Class A Girls State Track and Field: GMLOKS, Lourdes relays win state titles

ST. PAUL — There was a second place in the 200-meter dash to celebrate and a third place in the 100.

But nothing had Lourdes sprinting star CJ Adamson jumping for joy, tackling and then sprawled on the ground hugging teammates like winning the 4x100 relay on Saturday in the Class A state track and field meet at Hamline University.

Adamson ran the anchor leg on the relay, which saw the freshman pass two sprinters in a mad dash to the finish line, including slipping past Byron anchor Olivia Amundson at the very end to win by a sliver.

Lourdes was timed in 49.62, Byron in 49.81. Byron (Katie Lambrecht, Payton Sampson, Kristen Nelson, Amundson) had made a huge jump as the season progressed and stunned many with its strong finish.

"I knew we could do it," said Adamson, who was joined by Sarah Dravis, Belle Horstman and Jade Einertson on that winning relay. "My teammates put me in a great position to do it. I couldn’t let them down after what they’d done for us."

Said Einertson, the relay’s lone seniors: "I always have faith that CJ is going to get us the win. I’ve seen some big comebacks from her."

Hard to say that the entire meet was a comeback for Adamson. But it hovered in that territory. A year ago she was seventh in the 100 (12.93) and third in the 200 (26.08). Saturday, she got her second place in the 200 in 25.66 and her third in the 100 in 12.63. Those are some big leaps for a girl who has now already competed in three state meets, though still a freshman.

GMLOKS, AGAIN

The Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland/Southland 4x200 team had some protecting to do. However, its runners refused to get ahead of themselves in believing they’d win their second straight state title in the event.

And that seemed to work.

"We didn’t come in expecting that we were going to win it," said Riley Queensland, the anchor for a group that also included Anika Reiland, Hailey Hindt and Lauren Buchholtz. "It’s not good to think that way."

But thanks to all of the athletic balance on this relay and a final burst by Queensland, GMLOKS won again. It was timed in 1:44.47. Rival Stewartville was fourth in 1:45.23, though the Tigers nicely made up for that with a second place in the 4x400 (Kailee Malone, Laura Pedelty, Hailey Lewis, Maia Peterson).

"We didn’t change anything up from a year ago," GMLOKS’s Buchholtz said. "Except we did go to the Mall of America before the meet, and went to the ‘Escape Room.’"

That was a 60-minute adventure and a blast. But not as fun as their 1:44.47 adventure.

FRUSTRATED GRAHAM

Triton senior Nell Graham wanted one thing and one thing only. That was to finish as a 400 state champion. She didn’t do it, though not for lack of a strong performance.

Blake star Robbie Grace was the winner, in 56.31. Graham was timed in 57.34 for second, just under her personal best.

"I wanted to win," Graham said. "I didn’t execute quite like I wanted to."

NOTABLES

It was another Ping, Ping 1-2 finish in a distance event. Only this time it was Winona Cotter sophomore Grace Ping as the winner (4:59.07) and eighth-grade sister Lauren (5:00.57) as the runner-up. Friday, Lauren won the 3,200 and Grace was second.

"I felt really strong today," said Grace, who repeated as the 1,600 state champion.

• Lanesboro/Fillmore Central/Mabel-Canton/Southland’s Emma Breitsprecher continued her strong showings in the hurdles. The junior was third in the 300s and fourth in the 110s. . .Section 1A went 1-2-3 in the 4x100, Lourdes first, Byron second and GMLOKS third.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

Team totals

(Top 10 and Section 1A places)

1. Blake 57, 2. Cotter 44, 3. Rockford 42.5, 4. (tie) Park Christian 34, Pequot Lakes, 6. Lourdes 30, 7. Belle Plaine 29, 8. Mesabi East 28, 9. Watertown-Mayer 27, 10. Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland/Southland 26; 12. Stewartville 24, 24. Lanesboro/Fillmore Central/Mabel-Canton 14, 27. Zumbrota-Mazeppa 12, 28. Triton 11, 32. Byron 10, 37. Plainview-Elgin-Millville 9, 46. St. Charles, 49. Lake City 49, 61. Pine Island 3, 64. Cannon Falls 2.

