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Fresh off West Region dominance, Alexander seeks more

Minot High track senior standout Kylie Alexander surprised herself at the West Region championships this past week.

She raced four individual events – the 100- and 200-meter dashes along with the 100- and 300-hurdles – and won each event.

“To be honest I was super nervous going into WDA,” she said. “I didn’t talk to anyone. I hadn’t eaten at all. The nerves and the adrenaline got me going the most.”

Alexander – who was named West Region senior athlete of the year – hopes to use that same blueprint during the state meet today and Saturday at the Bismarck Community Bowl where she’s seeded high in all four events.

She’s seeded second in both the 100 (12.31) and 300 hurdles (45.51), respectively.

“Those performances at WDA give me a lot of confidence,” Alexander said. “Even getting senior athlete gave me a lot of confidence moving forward to state.”

Said Minot co-coach Carla Wahlund: “She’s very competitive athlete and she’s very strong, so she knows when to peak. She’s going to do a very good job at state I know.”

She wasn’t the only Majette to claim as WDA title as sophomore Samantha Moe topped the field in the discus with a season-best throw of 130-05. Her most recent toss seeds her fifth in the state.

Eighth-grader Abigail Hoffarth – who ran at the state meet last year – hopes her experience pays off as she has a busy week in store. She’s seeded fourth in the 2-mile with a time of 11:08.84 and she’s also competing individually in the 1-mile and 800.

“Being their last year gives me some confidence, but there are still a lot of eighth-graders that competed last year that I’m going up against,” she said.

And if that workload wasn’t enough, she also leads off the third-fastest 4X800 relay – eighth-grader Allie Wahlund, classmate Abbie Wahlund and classmate Allie Nelson – which clocks in at 9:47.38.

“That’s a really strong relay,” Carla Wahlund said. “We pulled some girls out of the mile, so they are fresh and we’d like to do good in that relay.”

Minot placed third at WDA behind both Bismarck and Century. The 22 Majettes that qualified to state are hoping for a similar placing at the Community Bowl.

“If you talk to any of the athletes from the field events to the jumps to the distance and sprinting events, they are all excited,” Wahlund said. “Build the fire has been our slogan and they’ve taken to that and they are ready to light the fire. They are all ready to go. All 22 athletes are worthy of being at state and worthy of shining.”

John Denega covers Minot High and Minot State athletics and general assignments. Follow him on Twitter @JohnDenega_MDN.

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