Track and Field: Bermel, Klefsaas prospecting for state gold

Class 1A state track

Who: 16 area boys, 20 area girls will compete

When: June 10-11

Where: Hamline University, St. Paul

Sandwiched between Chloe Bermel's 100- and 200-meter dashes might be her best shot at state gold.

The Pequot Lakes junior is seeded fifth in the 100 dash for the Class 1A state meet Thursday and Friday at Hamline University. She's just .15 seconds from the No. 1 seed.

She owns the second-fastest 200 dash time (25.39) that she won the Section 6-1A meet with. The top time is T'Nia Riley of Minneapolis North with a 25.08.

Bermel's best bet for a first-place finish, however, lies in the 400 dash where she's the No. 1 seed with a time of 56.48. The next closest is a 47.45.

"She's the most nervous about the 100 as she feels very confident with the 400 not only because she has a really good time, but it's become her race," said Pequot head girls coach Jana Lueck. "The nerves are due to the amount of good times. I've never seen so many fast 100-meter times.

"I'm excited for her to have competition in all three of her events. I'm excited to see what she can do with someone around her."

The only time Bermel has lost this season was at the Hamline Elite Meet and that was to Class 2A competition.

Staples-Motley's Millie Klefsaas has two chances at state gold. The Cardinal junior is seeded No. 2 in the 100 hurdles, in which she finished second last year, and in the pole vault.

Klefsaas vaulted 10-10 in the Section 6-1A meet. The top height is 11-1 by Samantha Petry of Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

Klefsaas is also competing in 300 hurdles. It's her first time competing in that event at state.

"She always comes on strong at the end of the year," said S-M head coach Marly Simmons. "As she has in the past, her last three meets are always her best. She rises to the level of the competition and always puts her best race out there. And as a coach that's all you can ask.

"I haven't talked with her specifically about her goals, but I know she wants a state championship, especially after coming so close last year."

Simmons said Klefsaas and Petry both have reached 11-6 in pole vault during the season and a number of the other girls at state have reached 11 so he's expecting good competition in pole vault.

Between Chase Blaeser and Reid Pierzinski, the Pequot Lakes boys are bound to get a high finish in the 110 or 300 hurdles. Blaeser is seeded No. 3 in the 110 hurdles with Pierzinski sixth.

Pierzinski holds the second-fastest time in 300 hurdles with Blaeser in the 10th spot.

Pierzinski is also seeded No. 7 in triple jump.

"I think with the warmer weather those guys will be right in it for both events," said Pequot head boys coach Dave Guenther. "The times they've run earlier in the year are comparable. The cool thing is their toughest competition has been right on their own team.

"I know there is more in those guys. They feed off of competition. Reid and Chase do not like anyone in front of them."

Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale's Samuel Moore is seeded No. 3 in shot put with a 51-10 effort. The top seed is held by St. Clair's Mitchell Weber at 57-0. Weber also holds the top spot in discus with a 173-3. Moore is seventh at 149-0.

Other top area girls seeds are Pierz's Chelsie Kurtz and Pequot's Britt Kratochvil, who both enter high jump tied for third with 5-foot-3 efforts at sections. The top seed is only 5-4.

Pierz's Beth-el Algarin is seeded third in shot put at 42.6. Blake's Jaimi Salone, who has the No. 1 seed in the shot and discus, is seeded at 45-11 for the shot. She has a 24-foot advantage in discus.

Pequot's 4x800 relay is seeded third. The foursome of Jannah Hall, Grace McGuire, Kristin Skog and Olivia Lane ran a 9:36.98 compared to Fairmont's top-seeded time of 9:34.58.

