Gag and Hames placed third, along with Hunter Heil and Jamison Portner, in the 4×200 relay, running a season-best 1:29.60.

“It obviously feels great,” Gag said. “It feels good to have a good group of guys to run with. They always push me, and I’m glad we can make state and keep the running going for the season.”

Gag placed second in both the 400-meter dash (49.58) and the 200-meter dash (22.45) to qualify for state in both events.

“It means a lot to me,” Gag said. “Especially last year I just missed out on the 200 for individuals, but it feels great just to improve my times this year. I hit my goal of sub-50, and I was pretty happy after that. The 200 is kind of just extra.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm's George Gag (second from left) and Michael Hames (second from right) run in the 400m of the Section 2A Track and Field Championships Friday at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Both times were personal bests for Gag and his 400 time was also a school record.

“Gustavus has always been a fast track for me,” Gag said. “I like to run here because there’s always a bunch of fast guys, and it’s great to pace with them. That’s how it gets me PRs. It’s just a fun series of events.”

Hames took forth in the 400 with a personal-best 50.28, beating the state qualifying time.

“It feels really good, Hames said. “We worked really hard this year with different workouts, and me and George really pushed each other this year to make state.”

The 4×200 relay team also qualified for state last year, and New Ulm continues to build its reputation in the relays.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm's Hunter Heil hands off the baton to Jamison Portner during the boys 4x200-meter relay Friday during the Section 2A Track and Field Championships at Gustavus Adolphus College.

“It means a lot,” Hames said. “Us four went to state last year together too. It feels good to get the school record and go to state again this year.”

New Ulm had a few athletes just miss the state tournament in the meet as well. Heil placed sixth in the boys 100m (11.22), while Jesalyn Skoglund placed eighth in girls high jump (5-0). Joshua Gordon had a personal-best pole vault of 11-01 to take ninth for the boys, while Sophia Berger had a vault of 9-08 to take ninth for the girls. Ellie Dake had a personal-best 35-11.5 shot put to place fifth for the girls, missing the state qualifying distance by just 1.5 inches. Kaylee Evans placed fifth in the girls triple jump (32-06).

“It went better than expected,” New Ulm head coach Brian Lundgren said. “A lot of PRs, big PRs. We have some people moving that we were hoping to. The boys 4×200 did awesome, in the open 400 both George Gag and Michael Hames qualified, which we were hoping for. They came through for us. We just had a lot of good performances. Even a lot of people who didn’t make it had PRs. It was a good day. We were very hopeful for those guys in the 4×200. They all came through with their legs and did awesome.”

The State Track and Field Meet begins on June 4 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm's Megan Gauert runs in the 1,600m during the Section 2A Track and Field Championships on Friday at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm's Sophia Berger prepares for the pole vault during the Section 2A Track and Field Championships on Friday at Gustavus Adolphus College.