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This year, L/FC was back to defend its state title, and, not only that, it was looking for more.
A title, however, eluded Brayden Hebl, Chase Anderson, Jordan Jarland and Ethan Hall on Saturday at the finale of the Class 1A state track and field meet.
They did take home a pair of second-place medals at Hamline University, and the foursome could likely be back next year, because none of them are seniors.
L/FC started the day with a 1-minute, 30.03-second finish in the 800-meter relay for second place.
Then, in the last race of the day, the race L/FC won a year earlier out of nowhere, the same four guys finished second in the 1,600 relay with a 3:24.06.
Hall had the last leg in the 1,600 relay and, in the final 100 meters, took the lead. But down the stretch, Fairmont’s Paul Mallory had more in the tank. Fairmont finished with a 3:22.88.
“It’s tough,” said junior Hebl, who finished 12th in the long jump with a 20-foot, 3½ inch distance. “It was nice to be back, and we wanted first, but to be in two events was definitely fun.”
L/FC wasn’t the only relay team in the area high on the podium.
Plainview-Elgin-Millville’s Grant Timm, Paul Alness, Tim Dick and Tom Pesch also finished with a second-place medal. The four finished the 3,200 relay in 8:09.12. DeLaSalle easily won in 8:01.9.
“Coming in, we thought, if we ran our best we’d get an 8:12,” Pesch said. “But, instead, we get an 8:09 and the school record by two seconds.“
All four of the Bulldogs ran close to personal bests in each leg, but “Paul must have cut three seconds off his best,” Pesch said.
In the Class 2A meet in the morning, Winona High’s team also finished with a season-best time in the 3,200 relay.
The team made up of Ethan Kastello, Myles Beckman, Erik Blomsness and Sam Miner, took home a sixth-place medal with an 8:02.18 — cutting five seconds off their previous best. That time was the fourth-fastest in WSHS history.
“Going in, we had the slowest seed time,” Blomsness said. “We wanted to get ourselves in the race. We just wanted to PR (personal record), but once we saw the time, we were pretty awestruck.“
Apple Valley took first in the race with a 7:45.31, which was a Minnesota all-time record.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” Blomsness said. “We could see the other guys ahead. They were in a league of their own.“
Wrapping up his final trip to state, P-E-M’s Zach Flies finished 11th in the discus (142-2). Flies took fifth in the 110 hurdles last season, before breaking his foot in basketball in the winter. He then managed to qualify this season in shot and discus. He took 10th in shot Friday.
Finally, Caledonia/Spring Grove’s Eddie Hodges, Cody Petersen, Isaac Fruechte and Andy Bauer finished seventh in the 800 relay (1:32.35). The same four took part in the 400 relay but were disqualified.
