Track and field: Willmar Cardinal girls eye gold

Jun. 6—ST. MICHAEL — As Willmar track and field head coach Connor Haugen puts it, the hay's in the barn.

The Cardinals' track and field team is sending 15 athletes to the Class AA state championship meet. There'll be some tweaking of relay lineups and fine-tuning on some aspects of a race. But Haugen and the Willmar state contingent will be cautious in their practice approach.

"There's no additional work that can be done this week to make them faster on Friday and Saturday," Haugen said. "We can make them slower, but we can't make them faster. And the only way to really make sure that they drop time is actually resting and recovering.

"Practice will have higher intensity but low-volume workouts to make them feel fast this week. We want to make sure they're feeling rested and ready to go, and then come Friday and Saturday, they'll be ready to fly."

When the Class AA meet takes place at St. Michael-Albertville High School — with prelims at 9 a.m. Friday and finals at 9 a.m. Saturday — the Cardinals have some high podium expectations.

The biggest race will come at the tail end of Saturday. The Willmar girls' 4x400-meter relay is the No. 1 seed. The quartet of Hannah Quinn, Lauren Eilers, Lyndi Koosman and Mallory Beier come in with a time of 4 minutes, 0.96 seconds. They are more than two seconds faster than the No. 2 seed from Pequot Lakes (4:03.21).

"When it gets to state, the increased pressure will drop those times a little bit for the most part," Haugen said. "And all those girls, except for Lauren, will be completely fresh for the 4x4, or they'll have just one event earlier in the morning."

This is the second straight season the Willmar girls' 4x400 is the top seed. In 2022, Quinn, Nina Dawson, Erin Eilers and Lauren Eilers came in with a top time of 4:03.61. They beat that seed time at 4:02.31 but finished in third place.

Haugen is confident this relay squad can hold onto that top seed.

"I still think there's time to drop there," Haugen said, "and those girls are close to a school record and a very good placing at state."

While the 4x400 will end the meet, Lauren Eilers will kick off the meet at 9 a.m. Friday with the 3,200 finals. The Cardinals' sophomore is the No. 2 seed with a time of 10:55.26. She sits behind Hutchinson's Isabelle Schmitz at 10:54.10. Schmitz, Eilers and Fairmont's Macy Hanson (10:56.59) are the only three runners with seed times less than 11 minutes.

"Lauren broke the school record in her state-qualifying performance," Haugen said. Eilers broke a school record from 2003 by nearly six seconds. "She's sitting great right now to place very well at state."

Saturday will also be a busy day for Koosman. Before finishing the day with the 4x400, she'll compete in two field events with the pole vault and triple jump. She is the eighth seed in pole vault at 10 feet, 8 inches. She's also ninth in the triple jump at 35-9.25.

"If anybody can handle it, she can," Haugen said of Koosman's packed schedule. "It'll be something we'll be watching for sure, but nothing that I don't think she can't handle."

The girls also have a relay team in the 4x800. Sophia Negen, Gabby Martinez, Quinn and Erin Eilers are the 12th seed at 9:52.67.

Of Willmar's eight boys at state, Sully Anez has the highest seed.

Despite not racing since the section True Team meet, Anez qualified for state in two events. He's the seventh seed in the 3,200 (9:41.65). He's also part of the 4x800 relay — along with Kadar Muhumed, Brandon Zepeda and Fathi Dubet — that is seeded 10th (8:12.80).

"Sully's biggest and most valuable trait is his drive and his grit," Haugen said. "That is always the case with him no matter what. No matter what state he's in, I know he will give 1,000% effort."

On the boys' 4x800, Haugen added, "They all ran season-bests (at the section meet) by a good margin, by one or two seconds. In Kadar's case, he ran it by four seconds. They kept pushing Alexandria every step of the way and I think with smarter racing, we'll be able to nab them at state."

Two Willmar boys — Koda Helfinstine and Tyler Evans — are in the pole vault. Both are seeded 15th at 11-11.

Haugen is also hoping to sneak Sam Raitz and William Sportel onto the medal podium. Raitz is the 14th seed in the 400 (51.08) and Sportel is the 10th seed in the 300 hurdles (40.33).

"Sam hasn't quite gotten back to where he was about three weeks ago, but we are very confident he'll be near that spot to be breaking 50 (seconds) and be one of the top five-to-eight 400-meter runners in the state," Haugen said. "For Will, the same thing. Last year he didn't make it into finals (finishing 11th).

"One of our goals is, OK, how can we get as many of these prelim kids to the finals as possible? ... Just being fully ready to go for Friday and Saturday will make a big difference."

Area throwers are in line to bring home plenty of hardware in both Class AA and A.

In AA, Litchfield junior TJ Christensen is the top seed in the boys discus (165-10) and the second seed in the boys shot put (53-9.25).

Elsewhere for the Dragons, junior Grace Schmidt is the fifth seed in the girls discus (118-7) and Jaelyn Baseman is the seventh seed in the girls shot put (36-3.25).

