Track and field: Winning surge for Litchfield Dragons' Blake Aller

Jun. 11—ST. MICHAEL — Blake Aller's nerves were on high as he stepped into the blocks for the boys' 200-meter dash.

"Even in my blocks, I felt really jumpy," said the Litchfield junior. "Like, get me running right now.

"Deep breaths are my go-to (when stressed). And just thinking confidence, confidence, confidence."

Aller came into Saturday as the top seed in the Class AA state track and field championships. And when he crossed the finish line, Aller had to take a second to look in the times on the scoreboard.

From being near the back of the pack over the first 100 meters, Aller surged into the lead and became the state champion after running a time of 21.50 seconds.

"I had to soak it in and see the time," said Aller, who placed eighth at state last season. "It felt really good. I saw it and I was like, oh my gosh, let's go."

When the competitors made the turn, one of the favorites, Red Wing's Thomas Lamkin, pulled up with a hamstring injury.

In the next lane, Aller saw a chance to take off and dominate the home stretch.

"It shocked me, for sure," Aller said. "I heard (Lamkin) scream in pain and I was like, oh shoot, here we go. That's when I thought state champ right here, right now."

Aller added, "I wish (Lamkin) would have stayed healthy because it would have been a really close race. But I'll take state champ."

Zimmerman's Caden Spence placed second at 21.746 and Holy Angels' Kieran Murnan was third at 21.750.Aller was also the anchor for the Dragon boys' 4x400 relay. He, along with Lukas Kuehl, Garrison Jackman and Xander Chvatal, took fourth with a time of 3:26.82.

"It felt really good today," Aller said.

Jaelyn Baseman closed out her prep career on quite the high note.

A senior for the Dragons, Baseman finished as the runner-up in the girls' shot put with a toss of 39 feet, 3.25 inches. Rocori's Brianna Schneider won with a put of 39-10.75.

"I feel proud (and) I feel happy," Baseman said. "It's just great to experience it a second time."

Placing third at state last season with a toss of 37-1.5, Baseman beat that in the prelims with a toss of 37-9. Her first throw in the finals was her high mark and a new personal record by two inches.

"I fouled two (in prelims) but I knew it was there and I threw it," Baseman said. "I popped out at the end.

"It was just incredible; I knew the moment it left my hand it was a good throw by the release and how my body was."

Baseman will continue her throws career collegiately at St. Mary's University in Winona.

"I wasn't very nervous about throwing; it's more about it being my last time," Baseman said. "But I think it handled it well and I'm excited to start my journey at St. Mary's."

Another Litchfield senior, Raina Kaping, medaled Saturday.

Competing in the girls' pole vault, Kaping tied with Becker's Lauren Woelfel for fourth place after clearing a height of 11-0. She did it on her second attempt after clearing 9-6, 10-0, 10-6 and 10-9. Mankato East's Rylie Hansen won with a height of 11-6.

For the boys, junior TJ Christensen earned his second medal of the weekend.

Coming in as the top seed in the discus, Christensen ended up fourth with a toss of 167-9 on his first attempt of the day. That beat his personal record of 166-9.

It was a stacked field, with the top eight throwers all surpassing the previous Class AA state meet record of 156-9. Stewartville's Torasbjorn Lunaas won with a distance of 174-11.

On Friday, Christensen also took fourth in shot put at 53-0.5.

Willmar secured medals in two events in the girls' 4x800 and 4x400 relays.

Bookending the state meet with a pair of races, the 4x800 relay — with Sophia Negen, Hannah Quinn, Gabby Martinez and Erin Eilers — took eighth with a season-best time of 9:51.01. It beat their seed time of 9:52.67. Marshall won the 4x800 with a Class AA state meet record 9:22.37.

In the 4x400, the Cardinal girls were looking for a high spot on the podium. They came in as the top seed and were third after prelims.

They stayed at third as Quinn, Mallory Beier, Lyndi Koosman and Lauren Eilers ran a time of 4:02.62. Byron won in 4:00.39, followed by Pequot Lakes at 4:00.43.

"It was a good day for the whole 4x4, but it required perfection," said Cardinals head coach Connor Haugen. "Good on the other teams; they all dropped times from their previous performance and they ran great."

The 4x400 was also part of a busy day for Koosman, who also competed in two field events. She finished 12th in the triple jump at 34-9.75 and 13th in the pole vault at 10-0.

"It was very busy but she handled it very well," Haugen said. "She had about an hour, maybe an hour-and-a-half, being done with everything and then (having) the 4x4. When you're starting right away in the morning and right at the end, jumping in and warming up for the 4x4, it's a lot. She did very well."

The Willmar boys had a 13th-place finish in the 4x800 relay. Kadar Muhumed, Brandon Zepeda, Sully Anez and Fathi Dubet ran a time of 8:17.41. Muhumd and Zepeda ran season-best legs. Mankato East won the 4x800 at 7:57.97.

