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Anderson ran the anchor leg for the Lanesboro/Fillmore Central boys 1,600-meter relay team that won the Class A title Saturday at the state track and field championships at Hamline University.
It was a bit of an unexpected championship for L/FC, which put together the third-best time in the preliminaries Friday and came into the meet with just the fifth fastest time.
The team of Brayden Hebl, Ethan Hall, Charles Amaloja and Anderson won in 3 minutes, 26.8 seconds in the final event of the state meet. Amaloja is a senior and
the other three are sophomores.
“I was just hoping we wouldn’t finish last,” Anderson said. “We’re a young team and weren’t on a lot of people’s mind. We were third (Friday) and just put together a fast race today.“
Wermager finishes strong
Samantha Wermager, a sophomore for Caledonia/ Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton, made her first season of track a memorable one.
Wermager took third place Saturday in the 100 hurdles. She finished in 15.84 seconds after running a 15.83 on Friday, the second best time in the preliminaries.
A gymnast, Wermager said she went out for track this season just to stay in shape. The hurdles became her sport of choice simply because no one else on the team was doing it.
“I was kind of nervous and wasn’t sure I could do it,” Wermager admitted. “You don’t know if you’re going to crash into the hurdles.“
Wermager obviously was a quick study in the event.
She qualified for state in both the 100 and 300 hurdles, making the finals in the
100 and placing 11th in Friday’s preliminaries in the 300.
DeLaSalle’s Leslie Thomas won the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.66, and Maggie May of Grand Meadow/ LeRoy-Ostrander/Southland was second in 15.79.
“I just wanted to get a medal,” said Wermager, who now intends to stick with track and field. “I was really happy with it.“
Trojans girls team third
Rushford-Peterson/ Houston’s girls team had another solid day Saturday. A day after winning the state title in the discus, Melissa Smith took fourth place in the shot put at 40 feet, 9 inches.
Danielle Luhmann, who took second place Friday in the long jump and high jump, added a third-place finish in the triple jump. The senior’s best jump was 35-9.
Luhmann and Smith helped the Trojans take third place as a team with 46 points. Watertown-Mayer took first with 54 points and Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Southland was second with 50 points.
“We got a state championship and five finishes in the top four from two girls,”
R-P/H coach Gary Wade said.
“It was a fantastic way for those two to finish their careers. They had a great weekend.”
Around the track
The 800 relay team for Caledonia/Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton also turned in a solid performance. Sarah Colleran, Molly Furlong, Megan King and Ashley King took fifth place in 1:47.46.
Plainview-Elgin-Millville’s boys team also had a fairly strong day. Zach Flies and Kyle Tjepkes both placed in the 100 hurdles, Flies taking fifth (15.11) and Tjepkes seventh (15.18).
Adam Endress placed eighth in the 400 (51.39) and teammate Jonny Weinrich was eighth in the 200 (23.42) for the Gophers. P-E-M’s 800 relay team took seventh and the 3,200 relay team placed 14th.
Caledonia/Spring Grove/Mabel-Canton’s Eddie Hodges, a sophomore, took ninth place in the long jump at 20-3.
