5 Titans qualify for state in Section 1AA meet

The Tri-City United track and field team continued the Section 1AA Championship meet Saturday morning in Faribault with bids to the MSHSL State Championship on the line. Carly Hartwig, TCU’s first state champion in track and field, will return to defend her title in the 400m dash and will be joined by Kaitlyn Hartwig, Guadalupe Lopez and Jillian Houn in the 4x200m relay race while Nyadek Ruei hit the automatic qualifier in the high jump to make state as well.

The MSHSL State Championship for Class AA will be held Friday and Saturday morning at St. Michael-Albertville H.S. with events beginning at 9 a.m. both days. High jump finals will begin Thursday at 9 a.m. with the 4x200m relay prelim race will begin at 10:25 a.m. and the 400m dash prelims beginning at 11:28 a.m.

Finals for the 4x200m relay will be held Saturday at 10:27 a.m. with the 400m dash finals beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Saturday’s highlights began with K. Hartwig claiming bronze in the 200m dash with a PR time of 26.21 before C. Hartwig punched her ticket to state in the 400m dash with a season-best time of 57.29. Lopez also earned all-section honors in the 400m dash with a time of 1:03.91 to claim eighth.

In the 800m run, Yasmin Ruiz and Kaylee Gogerty finished fourth and seventh with times of 2:27.79 and 2:34.19 respectively. Ruiz also earned fifth in the 1600m with a time of 5:33.36. The 4x200m relay team earned its ticket to state by finishing second with a time of 1:45.78 and the Hartwig girls along with Lopez and Ruiz earned third in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:06.02.

Ruei earned her trip to state in the high jump with a PR clear of 5 feet and one inch which is an automatic state qualifying mark while she finished sixth in the ultra-competitive event. In the pole vault, Sophia Smith finished sixth with a PR clear of 9’9” and Khloe Flicek finished seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 33’1”.

While the boys didn’t earn any state bids, there were several highlights which included Eric Borchard and Connor Flintrop claiming sixth and seventh in the 400m dash with times of 52.02 and 52.26 respectively.

In the 800m run, Goi Ruei and Grant Fitterer claimed fifth and seventh with times of 2:03.91 and 2:06.18 with Ruei’s time being a season best and Fitterer posting a PR.