.

Both of those times were PRs for Blomberg.

“Qualifying for the state meet is a great reward for these athletes,” MVL/NUC head coach Rollin Timm said. “Each one of them has put in a lot of work to become the athletes that they are. This is a dedicated and deserving group that has worked hard during the season and throughout the year in a variety of sports.”

Timm said he wants all athletes to compete to the best of their ability and enjoy the state experience.

River Valley saw its girls’ 4×800 relay team of freshmen Marissa Pabst and Emmie McCone and seniors Megan Sandgren and Lilly McCone breeze to a first-place finish at the Section 2A finals with a time of 10:11.42.

Sandgren also qualified for state in the 400-meter dash after a section time of 1:01.79 for second place. Her top time this year came at the Tomahawk Conference meet (1:01.47).

The River Valley boys’ 4×200 relay team of seniors Caden Kleinschmidt, Nick Freitag, and Caleb Hauger and junior Jake Heinrichs finished second in 1:33.7 at the section meet to qualify for state.

River Valley will also have Toby Hagen and James Hagen competing in the 100 and 200 wheelchair race, along with the wheelchair shot put. Toby Hagen will also compete in the wheelchair discus. Toby Hagen set a section-best throw of 10 feet, 8 inches in the wheelchair shot put last Saturday.

“Every one of these kids worked hard throughout the season to beat the odds and prove themselves,” River Valley head coach Heidi McCone said. “There is not a single thing that I would ask of them that they would not do. I am blessed to coach this amazing group of kids.”

The River Valley girls’ 4×100 alternates are freshman Skyla Dauer and eighth-grader Katie Thram. For the River Valley boys’ 4×200 team, senior Logan Richert and junior CJ Surprenant will be alternates.

GFW’s 4×100 boys’ relay team, anchored by senior Treay Taylor, qualified for state with a first-place section time 45.68. Freshman Justin Messner, sophomore Garrett Schmidt and senior Jack Panitzke complete the team in order of first to third leg. The team’s top time this year came at the River Valley meet on May 16 when they had a time of 45.37.

Alternates for GFW in the race are eighth-grader Garrett Stegeman and sophomore Brennir Peterson.

Taylor will also return to state in the 100 after taking home a fourth-place medal last year at state in the event. He qualified after a second-place finish (11.15) at the section meet. His best time in the 100 this year was an 11.09, which came in the section prelims.

“Treay also anchored last year’s 4×100-meter relay team which also made it to state,” GFW head coach Roger Rogotzke said. “The only thing is that he has three new guys on this relay team and they made it again. That is impressive to do that with three new members to that relay.”

Olivia Schwarzrock will also return to state this year for GFW in the girls’ shot put and discus events. Last year, Schwarzrock took home a fifth-place medal in the discus with a top throw of 116 feet, 8 inches.

This season, she advanced to state in the shot put as well after winning the event at the section meet (39-9.5). In the discus, she qualified with a first-place section throw (121-03). Her best throws in each event this season came at the River Valley meet on May 16 when she she threw 40 feet in the shot put and 134 feet, 10 inches in the discus, a school record.

“These athletes have worked extremely hard, not just this year, but throughout their careers and are now being rewarded for it,” Rogotzke said. “Olivia and Treay have both been to state before and both placed last year. I told the athletes, ‘Times and distances don’t mean a thing when going to state.’ Everyone is on the same track with the same conditions, and we can beat those faster times, distances when we compete head to head with them.”

Wabasso saw Katelyn Zeug advance to state after taking second in the long jump at the Section 3A meet with a top jump of 15 feet, 8.75 inches, which was a PR.

“Katelyn tried many events this year and it’s been difficult choosing which events to put her in all year, as she thrives in each of them,” Wabasso head coach Michelle Nichols said. “She always sets goals for herself, shatters them, then sets new goals. In the long jump, she has gained over 3 feet just this season, and at state, our goal for her is to continue to improve her distance and gain another PR.”

Madelia High School’s Ryan Koberoski will compete for Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther in the 400 at state this year after a first-place time of 51.94 at the Section 2A meet, a PR.

Nicollet’s Savannah Klockziem will compete at state with the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet girls’ 4×400 relay team after taking first at the section meet in 4:19.74. Nicollet’s Emily Lorentz also took second at the section tourney in both the shot put (38-01) and discus (117-01) to qualify for state.

The Class A finals conclude on Friday night.