“It was pretty cool to have a bunch of my teammates there this year, because last year I was the only one,” Davey said. “There was more support and it was more encouraging for us. The weather was great until the rain today, and that helped a lot. It was fun to see all the best at the state.”

One of those teammates was Olivia Hammer, who also qualified in triple jump and finished in 22nd place with a jump of 32-03.25.

Davey’s eighth-place finish represented a big improvement from last year, where Davey placed 16th as a freshman.

“I know there’s room for way more improvement as well, but I just worked hard. I tried to be a good leader to my teammates and tried to encourage them so they could also do well in their events, but I decided I wanted to work hard this year to make state and get on the podium.”

Photo by Jake Mc'Neill Minnesota Valley Lutheran's Kamryn Davey leaps during the girls triple jump at the Class A state track and field championships, Friday in St. Michael. 

Davey also thanked her coaches for the support they gave her throughout the last two seasons.

The eighth-place finish ends what has been a very strong year for Davey, who set the school triple jump record earlier this year and also had a strong season as a hurdler.

“I think for hurdles, I started off the year a little shaky, but by the end or even in the middle of the season, it got way better and I felt I was more in the flow. In triple jump, I started off really strong and was really excited about it. I broke the school record which is really cool and I got to the state tournament, which is amazing.”

Davey says next year she will work on finishing even higher in triple jump and also qualify for state in the 300m hurdles.

Also from the area, Sibley East’s Terrek Jenniges placed third in the 100m wheelchair (22.73), second in the 200m wheelchair (43.41) and second in the 400m wheelchair (1:34.00). River Valley’s Marley Hewitt placed eighth in the 400m (1:00.00). Lake Crystal-Welcome-Memorial/Nicollet’s Drew Turgeon took second in discus (179-08). LCWM/N’s Braxton Dudgeon took 14th in long jump (20-03.25) and Sibley East’s Aiden McCue placed 15th (20-02) and LCWM/N’s Riddick Schubbe placed 24th (18-09). LCWM/N’s Willow Casey took 12th in girls shot put (35-08.5). Sibley East’s Gage Horstman placed ninth in the 800m (2:00.52). The Sibley East 4×800 boys relay team of Mausten Krueger, Aiden Christeson, Julio Alejandro and Horstman placed 13th (8:32.92), and Sibley East’s Jacksen Pomplun placed 13th in the high jump (6-2). The LCWM/N boys 4×400 relay team of Schubbe, Aidan Moeller, Braxton Dudgeon and Izaak Rodman placed eighth (3:25.06).

Class AA preliminary events were also held on Friday. For New Ulm, George Gag qualified to advance to the finals in the 400m, placing sixth with a personal-best time of 49.84. The boys 4×200 relay team of Gag, Hunter Heil, Jamison Portner and Michael Hames also advanced to the finals, placing seventh with a school-record time of 1:29.54. Hames placed 12th in the 400m (50.17), and Gag placed 17th in the 200m (23.00).