Montevideo junior Francis O'Malley is a threat to sweep the Class A boys throws. He is the top seed in the shot put at 57-7.5 and is seven feet ahead of No. 2 seed Garrett Bonow of Lewiston-Altura. In discus, O'Malley is the second seed at 160-9, sitting behind Pelican Rapids' Justin Jacobson at 160-11. They are the only two throwers in A over 160.

MACCRAY/Renville County West junior Nathan Wieberdink is seeded fifth in discus at 151-6.

Two area athletes — BOLD/Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart's Ryan King and Montevideo's Avery Koenen — are top seeds in the jumpers' pits.

King, a senior, is the top seed in the Class A boys long jump with a leap of 22-6. Behind him is Badger/Greenbush-Middle River/Frazee's Liam Collins at 21-11.5 and Laq qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd's Brayson Boike at 21-9.75. King also competes in BOLD/BLHS' 4x200 and 4x100 relays.

Along with the long jump, Boike also competes in the triple jump and high jump and is a top-four seed in each event. Koenen, a senior for the Thunder Hawks and a North Dakota State University women's basketball commit, is the top seed in the girls triple jump. With a distance of 36-10.5, she is seven inches farther than the No. 2 seed, Kendall Huhnerkoch of Redwood Valley. Koenen beat Huhnerkoch for the Section 3A championship.

Montevideo junior Braden Nelson is tied for the top seed in the Class A boys pole vault. Both he and Luverne's DJ Rock have the top height at 14-1.5. The three seed is Pine Island's Sam Knox at 14-0. No other competitor is seeded over 14 feet.

Other area athletes with top three seeds include Litchfield's Blake Aller (AA boys 200, 3rd, 21.86) and Minnewaska's Maeson Tank (A boys 800, 3rd, 1:58.12).

The Minnewaska girls' 4x800 relay — with Brooke Kolstoe, Olivia Danielson, Lauryn Ankeny and McKenzie Luetmer — is seeded second (9:44.95). The Laker girls' 4x400 — with Teagan Stark, Danielson, Ankeny and Luetmer — is the three seed (4:06.28).

Litchfield: Grace Schmidt, discus; Lillia Chvatal, long jump; Raina Kaping, pole vault; Jaelyn Baseman, shot put.

New London-Spicer: Danica Pederson, high jump; 4x100 relay (Alya Caskey, Katelyn Delzer, Ellary Peterson, Emma Madison).

Willmar: Lauren Eilers, 3,200 run; Lyndi Koosman, pole vault and triple jump; 4x400 relay (Hannah Quinn, L. Eilers, Koosman, Mallory Beier); 4x800 relay (Sophia Negen, Gabby Martinez, Quinn, Erin Eilers).

Litchfield: Blake Aller, 200 dash; TJ Christensen, discus and shot put; 4x400 relay (Lukas Kuehl, Garrison Jackman, Xander Chvatal, Aller).

Willmar: William Sportel, 300 hurdles; Sam Raitz, 400 dash; Sully Anez, 3,200 run; Tyler Evans, pole vault; Koda Helfinstine, pole vault; 4x800 relay (Kadar Muhumed, Brandon Zepeda, Fathi Dubet, Anez).

Benson/KMS: Amber Rosemeier, 400 dash; Carly Tolifson, high jump; 4x100 relay (Libby McGeary, Ava Noble, Julia Claussen, Tolifson).

BOLD/BLHS: Anna Gardeen, pole vault; 4x200 relay (Mari Ryberg, Lily Hubin, Lainey Braulick, Allison Milbrandt).

CMCS: Sophia Vogel, 300 hurdles.

MACCRAY/RCW: Brielle Janssen, 400 dash; Jordan Thein, high jump; 4x400 relay (Ella Hultgren, Frida Barrera, Ella Kienitz, Janssen).

Minnewaska: Lauryn Ankeny, 300 hurdles; McKenzie Luetmer, 400 dash and triple jump; Jayda Kolstoe, shot put; 4x400 relay (Teagan Stark, Olivia Danielson, Lauryn Ankeny, McKenzie Luetmer); 4x800 relay (Brooke Kolstoe, Danielson, Ankeny, Luetmer).

Montevideo: Avery Koenen, triple jump.

Morris/CA: Lydia Fynboh, 100 dash.

Paynesville: Brooklyn Frank, 100 dash; Rebekah Walz, pole vault.

Benson/KMS: Hunter Kallstrom, 100 dash and shot put.

BOLD/BLHS: Stevie McMath, 200 dash; Ryan King, long jump; 4x100 relay (King, Chase Hubin, Hudson Vosika, McMath); 4x200 relay (Jack Gross, Hubin, King, McMath).

LQPV/D-B: Brayson Boike, high jump, long jump and triple jump.

MACCRAY/RCW: Javin Mungai, 400 dash; Nathan Wieberdink, discus; 4x200 relay (Mungai, Wieberdink, Brady Heiling, Sebastian Cisneros).

Minnewaska: Maeson Tank, 400 dash and 800 run.

Montevideo: Edan Smith, 100 dash and 200 dash; Jacob Ochsendorf, 110 hurdles; Francis O'Malley, discus and shot put; Braden Nelson, pole vault; 4x400 relay (Adrian Norman, Brady Andrews, Smith, Ochsendorf).