Individual events

(First place, Section 1A finishers)

(#Denotes meet record)

Running events

100 — 1. MaeLea Harmon (Waterville-Elysian-Morristown) 12.37; 3. CJ Adamson (Lourdes) 12.63. 200 — 1. Anisa Thompson (Blake) 25.46; 2. CJ Adamson (Lourdes) 25.66. 400 — 1. Robbie Grace (Blake) 56.31; 2. Nell Graham (Triton) 57.34. 800 — 1. Ava Hill (Mesabi East) 2:13.33; 8. Katrina Sortland (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 2:18.94. 1,600 — 1. Grace Ping (Cotter) 4:59.07; 2. Lauren Ping (Cotter) 5:00.57; 6. Natasha Sortland (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 5:08.76. 100 hurdles — 1. Ailsa Gilbert (Watertown-Mayer) 15.09; 4. Emma Breitsprecher (LFCMC) 15.67; 6. Ashley Veronen (Lake City) 16.12. 300 hurdles — 1. Jaylen Struck-Schmitz (Belle Plaine) 43.11; 3. Emma Breitsprecher (LFCMC) 44.91; 4. Hailey Hindt (GMLOK) 45.36. 100 wheelchair — #1. Lilly Stiernagle (Maple River) 25-59. 200 wheelchair — #1. Lilly Stiernagle (Maple River) 50.93.

Relays

4x100 — 1. Lourdes (Sarah Dravis, Belle Horstman, Jade Einertson, CJ Adamson) 49.62; 2. Byron (Katie Lambrecht, Payton Sampson, Kristen Nelson, Olivia Amundson) 49.81; 3. GMLOKS (Isabelle Olson, Anoka Reiland, Kassidy Kirtz, Lauren Buchholtz) 50.14. 4x200 — 1. GMLOKS (Anika Reiland, Hailey Hindt, Lauren /Buchholtz, Riley Queensland) 1:44.47; 4. Stewartville (Jaidyn Brower, Laura Pedelty, Hailey Lewis, Maia Peterson) 1:45.23. 4x400 — 1. Pelican Rapids (Abby Syverson, Chloe Paulson, Tatianna Wiley, Maddie Guler) 3:59.56; 2. Stewartville (Kailee Malone, Laura Pedelty, Hailey Lewis, Maia Peterson) 4:00.06 5. Plainview-Elgin-Millville (Madison McCullough, Macy Holtz, Alyx Doughty, Rylee Nelson) 4:03.05. 4x800 — 1. Luverne (Regan Feit, Jadyn Anderson, Tenley Nelson, Brooklynn VerSteeg) 9:22.92; 6. Plainview-Elgin-Millville (Madi Simon, Monica Evers, Alyx Doughty, Rylee Nelson) 9:49.09. 8. Stewartville (Kailee Malone, Isabel Field, Gracie Waltman, Laura Pedelty) 9:49.76.

Field events

Pole vault — #1. Ashley Hokanson (Perham) 12-7; 10. Kassidy Broadwater (LFCMC) 10-0; 11. Julia Cordes (Lourdes) 10-0. Triple jump — 1. Maggie Larson (Maple Lake) 38-7; 8. Jacie Winchell (Cannon Falls) 34-8 3/4; 9. Chloe Staub (Triton) 34-7. Shot put — 1. Desera Engholm (Pequot Lakes) 43-11 1/4; 12. Makenna Theobald (Stewartville) 35-8 3/4; 13. Madison Johnston (Hayfield) 35-7 1/2. Shot put wheelchair — 1. Lilly Stiernagle (Maple River) 13-7 1/4.

What happened:Lourdes' CJ Adamson freshman finished second in the 200, third in the 100 and ran the anchor leg on Lourdes' winning 4x100 relay team. Adamson had just enough at the end to nip familiar foe Byron at the finish line.

Ping and Ping:While Cotter's Lauren Ping finished first and sister Grace Ping second in the 3,200 on Friday, their roles were reversed on Saturday. Sophomore Grace was the 1,600 winner and eighth-grader Lauren was second.

GMLOKS does it again:The GMLOKS 4x200 relay team won that event for the second straight year. It was timed in 1:44.47, edging runner-up Mesabi East (1:44.73).