On Friday night at Wilson Field, the Fairmont Cardinals boys and girls track & field teams won the Blue Earth Area Invitational. The team had 14 first-place finishes, including Corene Moeller, who won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.1 seconds, contributing to the girls’ victory.
Other winning performances by the girls included Hadley Artz in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 51.2 seconds, and the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, and 4×100 shuttle hurdle relay teams. Alexa Bush won the discus throw with a distance of 99 feet, 7.5 inches, and Jazlyn Geerdes won the triple jump with a distance of 32 feet, 6 inches.
For the Fairmont boys team, Landon Gilbertson won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.9 seconds, and the 4×400 relay team of Gilbertson, Caleb Chambers, Nolan Schultze, and Blaze Geiger won with a time of 4:42.6. Sawyer Tordsen won both the shot put and discus throw events, with distances of 48 feet, 1 inch and 159 feet, 7 inches, respectively. The 4×100 shuttle hurdles team of Ethan Geerdes, Jaron Schutz, Ethan Pockrus, and Gilbertson also won their event with a time of 1:14.6, and Nelson Remington won the 100-meter wheelchair event with a time of 20.1 seconds.
Fairmont head coach Jesse Walters expressed confidence in his team’s abilities and hard work. The meet began with temperatures in the high 70s, but a cold front with light rain and wind caused the temperature to drop 20 degrees.
Fairmont emerged victorious in the boys’ team competition, scoring 395 points, followed by Maple River with 336, Jackson County Central with 325, St. James Area with 296.5, Blue Earth Area with 247.5, Martin County West with 226, and United South Central with 74.
In the final girls’ standings, Fairmont claimed the team championship with 402 points, followed by Jackson County Central with 381, Blue Earth Area with 317.5, St. James Area with 258, Martin County West with 202.5, Maple River with 170, and United South Central with 156.
Fairmont’s Hank Artz secured second place in the shot put and third place in the discus with throws of 47-3 and 134-7, respectively, while Trey Tumbleson placed second in the long jump with a mark of 19-2 1/2.
Blue Earth Area’s Jacob Grandgenett finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.7, and Kade Gaydon secured second place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.7. Austin Stauffer of Blue Earth Area placed second in the high jump by clearing 5-8.
Ryan Pierson from Martin County West was crowned the 3,200-meter champion with a time of 10:24.3, and the MCW 4×800 relay team consisting of Ryan Pierson, Grant Koehnen, Jamesson Forsberg, and Riley Cole won with a time of 8:55.6. MCW’s Jamesson Forsberg and Grant Koehnen finished second and third in the 1,600-meter run with times of 5:10.3 and 5:21.6, respectively. The MCW 4×200 relay team of Kole Hanson, Berent Kosbab, Joseph Forsberg, and Kylar Larson finished third with a time of 1:14.0.
In the girls’ meet, Harper Artz of Fairmont secured second place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:06.2, and Carys Gudahl took third place in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 13:47.0. The Cardinals’ 4×800 relay team consisting of Selma Bleess, Audrina Suckow, Elayna Anderson, and Gudahl finished second with a time of 11:48.3. Alexa Bush of Fairmont placed second in the shot put with a throw of 31-7, and Kennedy Becker secured third place in the shot at 28-6. Jazlyn Geerdes of Fairmont finished runner-up in the long jump with a mark of 14-9 1/2, and Abbie Simpson took second place in the triple jump at 30-5.
Chloe Groe from Blue Earth Area won the shot put with a throw of 32-11, while Addison Armstrong secured first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.2 and also won the pole vault by clearing 10 feet even. Aubrey Woodwick of Blue Earth Area finished second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:40.3, while Groe added a second-place showing in the discus with a toss of 98-6 1/2. Sarah Dohm of Blue Earth Area placed third in the high jump by clearing 4-6. For Martin County West, Katie Hartke took second place in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 13:41.2.
