WORTHINGTON - All year, the Marshall boys' 4x800-meter relay team, with Chad DeAustin, Grant VanKeulen and Tanner Bukowski, wanted to snap the school record of 8 minutes, 16 seconds.
But after a runner quit the team, the threesome was left looking for another runner to help them accomplish that goal, with Tigers' star sprinter Beau Bofferding starting last week in helping DeAustin, VanKeulen and Bukowski in trying to achieve their goal.
"Those guys have been talking about that record all year," said Tigers head boys' track and field coach Mike Jacobs. "You got to hand it to Beau to want to go and help them on that quest and being gracious enough to give up on the 100-, 200- and 400."
Article Photos
Photo by Joe Brown
Murray County Central's Jack Thony crosses the finish line after taking first place in the Class A boys' 100-meter dash at the Trojan Relays Thursday in Worthington. He won with a time of 11.52 seconds.
At the 60th Annual Worthington Trojan Relays on Thursday, it was the 4x800's last shot to snap the school record as Bofferding will leave the group to focus on the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.
"(Last week) was the first time we ran together," DeAustin said. "We just needed that fourth guy. Beau stepped up and wanted (the record) just as bad as we did."
And in convincing fashion, the grouping of DeAustin, VanKeulen, Bukowski and Bofferding ran a time of 8:12.60, breaking the Marshall school record by four seconds.
Fact Box
Worthington Trojan Relays
Boys Results
Class AA
Team Scores: 1. Worthington 149.5; 2. Luverne 127.5; 3. Marshall 127; 4. Montevideo 103.5; 5. Jackson County Central 96.5; 6. Pipestone 53; 7. Windom 37.
MARSHALL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4x800m Relay-1. Marshall (Chad DeAustin, Beau Bofferding, Grant VanKeulen, Tanner Bukowski), 8:12.60.
110m Hurdles-5. Danny West 17.35.
100m-8. Sam Marshall 12.13.
4x200m Relay-6. Marshall (Ryan Schultz, Marshall, John Lothert, Eli Louwagie) 1:41.89.
1,600m-2. DeAustin 4:46.26.
4x100m Relay-4. Marshall (Louwagie, Steve Womack, Drew Tykwinski, Dallas Gosler) 48.59.
400m-1. Bofferding 50.79.
300m Hurdles-6. Goslar 47.15.
800m-1. VanKeulen 2:08.21.
200m-1. Bofferdiing 22.62.
3,200m-2. Andrew Bell 10:22.27.
4x400m Relay-3. Marshall (Marshall, Brandon Verkinderen, VanKeulen, DeAustin), 3:40.26.
High Jump: 3. Zach Drum 5-8.
Long Jump-8. Drum 18-0.
Discus-6. Brock Baumgarn 112-2.
Shot Put-6. Baumgarn 39-11.
Pole Vault-4. Austin Leek 10-6.
Triple Jump-3. Drum 38-10.
Class A
Team Scores: 1. Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin 146; 2. Murray County Central 144; 3. Fulda 134; 4. Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton 85; 5. Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central 70; 6. Adrian 63; 7. Worthington JV 47.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4x400m Relay-1. MCC (Jack Erickson, Andy Garza, Jovany Trujillo, Alex Solheim) 9:20.10; 6. WWG/RRC (Zach VandeKieft, Kennedy Her, Brennon Cooley, Quentin Cooley) 11:36.61.
110m Hurdles-1. Levi Bunting (WWG/RRG) 16.77; 3. Max Whitehead (MCC) 17.81.
100m-1. Jack Thony (MCC) 11.52; 3. Taylor Lopez (WWG/RRC) 12.16.
4x200m Relay-5. MCC (Taylor Johns, Andrew Foreman, Aaron Boock, Whitehead) 1:46.33; 7. WWG/RRC (Tanner Pederson, Brody Williams, Matheus Vitor, Nick Berg) 1:48.26.
1,600m-3. Tyson Berg (WWG/RRC) 5:16.90; 5. Jack Erickson 5:21.37.
4x100m Relay-5. MCC (Johns, Foreman, Boock, Tanner Nepp) 50.59; 7. WWG (Her, VandeKieft, Meng Vang, Berg) 55.83.
400m-4. Lasse Bahr (WWG/RRC) 56.85.
300m Hurdles-2. Bunting 44.56; 3. Tyler Scotting (MCC) 44.56.
800m-3. Alex Solheim (MCC) 2:13.71; 4. Alex Solheim (MCC) 2:15.63.
200m-4. Bahr (WWG/RRC) 25.01; 5. Lopez (WWG/RRC) 25.28.
3,200m-2. Jan Hlozek (MCC) 11:34.07.
4x400m Relay-1. WWG/RRC (Pederson, Berg, Bunting, Bahr) 3:46.90; 3. MCC (Solheim, Garza, Foreman, Scotting) 3:49.72.
