Track and Field: Warrior girls show off how good they are

BRAINERD — Violet Goodwin and the rest of the Brainerd Warriors put on a show Tuesday, May 9, at the Section 8-3A True Team meet.

In the True Team format, every athlete counts toward team points and Goodwin made sure she put enough points on the board to help the Warriors advance to the state meet.

Goodwin ran a 16.29 to place second in the 100-meter hurdles. That matches her season best. She then anchored Brainerd’s second-place 4x200 relay with Kate Stadum, Molly Hagelie and Cora Clough. The foursome ran a 1:48.28 to earn a spot on the Warriors’ Honor Roll.

Goodwin then shattered her personal best time to place third in the 300 hurdles with a 47.64. That lands her in sixth place all-time in school history. Natalie Smith finished fifth in 49.32, which would have put her on the honor roll if Goodwin hadn’t made the list.

“I think for a lot of them, they’ve been chasing quick times and just the way the season has gone it wasn’t coming together on the timeline that made them happy,” Warriors head girls coach Ashley Rutman said. “I would say for all of them, today was a great day to compete and I think just with the competition they were able to put some of those things together.

“Right before the meet started, I talked to Violet and asked her what her goals were for today and she said she wanted to beat her personal best and she wanted to break 48 seconds. She went under that and for her, that was a big relief. She’s so talented and has the mindset and grit to get there and it was fun to see her get there.”

Clough won the high jump with a 5-foot leap followed by Stadum in second with a 4-10 effort

Brenna Deason won the 100 dash in 12.76 and placed second in the pole vault with a 10-foot vault. She almost handed Brainerd’s 4x100 a come-from-behind victory. Moorhead won the event in 50.41 and Brainerd finished second in 50.46. The Warriors were in third when Deason received the baton.

“I think simply put, this team is filled with really incredible kids,” Rutman said. “They work so hard and I think the sweet thing is, they love competing together. I think that’s what makes us special. That’s what makes a really deep team. Today, they did it for each other.”

The foursome of Avery Duerr, Hannah Drietz, Julia Rademacher and Emily Bastian opened the meet with a second-place 9:52.46 in the 4x800 relay. That puts the foursome in the Warrior Top 20.

Katelyn Kennedy finished third in the 1600 with a 5:16.86. That is almost seven seconds faster than her previous best time. Madelyn Miller was fifth in 5:25.48 to put her on the honor roll and Brooke Wenz finished ninth in 5:30.50.

Bastian recorded a third-place time of 1:00.45 in the 400 dash. That moves her up from 11th on the Warriors’ all-time list to seventh.

Emma Sheflo recorded a fifth-place leap of 15-9.5 in the long jump. Ava Loney was right behind her in sixth.

Just as things were getting tight between Brainerd and Alexandria, the Warriors 3200 group of Drietz, Miller and Rademacher pulled through with a four-five-six finish.

“I know Madi Miller had the double,” Rutman said. “She was the one who had to do the mile and two mile. That’s just a tough combination and she knew the reason why and that’s because she’s really good. She knew she had a big job. Hannah is a rock as a distance runner and we knew she would perform. Julia has been lighting the world on fire every single race. She’s always dropping time.”

Brainerd's 4x400 relay closed out the night with a second-place finish. The foursome of Cally Robertson, Duerr, Natalie Smith and Bastian ran a 4:11.57.

“There is a reason, and I’m a little biased, but I say it’s my favorite event in track and field because in meets like this it sometimes comes down to that last event. Before it ran, I told them, ‘I don’t like creating pressure because you guys do that enough to yourselves, but you have to perform and you can’t let anybody sneak in between us and Alexandria because that is who it will be with.' They all did exactly what they needed to do.”

The Warrior boys’ team placed fourth with 457 points. Alexandria won the section title by 12 points over Monticello.

Brainerd’s 4x200 relay of Charlie Pikula, Dillon MacLaughlin, Brandon Stark and Isaak Malay posted a first-place 1:30.32, which breaks their previous best time of 1:31.03 and puts them seventh on Brainerd’s all-time list.

“I think it’s the right combination of guys,” Warrior head boys coach Rod Reuer said. “They are starting to buy into the relay mentality. That’s where we are at now. With the level we’re running at, it’s just those fine points that will allow us to get under 1:30.”

Dylan Gross won the shot put with a 57-foot-9 toss. That’s an improvement on his season best of 57-8.5. Mitch Wind finished fifth in 45-8. Gross added a fifth-place in the discus.

“The discus is starting to come around now,” Reuer said. “Obviously, shot put is his forte, but he’s worked hard at improving his discus and had a nice improvement today and that’s nice to see going down the stretch.”

McLaughlin added a second-place showing in the 100 dash with an 11.54 despite running in the second heat. Malay finished third in 11.57.

MacLaughlin was also second in the 200 dash with a 22.96 and Stark placed third with a 23.24.

“He’s kind of that warm-weather sprinter,” Reuer said. “Coming down the stretch, we’re going into the last month of his career and this is how he kind of finished the season last year so it’s nice to see him really start picking up. He ran a solid 200 today.”

Brainerd’s 4x100 relay of Pikula, Austin Asher, Gross and Malay finished third in 44.28. The foursome of Pikula, Gross and Malay.

Stark did what he’s done all year in the 400 dash and that is win with a 49.82.

Ty Nelson finished fourth in the triple jump with a 39-1.25.

“Where we are good, we are really good,” Reuer said.

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 218-855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop.