Class 1A Track and Field: BHV's Moore golden at state

ST. PAUL-Samuel Moore took a drive down to St. Paul a day early and familiarized himself with his surroundings.

The strategy worked as the Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale junior won the shot put with a personal best toss of 59-feet-11.75 in Friday's Class 1A state meet at Hamline University.

It wasn't a surprise as Samuel Moore was the top seed, but he blew past his seed distance by more than 2 feet.

"It was 2 feet over his his personal record," said BHV head coach Jeff Moore. "He felt really good going in. He was pretty excited. He didn't want to get too worked up over things. He was just trying to be relaxed.

"We did a good job this week with practice. We gave him some rest and we came down (Thursday) and practiced at the ring there and that helped him. He felt good throwing (Thursday) and today everything just worked out right."

Samuel Moore opened with a 57-9 toss and hit 59-3.5 on his second toss. His state title mark came on his third throw right before the finals cut.

"The last three throws were 57, 58," Jeff Moore said. "He did have one bad one at 54, but usually your better throws are in those first few throws. He always throws his best on his first or second throw."

The victory should give Samuel Moore a boost Saturday when he competes in the discus. He's seeded second in that event.

"He was kind of questioning things with how he could do," said Jeff Moore. "His discus has dropped just a little bit from where he was at. I do think the rest will help, too. He's excited now. He's fired up now. He's done and so he knows he can do it."

Pequot Lakes junior Reid Pierzinski is going to have a busy Saturday. One thing he won't have to worry about is the triple jump. Pierzinski finished fourth with a leap of 45-1.25.

"He can go farther, but I think that with everything going on, I think. that was a good jump for him," said Pequot Lakes co-head coach Jana Lueck. "He was pretty happy with his jump, but he was just so busy getting here, there and everywhere so he was happy with that."

While triple jumping, Pierzinski positioned himself to have a successful Saturday in his other events, too. He won the preliminary heats of the 110- and 300-meter hurdles and helped Pequot's 4x400 relay secure the No. 1 seed.

"He's just as tough as I've ever seen," said Lueck. "I think he's got a lot left in the tank. It was great to see him get over that fifth hurdle in the 300 hurdles. He did very well with that today. I think with that same mental toughness he'll do really well."

There's a familiar name right behind Pierzinski in the 300 hurdles, however, and that name is Max Giza of Staples-Motley.

On Friday, Giza vaulted to a third-place 14-3.

"He was going real smooth and he came up to 14-6 and he just couldn't do it," said Staples-Motley co-head coach Cory Asfeld. "He just finished running the 300 hurdles and he only got like five minutes of rest and he could have used some more."

Asfeld said 14-6 or even 15-feet was in sight, but Giza was happy with his finish.

He was even more happy with where he'll be for the 300 hurdles as he posted the second fastest time.

"It wasn't even a smooth race," said Asfeld. "We'll work on smoothing out those stutter steps and we'll see how it goes."

Wadena-Deer Creek got a podium finish from Ellie Miron in the discus. She tossed it 116-2 to place eighth.

Pequot's Britt Kratochvil also landed on the podium as she tied for seventh with a 5-0 high jump.

"She looked solid up until that 5-2 jump and then it just wasn't there for her today," said Lueck. "She was very upset, but then when she found out that she tied for seventh, she was thrilled. The key was she had made every jump up until that point."

S-M's Millie Klefsaas proved she didn't need a regular season. She moved from a 15th seed to the No. 3 seed after the 100 hurdles prelims.

"She is just such a competitor," said Asfeld. "You could see it. With three hurdles left the other runners started to close in on her and she must have sensed it because she kicked it in."

Pequot's Chloe Bermel moved from the fifth seed to No. 3 in the 400 dash and she helped Pequot's 4x200 and 4x400 relays secure the No. 1 seed heading into Saturday's finals.

Friday's finals results

Boys 3200 run: 1-Lucas Mueller (Nova Classical) 9:22.90, 13-Tony Fitzer (Pequot Lakes) 10:15.37

Boys shot put: 1-Samuel Moore (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) 59-11.75

Boys pole vault: 1-Drew Dockendorf (Holdingford) 15-3, 3-Max Giza (Staples-Motley) 14-3, 12-Addisoune Harrington (Pequot Lakes) 12-6

Boys triple jump: 1-Eric VanErp (Ottertail Central) 46-2.5, 4-Reid Pierzinski (Pequot Lakes) 45-1.25

Girls discus: 1-Cameron Downey (Blake) 129-9, 8-Ellie Miron (Wadena-Deer Creek) 116-2

Girls long jump: 1-Mara Quam (Kenyon-Wanamingo) 18-1, 18t-Kylie Monson (Crosby-Ironton) 15-5.25, 21-Julia Johnson (Pillager) 15-2.5

Girls high jump: 1-Arika Robinson (Concordia Roseville) 5-6, 7t-Britt Kratochvil (Pequot Lakes) 5-0, 15-Julia Johnson (Pillager) 4-10

Boys preliminary results

110 hurdles: 1-Reid Pierzinski (Pequot Lakes) 14.97

300 hurdles: 1-Reid Pierzinski (Pequot Lakes) 38.60, 2-Max Giza (Staples-Motley) 39.27

100 dash: 1-Marlon Wiley (Jordan) 11.10, 9-Konnor Stueve (Wadena-Deer Creek) 11.48

200 dash: 1-Tysen Schmidt (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 22.13, 15-Bereket Loer (Wadena-Deer Creek) 23.98, 16-Dylan Loftis (Pillager) 23.98

400 dash: 1-Tysen Schmidt (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 49.17, 4-Josh Daigneault (W-DC) 50.65

4x100 relay: 1-Foley 43.39, 13-Wadena-Deer Creek (Pantages, Stueve, Loer, Daigneault) 44.76

4x200 relay: 1-Foley 1:29.98, 3-Wadena-Deer Creek (Jonathan Pantages, Bereket Loer, Josh Daigneault, Stueve) 1:31.38

4x400 relay: 1-Pequot Lakes (Ben Nelson, Robbie Hendrickson, Cody Huss, Reid Pierzinski) 3:24.87

Girls preliminary results

100 hurdles: 1-Jenna Kes (Jordan) 15.24, 3-Millie Klefsaas (Staples-Motley) 15.31

300 hurdles: 1-Tyarra English-Paulson (Watertown-Mayer) 44.56, 8-Addie Hubbard (Pequot Lakes) 46.65

400 dash: 1-Kya Phillips (Cristo Rey Jesuit) 56.65, 3-Chloe Bermel (Pequot Lakes) 47.89

4x200 relay: 1-Pequot Lakes (Mirjana Glanley, Kristin Skog, Grace McGuire, Chloe Bermel) 1:44.39, 7-Pierz (Breanna Kurtz, Leah Fuhrman, Avy Lease, Chelsi Kurtz) 1:46.07

4x400 relay: 1-Pequot Lakes (Grace McGuire, Kristin Skog, Olivia Lane, Chloe Bermel) 3:57