High Jump-3. Scotting 5-2.
Long Jump-4. Thony 18-1.75; 8. Lopez (WWG/RRC) 16-1.25.
Discus-1. Nepp (MCC) 130-5; 2. Sam Beech (MCC) 124-4.
Shot Put-1. Nepp (MCC) 47-10.75; 3. Beech (MCC) 39-0.
Pole Vault-2. Solheim (MCC) 10-6; 4. Garza (MCC) 9-6.
Triple Jump-3. Boock (MCC) 35-10.
Girls Results
Class AA
Team Scores: 1. Luverne 167.75; 2. Marshall 164.75; 3. Pipestone 93; 4. Worthington 87.5; 5. Windom 86; 6. Jackson County Central 84.
MARSHALL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4x800m Relay-1. Marshall (Rose Andersen, Jenna Christianson, Becca Fedde, Haley VanKeulen) 9:58.51.
100m Hurdles-3. Rachel Miller 17.88; 4. Jessica Oaxaca 18.27.
100m-1. Sarah Buysse 12.88.
4x200m Relay-3. Marshall (Kendra Soupir, Claire Buysse, Amber Amick, Sarah Andersen) 1:53.95.
1,600-3. Rose Andersen 5:46.67; 5. VanKeulen 6:01.32.
4x100m Relay-2. Marshall (Amick, Brittney Andreas, Soupir, Sydney Griffin) 53.57.
400m-5. Christianson 1:05.53.
300m Hurdles-7. C. Buysse 52.96.
800m-1. S. Buysse 2:21.87; 4. Kayla Wartner 2:36.75.
200m-3. Amick 28.86; 5. Andreas 29.35.
3,200m-4. Megan Vogl 13:46.82.
High Jump-2. Brianna West 4-10.
Long Jump-1. Griffin 16-3.5; 2. S. Andersen 16-2.75.
Discus-2. Dani Crowell 99-4.
Shot Put-3. Crowell 32-11.
Pole Vault-5. Rachel Miller 7-6.
Triple Jump-1. Griffin 33-11.5; 4. Christianson 31-9.25.
Class A
Team Scores: 1. Fulda 136; 2. Adrian 121; 3. Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin 116; 4. Murray County Central 110.5; 5. Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton 105; 6. Westbrook-Walnut Grove 71; 7. Worthington JV 32.5.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4x800m Relay-2. MCC (Linnea York, Averi Pankonen, Sierra Van Iperen, Crystal Van Iperen) 10:36.35; 7. WWG/RRC (McKenzie Deprez, Mariah Olson, Morgan Dennestoun, Makenna Takle) 12:02.76.
100m Hurdles-4. Lydia Homandberg 18.53; 5. Maddie Frank (WWG/RRC) 18.55.
100m-3. Kara Homandberg (MCC) 13.55; 6. Mel Kedl (WWG/RRC) 13.80.
4x200m Relay-2. MCC (K. Homandberg, Haley Bose, Carissa Thomas, L. Homandberg) 1:54.80; 6. WWG/RRC (Alexa Byers, Madison Takle, Briann Schoenenberger, Frank) 2:09.44.
1,600m-5. Juliana Pederson (WWG/RRC) 6:05.15.
4x100m Relay-5. MCC (Dunnevan Muldoon, Bose, Thomas, Dana VanderWal) 55.98; 6. WWG/RRC (Byers, Takle, Schoenenberger, Hailey Osland) 58.84.
400m-3. S. Van Iperen (MCC) 1:04.17.
300m Hurdles-5. Frank (WWG/RRC) 55.88.
800m-2. C. Van Iperen (MCC) 2:29.63; 5. Pankonen (MCC) 2:52.76.
200m-3. Kedl (WWG/RRC) 28.26; 7. Bose (MCC) 29.28.
3,200m-5. Ciarra Schmidt (MCC) 15:22.40.
4x400m Relay-3. MCC (S. Van Iperen, K. Homandberg, Schmidt, C. Van Iperen) 4:24.87; 4. WWG/RRC (Byers, Deprez, Pederson, Kedl) 4:36.87.
High Jump-1. Kedl (WWG/RRC) 4-08; 2. C. Van Iperen (MCC) 4-6; 3. Sarah Wasberg (MCC) 4-4.
Long Jump-1. Hannah Schmidt (MCC) 15-1.75; 2. K. Homandberg (MCC) 14-8.
Discus-4. Frank (WWG/RRC) 82-3.
Shot Put-7. Lizzie Thomsen (MCC) 23-6.5.
Pole Vault-2. Chloe Arfsten (WWG/RRC) 8-0; 5. Muldoon (MCC) 7-6.
Triple Jump-2. Osland (WWG/RRC) 30-10.75; 5. Thomas (MCC) 28-2.75.
