Local athletes to watch at the state track and field meet
The Class A and Class B, boys and girls state track and field meet gets underway today in Bismarck at the Bismarck Community Bowl.
Preliminaries for most of the running events and the finals for the 1,600-meter run and 4×800 relay will take place today, while tomorrow the field events and the rest of the finals for the running events will occur.
Here is a breakdown of some of the top local athletes who could come away with some hardware over the next couple of days.
Class A boys
Manuel Bradford, Minot High: The senior speedster gave us a glimpse of what he was capable of in the fall as a breakout running back for the Magi. Bradford comes in with the fastest seed time in the 100, second fastest in the 200 and slots in third in the 300 hurdles. He will also likely anchor for the Magi in the always exciting 4×100 relay.
Adrian Davis-Aguilar, Minot High: Usually trying his best to keep up with Bradford in the sprints, junior Davis-Aguilar will be a key member of the short distance relay teams for the Magi and will also try to garner a few points for the team in the 200. His best event, however, is the long jump. He smashed the school record at the West Region tournament meet with a leap of 23-feet, 3.25 inches – best in the state so far this season.
Logan Goheen, Minot High: The junior is the only Class A athlete to post a time under 50 seconds in the 400 to bolster the top seed. He’ll also aid the Magi in the longer distance relays.
Odin Nelson, Minot High: The Magi don’t have a lot of firepower in the field, but sophomore Nelson is in the mix in the Javelin. His best throw of 180-feet, seven inches is second-best in the field, but trails top seeded Ty Ogren, Grand Forks Red River, by roughly six and a half feet.
Logan Krueger, Minot High: Another thrower looking to do some damage. The junior will look to improve on his third-best throw of 52-feet, six inches in the shot put and find some more distance in the discus.
Honorable mentions: Minot’s Gabe Hegstad (800, 1,600), Minot’s Je-Mario Jones (shot put) and Minot’s Preston Johnson (110 hurdles).
Class A girls
Allie Nelson, Minot High: The freshman is the only Majette that garners the No. 1 ranking in an event. Her top seed mark of 5-feet, five inches in the high jump is four inches more than she jumped last year at the state tournament when she took fourth. Nelson also qualified in the 400, 800 and triple jump.
Liz Lucy, Minot High: The former middle blocker on the Majettes volleyball team brings that same physical force displayed on the hardwood into the shot-put circle. The senior is on the edge of a podium spot, coming in with a fourth-best throw of 40-feet, nine inches. She also slots in with the sixth seed in the discus.
Samantha Moe, Minot High: Junior Moe flip-flops with Lucy by having a better throw in the discus (five seed), but will be looking to improve in the shot put to get some points for her team (12th seed).
Honorable mentions: Minot’s Elise Klein (triple jump), Minot’s relay teams (4×100, 4×200, 4×800) and Allie McCoy (100, 200).
Class B boys
Jacob Rodin, Kenmare/Bowbells: The guy to beat in the half mile is running six seconds faster (1:56.24) than his fourth-place time at state a year ago. Although, last year’s defending champion Ryan Wheeling from New Town won’t make it easy on Rodin in his quest for his first individual state title. Rodin also qualified in the 400.
Cade Heilman, Rugby: Unable to get out of the preliminaries last season, senior Heilman has one last go-around to take the 200-meter dash. He holds the top seed with a time of 22.24 over a pair of Dickinson Trinity sprinter’s Kaden Kuntz and Dawson Kram.
Josh Knutson, Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark: One of the top local hurdles of the bunch is fresh off a victory in the Class B Northwest meet. The junior will have a shot to claim both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles with a second-best seed time in the 300 and fourth-best at 110. Knutson also qualified in the 100 and 200 sprints, and will try to make it out preliminaries there.
Wyatt Hanson, Stanley-Powers Lake: Hanson will be tested in making the finals in both the 200 and 400, but we likely focus most his attention on the discus. The 6-foot-4 junior has used his height advantage for leverage all season to post the second-best seed time at 150-feet even.
Beau Driscoll, Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood: Another junior with a similar build to Hanson at 6-foot-3 and played basketball as well. Yet, Driscoll will be jumping instead of throwing. He is tied for the third-best seed time in the high jump with a mark of 6-feet, four inches.
Honorable mentions: DLBLC’s Mark Medalen (100, 200, 400), DLBLC’s relays (4×100, 4×200), Rugby’s relays (4×100, 4×200), Stanley-Powers Lake’s 4×200 relay and DLBLC’s Tyson Akers (long jump).
Class B girls
Kari Wolfe, Harvey-Wells County: The senior has a good chance at one last triumph in multiple events with seed rankings in the Top 5 in all four of her events: javelin (No. 1), shot put (2), 100 (3) and 200 (5). Her top throw in the javelin is just over 13-feet better than No. 2 Kendra Odegard, an eighth grader from Lisbon.
Maria Blessum, Rugby: Vaulting a No. 1 seed height of 10-feet, six inches – the same mark as her third-place finish at state last year — Blessum will be challenged by Dickinson Trinity’s Faith Beck and last year’s runner-up Mikka Haugeberg from Watford City. She will also compete in the 400.
Kari Fritel, Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark: Senior Fritel will try to take advantage of a wide-open shot put field with the Top 3 seeds time separate by two inches. Lisbon’s Makayla Froehlich holds the top spot with a throw of 38-feet, 10 inches. Fritel and Warwick’s Bryeann Robertson are tied for second at 38-8.
Randi Long, Glenburn: Competing against Fritel in shot put, senior Long has upped her throw two feet since an 11th place last season and will be on the cusp of getting Glenburn a few points with a Top 8 result.
Abbie Jiles, Westhope-Newburg: Sticking with the theme of track athletes, sophomore Jiles is a threat in the triple jump and will look to crack the Top 10 in the long jump.
Honorable mentions: Rugby’s Sara Stier (triple jump, long jump), Rugby’s Kristina Brossart (100, 200), Rugby’s Maddie Uhlenkamp (discus, shot put), Garrison-Max’s Cassidy Huessers (3200) and DLBLC’s Caitlyn Vogel (100, 200, 400).
Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.