May 28, 2008 - 04:06:31 CDT
Call it, "Going out in a blaze of glory."That's how 13 high school senior athletes went out at last week's Class B track and field state meet.
Seven boys and six girls collected at least one individual title apiece in their final state meet appearance. Those seniors accounted for 21 of the 30 open titles.
Let's start with Brian Sorensen of Hazen, Lindsay Anderson of Benson County, and Kristen Killoran of Maple Valley-Enderlin, each of whom claimed three individual titles.
Sorensen took top honors in the 100, 200 and 400, while leading the Bison to their second straight team title. He was the first Class B boys athlete since 2000 to win the 100, 200 and 400 in the same state meet. Jared Essler of Minot Ryan was the last to accomplish that feat.
Sorensen, who will compete in football but not track at the University of North Dakota next school year, also led Hazen's 1,600-meter relay team to victory, giving him eight state titles overall.
Anderson ended a phenomenal run last weekend, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 for the second year in a row. Once again, she was dominant in all three races. Her winning margins were 3.59 seconds in the 800, 15.84 seconds in the 1,600, and 43.94 seconds in the 3,200. She won six straight 1,600-meter titles, and three straight 3,200-meter titles.
The University of Iowa signee won 11 individual titles in her high school career, and placed second six times. She also was a member of three winning 3,200-meter relay teams, including the one that came in first last Friday.
Killoran repeated in the long jump and 300 hurdles. Her winning long jump of 19-4½ was just one inch shy of the state record held by Whitney Carlson of Carrington.
Last Saturday, Killoran won her second triple jump title and would have shattered the state record had it not been for the wind. Her winning effort of 39-8¼ was a whopping 10½ inches better than the record held by Ryan's Sarah Fegley. However, it was ruled as wind-aided.
Wind-aided?
Friday was windy, but many of us felt that there wasn't much of a breeze blowing at the jumping area on Saturday. The wind speed was measured at 2.1 meters per second - 0.1 over the limit. I know rules are rules, but come on officials. Could 0.1 meters per second be enough to carry someone an extra 10½ inches? This was one time that an exception could have been made.
Seth Wisthoff of Glenburn and Adrienne Thomas of Park River Area both won two state titles.
Wisthoff not only repeated in the discus and shot put, but was the Class B meet's lone record-breaker. And it was a record I thought was untouchable. In 1995, a kid from Carrington by the name of Jim Kleinsasser threw the discus a mile-and-a-half at the state meet in Grand Forks. Actually, it was 183-11, but to many of us it could just as well have been a mile-and-a-half. But last Friday, Wisthoff uncorked a winning throw of 183-11 to tie the mark. We didn't know it then, but the Glenburn senior was about to become the sole holder of the record.
On Saturday, it was announced that Wisthoff's winning toss was actually 184 feet. Friday's throw was measured two ways - by GPS laser and by nylon tape. The laser measured it at 184 feet. The tape at 183-11. The tape measurement was used because there were some doubts surrounding the certification of the laser. There was some speculation that the machine might have been homemade, and not company-manufactured. Later that night, it was confirmed that the machine was indeed a certified one, so the 184-foot throw was allowed.
Wisthoff was as surprised as anyone when the announcement was made. He got the news after accepting his state championship plaque for the shot put.
I had the pleasure of talking to this young man several times this season. It couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
Thomas repeated in the 100 and 400 last Saturday, giving her five state titles in two years. This is an athlete who returned to track in 2007 after a two-year hiatus. As an eighth-grader, Thomas participated in the Adams-Edmore-Edinburg and Langdon co-op. However, she decided to drop out in 2005 because traveling between her home in Adams and the co-op host, Langdon (40 miles), got to be too much of a burden.
Thomas returned to the sport last spring after AEE found a new co-op partner closer to home - Park River. The rest is history. Earlier this season, Thomas ran a scorching 56.66 in the 400.
Katie Gruman of Griggs County Central (discus) and Leah Wentz of Rugby (shot put) closed out their high school careers with back-to-back titles. Gruman's winning throw last Friday came on her final attempt. Oddly, that's exactly what happened in 2007.
Rowdy Lund of Watford City (300 hurdles), Blaise Kautzman of Mott-Regent (110 hurdles), Tyler Staskivige of Hatton-Northwood (triple jump), Justin Overby of Langdon-Munich (pole vault), Devin Monson of Thompson (3,200), and Kristyn Nelson of Rolette-Wolford (100 hurdles) all won a state title for the first time.
Lund, who also was a member of the winning 800-meter relay team, won state titles in three different sports. He was a starting defensive back on Watford City's 2006 Class AA state champion football team. In wrestling, he won three state titles (2006-08).
Kautzman, Monson and Nelson were second-place finishers last year. Monson was a No. 14 seed this year.
And let's not forget the other seniors who ran legs on winning relay teams - Hazen's Jacob Erhardt (400 and 1,600) and Colton Burr (400 and 1,600); Watford City's Justin Shipman (800) and Tyler Fixen (800); New Town's Josh Kirkaldie (3,200); Bowman County's Ali Morland (400, 800, and 1,600), Abby Nasset (800 and 1,600), and Michelle Stearns (400), and Benson County's Katrece Thompson (3,200).
While it's difficult to say goodbye to these seniors, we still have a lot to look forward to in the coming year. Returning state champions will be Harvey's Kordel Wolfe (javelin), Rugby's Bryant Halvorson (long jump) and Dylan Yoder (1,600), Heart River's James Smith (high jump), New Town's Jeremy Grinnell (800), Napoleon's Rikki Schmidt (200), Lisbon's Kali Olson (high jump), Bottineau's Abbey Aide (pole vault), and R-W's Alex Webster (javelin).
TEAM EFFORTS: Coaches don't like to put much stock in pre-state meet seeds. And they really shouldn't, given how unpredictable track and field can be. As one coach told me last week, "Anything can happen at state. ... You have to perform."
The Hazen boys and Bowman County girls won state team titles because they got lots of mileage out of their top-8 seeds. In other words, their athletes performed.
Hazen came into the meet with 13 top-8 seeds, and 12 produced points. In addition to Brian Sorensen's three individual titles, Jacob Erhardt placed third in the 200; Andrew Karges, fifth in the 800; Jordan Cieslak, fourth in the 3,200 and fifth in the 1,600, and Brent Sorensen, sixth in the 400.
The Bison won the 400- (Brent Sorensen, Erhardt, Burr, Chris Schwarz) and 1,600-meter (Brian Sorensen, Erhardt, Burr, Jamison Kruckenberg) relays, and placed second in the 800 (Brent Sorensen, Erhardt, Burr, Schwarz), and third in the 3,200 (Cieslak, Karges, Erik Volk, Brandon Johnson).
On the girls side, all seven of Bowman County's top-8 seeds placed either first or second. The Bulldogs racked up 38 points in the relays, winning the 400 (Anne Duletski, Ali Morland, Jenna Olson, Michelle Stearns), 800 (Duletski, Morland, Olson, Abby Nasset) and 1,600 (Morland, Olson, Nasset, Megan Naico), and placing second in the 3,200 (Nasset, Naico, Lisa Swanson, Megan Kelly). Bowman County was seeded No. 1 in the 1,600, No. 2 in the 800, No. 4 in the 400, and No. 4 in the 3,200.
Duletski was seeded No. 5 in the 100 and No. 8 in the 200, but wound up placing second in both events. Nasset lived up to her No. 2 billing in the 400.
(Michael Weber is a Tribune sportswriter)
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