"It was nice to get together with me, Grant and Beau in our senior year," said DeAustin, who will run cross country at North Dakota State next year. "We knew we could get it, we just needed a nice day to run what we wanted to run."
As a team, the Tigers finished in third place in the Class AA meet with a score of 127, getting narrowly edged by Luverne by a half point for second place. Worthington won its fifth-straight Trojan Relays championship with a score of 149.5.
Along with the 4x800 relay, Bofferding (200 and 400 dashes) and VanKeulen (800 run) racked up three individual wins for Marshall, while DeAustin took second in the 1,600-meter run to Worthington's Mubarik Musa. Bukowski finished behind VanKeulen for second place in the 800-meter run.
Bofferding's 200 time of 22.62 broke the Trojan Relay record, which he set back in 2010 (23.33).
"We saw some fine performances by our usual cluster of guys like Beau, Grant and Chad," Jacobs said.
A standout for Jacobs was seeing the continued improvement of sophomore Zach Drum. On Thursday, Drum was third in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5 feet, 8 inches. He also took third in the triple jump (38-10) and eighth in the long jump (18-0).
"He continues to creep up near that 40-foot mark (in the triple jump," Jacobs said, "and the high jump is a new thing for him and he came through with a 5-8. He set a PR (personal record) in two things today."
In the girls' Class AA meet, Marshall girls' head coach Marie Sample was feeling confident about her team's chances in the Southwest Conference championship next week after their performance in the Trojan Relays.
"I'm not too worried about Luverne after today," Sample said. "We had a meet Monday, and then we had a hard day of practice on Tuesday, so they came into today pretty sore. We are really encouraged after the week we had."
The Tigers finished in second place with a score of 164.75, falling just three points behind Luverne (167.75) for first place.
"Trying to win conference, you have to dream a little bit to do it," Sample said. "That makes us better athletes, and we're looking forward to it."
Notching a pair of first-place finishes for Marshall were Sarah Buysse in the 100 (12.88) and 800 (2:21.87), and Sydney Griffin in the long jump (16-3 1/2) and triple jump (33-11 1/2).
Though she won two races on Thursday, Buysse admitted she was a little disappointed she missed breaking the meet's 800-meter run record by .66 seconds.
"I really tried to get it," Buysse said. "I don't know what I'm running at conference and sections, so this was my last time to get it. I was really trying."
Added Sample, "Sarah did her first distance workout this week and she was really feeling it today. For conference and sections, we'll probably use her more in sprints."
But with the Trojan Relays done, Buysse now has a better idea of what will come her way at the Southwest Conference meet next week.
"At practice, I've been really trying to keep improving, getting better and working hard," Buysse said. "This is my third year at varsity and we're trying to get to state this year. That's one of my main goals."
The Tigers also got a victory from the 4x800 relay team of Rose Andersen, Jenna Christianson, Becca Fedde and Haley VanKeulen (9:58.51).
In the Class A boys' meet, Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin snuck past last year's Trojan Relays Class A champions, Murray County Central. The Wolverines finished with a score of 146, besting the Rebels' score of 144.
After True Team on Monday and a meet in Pipestone on Tuesday, MCC boys' head coach Tim Bobeldyk used Tuesday's meet to try out some other kids on the roster.
"We're trying to get squared away for our MCC invite on Tuesday and for conference on Thursday," Bobeldyk said.
Finishing in first for the Rebels was sprinter Jack Thony, who won the 100-meter dash (11.52) and Tanner Nepp, who swept the shot put (47-103/4) and discus (130-1/2).
"Tuesday at Pipestone, Tanner threw a PR of 49-6, so it was nice to see him stay near that 48-foot range," Bobeldyk said.
Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central finished in fifth place with a score of 70. The Chargers got their top performances from hurdler Levi Bunting, who won the 110-meter hurdles (16.77) and was second in the 300-meter hurdles (44.56). The 4x400-meter relay team of Tanner Pederson, Tyson Berg, Bunting and Lasse Bahr also took top honors with a time of 3:46.90.
For the Class A girls, MCC (110.5) finished in fourth place, and WWG/RRC was in sixth with a 71. Winning the Class A girls' meet was Fulda, who notched a score of 136, beating Adrian by 15 points.
The Rebel girls made their biggest impact in the jumping pits, with Hannah Schmidt and Kara Homandberg taking 1-2 in the long jump with leaps of 15-13/4 and 14-8, respectively. MCC also found success in the high jump, with Crystal Van Iperen (4-6) and Sarah Wasberg (4-4) finishing 2-3 in the high jump.
"We had some solid scores, considering we were missing a lot of kids with sickness and one-act play going on today," said Rebels' girls' track coach Dominic Damm. "We had a lot of good places today."
The Chargers got their lone first-place finish in the high jump, where Mel Kedl cleared the bar at 4-8. Chloe Arfsten was second in the pole vault (8-0), and Hailey Osland had a leap of 30-10 3/4, good for second place.