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STATE TRACK AND FIELD: Marshall posts solid times in opening day of state meet

Photo by Jenny Kirk Marshall’s Garret Hoff (right) passes the baton to teammate Seth Cattoor (left) in the 4x200 meter relay at the Class AA meet Friday at Hamline University in St. Paul.

ST. PAUL – The Marshall track and field team put in solid performances and proudly represented their school and community, but none of the competitors were able to make finals or take home a medal on Day 1 at the Class AA Minnesota State Track and Field Championships on Friday at Hamline University.

Seniors Nichole Sample and Sydney Blomme, along with sophomore Natalee Sample and junior Kaia Sueker, closed out the day on a high note by breaking the school record in the 4×400 meter relay.

“We’re super proud of that,” Nichole Sample said. “We knew we were coming in ranked pretty low, but we were proud just to be running our relay here. We weren’t really even expected to make it out of sections. It was a wing and prayer making it out, so we were just going to run this one as a bonus, for fun. We wanted to have fun as a team and see how close we could get to the record. And we got it.”

The foursome shaved nearly 3 seconds off their section time, recording a 4:04.90 to finish in 13th place overall. Minnetonka currently holds the top preliminary time (3:57.42).

“It’s a competitive field,” Nichole said. “Hats off to these guys. I’m just glad I got to be part of it.”

Other Tiger athletes were also able to put the top-notch competition into perspective and come away with positive experiences.

“It’s so weird,” MHS senior Isaac Fischer said. “We’re sitting waiting to line up and I’m sitting next to Wayzata and Edina. It’s just stuff you’re not used to. They come from a completely different world. They’re used to the competition. But we’re just grateful for the opportunity to come and compete with them.”

The Marshall 4×400 relay team finished 11th overall with a time of 3:27.30. Along with Fischer, senior Garret Hoff and juniors Josh Deines and Bryce Paulsen were part of the team. Edina holds the top preliminary time of 3:21.21.

Fischer and Hoff also joined forces with seniors Seth Cattoor and William Giannelli to take 14th overall in the 4×200 relay (1:31.63).

“I think we went out well,” Fischer said. “We came out how we were seeded in both of our races, so overall, thing went well for us. We had a chance to compete at state, which is fun. It’s a great atmosphere here and I think the Minnesota State High School League does a great job putting a meet on that everyone can look forward to and just be excited to get here because it’s hard to get here.”

Fischer added, “It’s a bummer that we couldn’t get some people to finals,” but he was proud that his fellow teammates did their best and represented their hometown and school well.

“We take pride in that,” he said.

Hoff also finished 11th overall in the 400 meter dash.

“I’m really tired,” Hoff said after the gutsy race. “It was alright – not my PR. I feel like I could have run a little better, but I’m just a little tired from the 4×200 maybe. Every day can’t be your day so it’s OK.”

Hoff said his personal record for the season was 50.4. He ran the 400 in 50.70 seconds on Friday. He said he got into running the grueling race as a ninth-grader.

“My freshman year, there weren’t a lot of people running it – actually there wasn’t anyone who was running it – so I just signed up as a way to get myself into unlimited meets and go run with the team,” Hoff said. “But then I ended up being alright in it and was my race. It’s definitely a big mental game.”

Hoff said the team’s 4×400 time at state was fairly consistent with past races.

“We had pretty solid handoffs, which we haven’t for awhile,” he said. “At sections, they weren’t great, but we nailed them here. We didn’t quite run our best time, but we were pretty close.”

Overall, Hoff said his experience at state this year has been a good one.

“It’s really just a blessing to be able to make it up here and be able to run with these great teams,” Hoff said. “It’s a lot of fun to be up here. It’s especially fun this year because we have a big group coming with. It’s a little more fun having a lot of your teammates with.”

Marshall senior Morgan Radel and seventh-grader Jersey Leyson were first-time state participants. Radel just missed the awards podium, finishing 10th in the 3,200 run (11:17.64).

“The weather was perfect,” Radel said. “I tried to cinch up with the pack in front of me a couple of times, so I could use them as wind-block, but I couldn’t stick with them for that part, so I was bucking the wind for awhile. I finished about where I thought I would. I just missed out on a medal, but I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be here.”

This year was the first that the softball player competed in track.

“It was a fun experience to do track,” Radel said. “This is my first year, although I’ve done cross country.”

Leyson completed the 3,200 run in 11:29.11, finishing in 14th place overall.

“I think I did good,” Leyson said. “It was seven seconds off my PR, but that’s OK.”

Minneapolis Washburn’s Emily Covert set an all-time state meet record with a time of 10:06.19. Covert’s winning time was nearly 10 seconds faster than previous record holder Elizabeth Yetzer’s time (10:16.59) set in 2005.

“I wasn’t expecting her to get that,” Leyson said. “I didn’t follow her. I followed by teammate as best I could. I want to get back again next year.”

Along with the 4×400 relay, Blomme competed in both hurdles prelims on Friday. Blomme finished 11th in the 100 meter hurdles (16.13) and 14th in the 300 hurdles (46.60). Rosemount’s Shae Buchman put in the top preliminary time in the 100 (14.58), while Eagan’s Natalie Windels will go into the finals today with the top time in the 300 (42.65).

“I’m a little winded, but otherwise pretty good,” Blomme said after the 300. “I ran my heart out, I guess. I tried to stay up as close to the other competition as I could. It didn’t go as well as I was hoping it would go, but otherwise I’m happy. It’s a season PR.”

Like Hoff, Blomme was drawn to the physically demanding race her freshman year.

“There was a friend who was brought in to the 300s,” she said. “The coach kind of recruited her and I was like, ‘I want to try this. I’ve always wanted to try this.’ So I gave it a try and kind of got into it. Not a lot of people like it, but I started liking it.”

Blomme said she was hoping for a better time in the 100 hurdles, but she really couldn’t be too disappointed.

“I’m so happy to be up here,” Blomme said. “Honestly, that’s all I could ask. It may not have been times I was hoping for, but I’m glad to have been able to compete with these amazing people. Just being in the same race as the No. 1 person in Minnesota is insane. It’s just such a crazy atmosphere because everybody is so happy for you no matter how you do. You got here, let’s just celebrate.”

The girls high jump also featured stellar competition as two athletes cleared 5-8 and one made 5-7. Marshall sophomore Jenna Mortier successfully jumped 5-0 and finished in a tie for 12th place. Her PR this season was 5-3.

“It’s really intimidating watching some of them,” Mortier said. “I didn’t really think I could make it to state this year, but I guess all the hard work paid off. It’s been a lot of fun so far. I’ve had fun bonding with the team and stuff. It’s definitely tough competition up here, though.”

This year marks the largest number of MHS athletes to advance in many, many years if not ever.

“It’s pretty awesome that we got to bring so many people down here,” Mortier said.

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