"The boys' 4x8 was great in terms of effort," Haugen said. "Like we've said all year, it's always effort over RPMs."

Haugen added, "No complaints here; we're incredibly proud of all the efforts that we had."

GIRLS TEAM SCORING — (1) Monticello 64 ... (2) Rocori 62 ... (3) Mankato East 57.5 ... (4) Detroit Lakes 42 ... (5) Holy Angels 38 ... (16) Litchfield 19.5 ... (19) Willmar 16 ... (59t) New London-Spicer 1

Winner and area finishes

100 HURDLES — (1) Brooke Cina, Totino-Grace, 14.65

300 HURDLES — (1) Haylie Strum, Stewartville, 43.62

100 DASH — (1) Ashley Fisher, Holy Angels, 12.07

200 DASH — (1) Emelia Skistad, Monticello, 24.51

400 DASH — (1) Carly Hartwig, Tri-City United, 57.16

800 RUN — (1) Kendra Krueger, Jordan, 2:13.13

1,600 RUN — (1) Krueger, Jordan, 4:53.90

3,200 RUN (FRIDAY) — (1) Isabelle Schmitz, Hutchinson, 10:43.68 ... (4) Lauren Eilers, Willmar, 11:02.00

4X100 RELAY — (1) Detroit Lakes 48.65

4X200 RELAY — (1) Monticello 1:41.32

4X400 RELAY — (1) Byron 4:00.39 ... (3) Willmar (Hannah Quinn, Mallory Beier, Lyndi Koosman, L. Eilers) 4:02.62

4X800 RELAY — (1) Marshall 9:22.37 ... (8) Willmar (Sophia Negen, Hannah Quinn, Gabby Martinez, Erin Eilers) 9:51.01

HIGH JUMP (FRIDAY) — (1) Grace Gunderson, Detroit Lakes, 5-5 ... (8t) Danica Pederson, NLS, 5-0

LONG JUMP (FRIDAY) — (1) Ava Thoennes, Rocori, 17-6.25 ... (6) Lillia Chvatal, Litchfield, 16-4.5

TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Olivia Walsh, Austin, 38-4.75 ... (12) Koosman, Willmar, 34-9.75

POLE VAULT — (1) Rylie Hansen, Mankato East, 11-6 ... (4t) Raina Kaping, Litchfield, 11-0 ... (13) Koosman, Willmar, 10-0

DISCUS (FRIDAY) — (1) Brooke Mushatt, Sauk Rapids 129-3 ... (11) Grace Schmidt, Litchfield, 107-5

SHOT PUT — (1) Brianna Schneider, Rocori, 39-10.75 ... (2) Jaelyn Baseman, Litchfield, 39-3.25

BOYS TEAM SCORING — (1) Waseca 39 ... (2) Worthington 38 ... (3) Stewartville 36.5 ... (4) Mound-Westonka 35 ... (5t) Monticello; and Mankato East 32 ... (9) Litchfield 29

Winner and area finishes

110 HURDLES — (1) Tayven Peterson, Mora, 14.67

300 HURDLES — (1) Peterson, Mora, 38.22

100 DASH — (1) Thomas Lamkin, Red Wing, 10.65

200 DASH — (1) Blake Aller, Litchfield, 21.50

400 DASH — (1) Brayden Draheim, Winona, 48.44

800 RUN — (1) Cameron Stocke, Rock Ridge, 1:52.79

1,600 RUN — (1) Stocke, Rock Ridge, 4:11.25

3,200 RUN (FRIDAY) — (1) Emmett Gerres, Belle Plaine, 9:03.72 ... (10) Sully Anez, Willmar, 9:48.77

4X100 RELAY — (1) Waseca 42.16

4X200 RELAY — (1) Waseca 1:27.39

4X400 RELAY — (1) Monticello 3:23.63 ... (5) Litchfield (Lukas Kuehl, Garrison Jackman, Xander Chvatal, Aller) 3:26.82

4X800 RELAY — (1) Mankato East 7:57.97 ... (13) Willmar (Kadar Muhumed, Brandon Zepeda, Sully Anez, Fathi Dubet) 8:17.41

HIGH JUMP — (1) Owen Carlson, Mahtomedi, 6-6

LONG JUMP — (1) Carter Reckelberg, Becker, 23-3

TRIPLE JUMP (FRIDAY) — (1) Abagotte Opiew, Worthington, 44-4.75

POLE VAULT (FRIDAY) — (1) Brian Schloeder, Rockford, 15-6 ... (11t) Tyler Evans, Willmar, 12-0 ... (16) Koda Helfinstine, Willmar, 11-6

DISCUS — (1) Torasbjorn Lunaas, Stewartville, 174-11 ... (4) TJ Christensen, Litchfield, 167-9

SHOT PUT (FRIDAY) — (1) Peyton Byrne, Stewartville, 54-8 ... (4) Christensen, Litchfield, 53-0.5