Rain, lightning spoil New Ulm track and field meet

Teams at the event with New Ulm were Minnesota Valley Lutheran/New Ulm Cathedral, Redwood Valley, Marshall and Tri-City United.

Completed events at the meet for the boys were the 100-meter dash, the 110-meter hurdles, the 4×800 relay. The girls completed the 100-meter dash, the 100-meter hurdles and the girls 4×800 relay.

While the meet was incomplete and won’t be continued, New Ulm head coach Andrea Hanson had time to reflect Tuesday night on how the season is coming together near the midway point.

“The attitude and the work ethic of our kids has just kind of leaped up to a different level,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s having more kids on the team so we have a little bit more competition within our team or if it’s just that they are that driven and focused this year to succeed. But I’ve had a lot of kids step up and just really work hard at practice and really show determination and that they want to be successful at this sport.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Will Kaesermann, left, took second in the boys 110-meter hurdles event behind Redwood Valley’s Blake Stephens, right, at New Ulm High School on Tuesday.

In the girls 100-meter dash, Redwood Valley’s Kendall Huhnerkoch won with a time of 13.99, while the New Ulm Eagles’ Riley Wilson took second (14.03). New Ulm’s Leah Brustad took third in the girls 100 (14.09), while MVL/NUC’s Avery Freier (14.2) and Tiphany Dos Santos took fifth and sixth, respectively.

MVL/NUC controlled the girls 100-meter hurdles, with three finishers in the top five. Emily Brown won the event with a time of 17.97, while Avery Freier took second (18.27) and Claudia Weisensel took fourth (18.76). New Ulm’s top finisher in the girls 100 hurdles was Kiyla Kolden, who took eighth with a 21.04.

In addition to her strong finish in the girls 100, Brustad won the girls high jump with a top jump of 4 feet, 6 inches.

The girls 4×800 relay was won by Redwood Valley’s team of Lola Luze, Madalyn Munsell, Addie Thomes and Ellie Nelson, who finished with a time of 10:16.79. Marshall’s team of Sydney Towne, Oakley Schneekloth, Landrey Graven and Avery Schneekloth took second (10:28.47), while New Ulm’s team of Skoglund, Kolden, Grace Barie and Megan Gauert took third (11:12.94) out of six teams.

In the boys 100, MVL/NUC’s Josh Bentler won with a time of 11.89, while teammate Jaden Helget took fourth with a 12.15. New Ulm’s Cole Frederick took sixth with a time of 12.41.

Staff photo by
Travis Rosenau
Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Emily Brown, left, finished first in the girls 100-meter hurdles event at New Ulm High School on Tuesday. This was one of the three girls events to be completed before rain and lightning forced the Eagles to cancel the remainder of their home meet.

In the boys 110-meter hurdles, MVL/NUC’s Will Kaesermann finished second (16.22) to Redwood Valley’s Blake Stephens (15.84), while Marshall’s Aidan Schuerman took third (17.24). New Ulm’s Ethan Lieb finished 10th with a 21.38.

The boys 4×800 relay was won by Redwood Valley’s team of Kilen Cilek, Landyn Nordby, William Ahrens and Mason Anderson (8:29.83), while New Ulm’s 4×800 boys relay team of Jakob Geiss, Joshua Gordon, Nicholes Turbes and Michael Hames took second (9:36.76).

Hanson said the team’s standouts are still the standouts at this point in the season, but she’s happy again with the depth this year and what it’s done for the team.

“We do have a lot of additions to the team that kind of just make us more balanced,” she said. “Maybe we would have one finisher in years past that scores points for us in each event, now there’s a chance that we have multiple, which just sets us up better for success and kind of boosts our relays a little bit to a different level.

“We’re still working on timing for handoffs, but when we get the timing down, they look really good just because of our depth this year, so that’s been fun to see.”

Hanson also said she’s noticed some of her seniors have gotten personal records early in the season, which has been fun for her to see.

Pending weather again, the Eagles are scheduled for a meet at Mankato East High School on Thursday before the Section 2AA True Team track and field meet in Jordan on Tuesday.