CANBY — Returning several athletes while adding a few new faces to both the boys and girls team, the Canby/Minneota track and field team is looking to make a return to the state tournament and make more deep strides. 

“We expect the girls to compete for the Camden Conference title this year. We also hope to return to the true team state event, and send several relays and individuals to the state meet,” head coach Sara Hemish said. “For the boys, we expect a group of experienced athletes to compete at a high level. Although we are still building our numbers, our athletes are talented. We are hoping to break a few school records and have a couple of state entrants.” 

In last year’s outdoor season, several individual Lancers on the girls team competed in the Class A state tournament after finishing as a team in third place in the Section 3A championship with 73 points, just behind Redwood Valley’s 83 and Luverne’s 108.5. 

The boys finished the section tournament in 17th place of 22 teams with 11.33 points, missing state qualification. 

In Camden Conference competition, the girls had a good run while the boys will look to place higher this season. 

“The girls were runners-up last season. The team’s overall performance at the conference meet was one of the best we have ever had, and we have won the conference each year since 2017. However, MACRAAY put together a tremendous performance to win the conference,”Hemish said. “The boys finished in the middle of the pack last year and look to improve on that performance this year.”  

At state, Braelyn Merritt, now graduated, earned the Lancers lone individual award with a fifth place finish in the 800 meter dash with a final time of 2:22.94. 

Canby/Minneota also finished fifth in the 4×800 meter relay race with a 9:48.68 finish between the team of Rachel Jelen, Mya Pesek, Claire Stoks and Merritt. 

Jelen, Pesek and Stoks all return this season. 

As a team, the Lancers finished in 36th place out of 78 Class A teams at state. 

In the section championship of last year’s outdoor season, both the girls and boys gathered a handful of competitive scores in various events. 

On the boys side of those returning this year, Tallen Merritt ran for 14th place in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:14.84. He also finished eighth in the 4×400 relay race alongside Quintin McLain, Blake Giese and Zach Ourada. Just Giese returns to this year’s roster. 

Giese also was a strong suit in the pole vault event, clearing a height of 10 meters for a three-way tie for eighth place. 

Cayden Anderson performed well in the shot put competition, throwing 47-8.25 for seventh place out of 15. He also earned sixth place in the discus with 131-11.  

“The strength of the boys [this year] is that we have a couple of really experienced field event athletes. Blake Giese broke our school record in the pole vault last year and is looking to improve on that vault to make a run at the state tournament,” Hemish said. “Cayden Anderson is very strong in the shot put and discus, and is chasing both of those school records and a chance to go to state.” 

For the girls competition in the section championship of those making a return this season, Jordyn Jostock placed 11th in the 100 meter race of 16 runners with a 13.79 time. She also was on the 4×100 relay race that finished 12th of 16 teams alongside Nohemi Diaz, Kallie DeVos and Alex Wersal. Both Diaz and DeVos return this spring. 

“The girls’ strength is in our numbers and our experience. Although we only have 13 girls in grades 10 to 12, they are all very competitive and experienced,” Hemish said. “Five of them have state meet experience, and almost all of them have been competing at the varsity level since junior high.” 

Natalie and Claire Stoks had some of the strongest finishes for the team, with Natalie running third in the 200 meter race with a 26.64 time, and Claire earning a second-place finish in the 400 meter with a time of 1:01.44. 

Taylor Ourada placed sixth in the 400 meter, with a 1:02.75 time, while Pesek ran for third in the 3200 meter with a time of 12:20.71. 

Rounding out some of the significant placements in the section championship, Karlie Wollum, Taylor Ourada, Brynn Kockelman and Natalie, all who are competing this season, finished in second in the 4×200 relay race with a 1:47.74 time, marking a school record, just behind Redwood Valley’s 1:46.58. The four also placed 19th in the same event at state, 1:50.34. 

The seniors for this year’s squad consist of Anderson, Giese, Allen Maldonado, Diaz, Shelby Elsing, Claire, Natalie and Lillie Wollum. 

“As we start the season, our numbers are just over 70 athletes,” Hemish said. “Of those, 45 are on the girls’ side, with the majority of them in grades 7 to 9. We have just under 30 athletes on the boys’ side, and look to continue to grow those numbers.” 

The Lancers are led by head coach Sara Hemish, along with assistants Paul Bruns, Jared Josephson, Ryan Lalim, Tony Ourda and Jeremy Stoks. 

In the Lancers’ most recent meet on Tuesday, its third of the season, the boys team placed fifth of seven teams, and the girls took first place, 40 points ahead of the runners-up.