Boys

110 hurdles: 1-seed Luke Heitman (Norman County) 15.01, 3-Chase Blaeser (Pequot Lakes) 15.30, 6-Reid Pierzinski (PL) 15.47

300 hurdles: 1-seed Ethan Dahlen (International School of Minnesota) 39.81, 2-Pierzinski 39.9, 10-Blaeser 41.11

200 dash: 1-seed Tysen Schmidt (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 22.34, 16-Konnor Stueve (Wadena-Deer Creek) 23.6

400 dash: 1-seed Kyle Groven (Pine Island) 49.61, 11-Josh Daigneault (Wadena-Deer Creek) 51.76

4x100 relay: 1-seed La Crescent 43.65, 16-Wadena-Deer Creek (Jonathan Pantages, Dereket Loer, Digneault, Stueve) 45.02

4x200 relay: 1-seed Minnehaha Academy 1:31.29, 5-Wadena-Deer Creek (Jonathan Pantages, Bereket Loer, Josh Daigneault, Konnor Stueve) 1:32.20

4x400 relay: 1-seed Minnesota Valley Lutheran 3:27.65, 6-Pequot Lakes (Ben Nelson, Cameron Boller, Cody Huss, Reid Pierzinski) 3:30.26

4x800 relay: 1-seed Fairmont 8:08.75, 10-Pequot Lakes (Maximus Johnston, Karl Brine-Doyle, Levi Palmer, Cameron Boller) 8:20.01

Shot put: 1-seed Mitchell Weber (St. Clair) 57-0, 3-Samuel Moore (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) 51-10

Discus: 1-seed Weber (St. Claire) 173-3, 7-Moore 149-0

Triple jump: 1-seed Noah Carlson (Rushford-Peterson) 46-8.5, 7-Reid Pierzinski (Pequot Lakes) 43-5, 10-Matthias Algarin (Prz) 42-4.25

Pole vault: 1-seed Erik Olson (Rockford) 14-3, 10-Max Giza (Staples-Motley) 12-9

Girls

100 hurdles: 1-seed Selin Dikmen (Belle Plaine) 15.11, 2-Millie Klefsaas (Staples-Motley) 15.16

300 hurdles: 1-seed Dikmen 45.51, 16-Klefsaas 48.46

100 dash: 1-seed T'Nia Riley (Minneapolis North) 12.17, 5-Chloe Bermel (Pequot Lakes) 12.50

200 dash: 1-seed Riley 25.08, 2t-Bermel 25.39

400 dash: 1-seed Bermel 56.48

4x100 relay: 1-seed Belle Plaine 49.83, 9-Pequot Lakes (Candyce Spielman, Mirjana Ganley, Kristin Skog, Grace McGuire) 51.23, 16-Pierz (Chelsie Kurtz, Kaitlyn Lanners, Kylie Porter, Leah Fuhrman) 52.85

4x200 relay: 1-seed Blue Earth Area 1:45.52, 13-Pierz (Avy Lease, Breanna Kurtz, Chelsie Kurtz, Leah Fuhrman) 1:48.98

4x400 relay: 1-seed Blue Earth Area 3:59.54, 8-Pequot Lakes (Olivia Lane, Ganley, Skog, McGuire) 4:04.59

4x800 relay: 1-seed Fairmont 9:34.58, 3-Pequot Lakes (Jannah Hall, McGuire, Skog, Lane) 9:36.98

Shot put: 1-seed Jaimi Salone (Blake) 45-11, 3-Beth-el Algarin (Pierz) 42-6, 14-Desera Engholm (Pequot Lakes) 36-3

Discus: 1-seed Salone 150-8, 11-Algarin 115-8, 16-Engholm 113-3

Triple jump: 1-seed Jenna Kes (Jordan) 38-7, 12-Kylie Monson (Crosby-Ironton) 35-4.5, 15-Alyson Daigneault (Wadena-Deer Creek) 34-11

High jump: 1-seed Sarah Holtz (Lyle-Pacelli) 5-4, 3t-Chelsie Kurtz (Pierz) 5-3, 3t-Britt Kratochvil (Pequot Lakes) 5-3, 9-Nicole Courtemanche (Aitkin) 5-1

Pole vault: 1-seed Samantha Petry (Waterville-Elysian-Morristown) 11-1, 2-Millie Klefsaas 10-10

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