Last season, the New Ulm boys set school records in the boys 4×100-, 4×200- and 4×400-meter relay races last season. While the 4×100 and 4×400 records from last year remain untouched, the 4×200 record was recently broken again at the Section 2AA Track and Field Championships last Friday at Gustavus Adolphus College by the Eagles 4×200 team of Hunter Heil, Michael Hames, Jamison Portner and George Gag.

With that record-setting performance, the team will take another crack at breaking it again as it competes at this year’s Class AA State Track and Field Championships this weekend at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

While the team of Jamison Portner, Jackson Ocampo, Sullivan Gusso and George Gag originally set the 4×200 school record last year at the section meet with a time of 1:31.54, only the New Ulm boys 4×100 relay and 4×400 relay teams made it to state last year for chances to improve on those school records. The 4×100 record was broke last year at sections also (43.45), along with the 4×400 record (3:24.06).

This year’s 4×200 relay team has had a forced makeover due to graduations, but it’s had plenty of success regardless with Heil and Hames joining the fold.

File photo by Fritz Busch Minnesota Valley Lutheran/New Ulm Cathedral 4x200 boys relay anchor Levi Johnson, left, races to the finish line at the Section 2A Track and Field Meet this past Saturday at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School.

Gag will also compete in the boys 400 and 200, while Hames will compete in the 400. Gag set a pair of PRs at the section meet last Friday when he ran a 22.45 in the 200 a 49.58 in the 400, while Hames’ top time in the 400 came at sections when he ran a 50.28.

The Class AA prelims are scheduled to take place Friday, with the boys 4×200 relay prelims starting around 10:25 a.m. The boys 400 prelims will take place at approximately 11:04 a.m. Friday, while the boys 200 prelims begin around 12:01 p.m. Friday. The Class AA finals are scheduled to begin Saturday morning, with the top nine prelim finishers in each event competing in the finals for state medals.

MVL/NUC SENDS 4 BOYS, 4 GIRLS

The Minnesota Valley Lutheran/New Ulm Cathedral track and field team saw great success at the Section 2A Track and Field Meet this past Saturday in Janesville, with their boys 4×200 relay team setting a school record time of 1:31.52. That team of Ben Riesgraf, John Hoffman, Oliver Schuch and Levi Johnson finished second at the section meet, and while only the first-place teams in each relay event guarantee a state berth, state qualifying standards are also in place. The team’s time passed the boys Class A standard time of 1:32.05, giving the Chargers boys something extra to celebrate.

The Chargers girls didn’t send a relay team, but they did win the section with overall dominance across the track — and field. That Section 2A girls title also came with four of their girls qualifying for the state meet, led by Kamryn Davey, who punched her state ticket in two different events.

File photo by Fritz Busch River Valley’s Marley Hewitt, center, wins the 400 in 59.46 seconds at the Section 2A Track and Field Meet on Saturday at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School.

Davey will compete in the girls 100-meter hurdles and triple jump events after taking first in both events at the section meet Saturday with a top time of 16 seconds and top jump of 35 feet, 11.75 inches. She will look to PR both events, with her top 100 hurdles time clocking in at 15.52 on May 21, and her top jump reaching 36-2.5 on April 24.

Joining Davey in the 100 hurdles is Avery Freier, who took second in the event at sections Saturday with a time of 16.34, a season-best time for her. Freier’s top time overall in the 100 hurdles is 16.31, a time she accomplished in 2024’s section meet.

Emily Brown will compete in the girls 300 hurdles after taking second at the section meet with a personal-best time of 46.92 seconds. Finally, Olivia Hammer will compete in the girls triple jump after her second-place and personal-best jump of 35-04.5 at the section meet.

The Class A prelims are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The boys 4×200 relay prelims will begin around 4:10 p.m., while the girls 100 hurdles prelims begin around 3:30 p.m. and the girls 300 hurdles prelim begin around 5:04 p.m. Thursday. The girls triple jump finals begin around 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The Class A finals are scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start on Friday.

BEST OF THE REST

File photo by Fritz Busch Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial-Nicollet shot put thrower Drew Turgeon won the Section 2A title with a toss of 56 feet, 11.5 inches this past Saturday at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School. Turgeon also won the discus at 181 feet, 01 inches.

The area is sending a slew of other talented athletes to the state tournament from Class A this year.

River Valley may have just one state participant this year, but it’s someone who is making it count in Marley Hewitt. Hewitt qualified for state in two events this year after taking first in the girls 400 (59.46, season best) and second in girls 200 (26.3). Hewitt’s personal best in the 400 came last year at state when she ran a 58.4 in the preliminary race. Her PR in the 200 came on May 14 at the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Championship meet when she ran a 26.17. The Class A prelims for the 400 and 200 are scheduled for 4:40 p.m. and 5:44 p.m., respectively, Thursday.

Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop will be sending two girls to the state meet this year in Annie Wersal and Silvana Ruiz. Wersal took second in the girls discus with a personal-best throw of 123 feet, 3 inches, at the section meet, while Ruiz ran a PR time of 2:21.06 at the section meet. The Class A girls discus finals and girls 800 prelims are scheduled for 4:45 p.m. and 5:19 p.m., respectively on Thursday. All field events will just have final competitions without preliminary events.

Sibley East will have four boys competing at state this year in Gage Horstman, Aidan McCue, Jacksen Pomplun and Terrek Jenniges. McCue and Jenniges will be the busiest Wolverines as McCue competes in the boys 110 hurdles and triple jump events and Jenniges competes in the boys 100 wheelchair, 200 wheelchair and 400 wheelchair events. McCue set a season-best time of 15.62 in the 110 hurdles Saturday at sections, but his PR in the event came last year at the South Central Conference Championship meet on May 13, 2025, when he ran a 15.41. His triple jump PR came on April 20 this year when he reached a top distance of 44-1.75.

Jenniges’ 100 wheelchair, 200 wheelchair and 400 wheelchair times at sections were 24.22, 43.97 and 1:32.59, respectively, with the 400 time being a PR. He set PRs in the 100 wheelchair (22.4) and 200 wheelchair (43.5) at the Section 2A, North Subsection meet on May 21. There will be no prelim races at state for the wheelchair events.

Horstman took first in the boys 800 at sections with a time of 2:03.17 to qualify for state, but his PR came at the Section 2A, North Subsection meet on May 21 when he ran a 2:02. Pomplun had a PR jump of 6 feet in the boys high jump at the section meet, good enough for second place and a state berth. The boys 110 hurdle prelims begin at 3:36 p.m. Thursday, while the boys triple jump finals begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The boys 800 prelims begin at 5:29 p.m. Thursday, while the boys high jump finals begin at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The boys 100 wheelchair, 200 wheelchair and 400 wheelchair finals start at 4:56 p.m., 7:12 p.m. and 6:23 p.m., respectively, Friday,

Wabasso will be sending Andrew Morin and Liz Morin to state in the boys 3,200 and girls triple jump, respectively. Andrew Morin qualified for state in the boys 3,200 after running a PR time of 9.59.6 in the event at the Section 3A track and field meet last Thursday to finish first. Liz Morin took first at the Section 3A meet in the girls triple jump with a PR jump of 34-8. The state boys 3,200 will not have a prelim race and the finals for the Class A boys 3,200 race is set for a 6:13 p.m. Thursday start. The girls triple jump finals begin around 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Last but not least, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet will be sending seven boys and one girl to the state meet this year. Aidan Moeller will compete in the boys 300 hurdles and the boys 4×400 relay event with teammates Riddick Schubbe, Braxton Dudgeon and Izaak Rodman. Dudgeon will have his hands full as he will also compete in the boys long jump and boys triple jump, while Drew Turgeon competes in the boys shot put and boys discus events. Jacob Miller and Levi Freyberg will compete in the boys pole vault, while Willow Casey will compete in the girls shot put.

Moeller took first in the boys 300 hurdles at the section meet with a time of 40.77, but his PR time in the event came in the Section 2A, South Subsection meet on May 21 when he ran a 40.73. The boys 4×400 relay team also had their best showing at the South Subsection meet when they ran a 3:29.48. LCWM/N has had a mix of boys compete in the 4×400 relays this year but appears to have found its top lineup at the right time.

Dudgeon took first at the section meet in the boys triple jump with a PR 44-00.5, while he took second in the boys long jump at sections with a PR 21-04. Turgeon had PRs in both the boys shot put and discus events at the section meet as he took first with distances of 56-11.5 and 181-01, respectively. Miller and Freyberg both had jumps of 12-10 at sections to qualify for state, with Miller’s PR in the event coming on April 22, 2025, when he reached 13 feet, and Freyberg’s PR in the event coming April 21 when he reached 14 feet, 7 inches. Casey won the girls shot put event at the section meet with a 36 feet, 2-inch throw, a throw she will be looking to top at state.

The boys 300 hurdles prelim event will take place at 3:36 p.m., while the boys 4×400 relay prelims are set for 6:38 p.m. Thursday. The boys triple jump finals are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday, while the boys long jump finals are set for 3:30 p.m. Friday. The boys shot put finals are scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, while the boys discus finals are scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Friday. The boys pole vault finals are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday, while the girls shot put finals are scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.