The Northfield High School boys track and field team saw a 53-year old school record broken at the MSHSL Section 1AA meet, which was held in Faribault on Thursday, May 30 and Saturday, June 1.
The Raiders’ 4x200 relay squad of Gavin Novotny, McCoy Weitz, Stephen Feig and Simon Lippert broke the long-standing NHS record with a first-place time of 1:28.91. This broke the old record of 1:30.1, which was set back in 1971. In addition to putting their name into the record books, the foursome qualified for the upcoming MSHSL Class AA state championships held June 6-8 at St Michael-Albertville High School.
“Coaches Kyle Korynta, Tom Dickerson, and myself are thrilled for this relay squad. While they are clearly talented athletes, they have been some of our hardest working and dedicated team members all season,” NHS head coach Tyler Balow said. “Coming into the season, Simon Lippert had a chance to be one of the top individual sprinters in our section but a hip injury really derailed his season. He has been determined to come back from this injury and compete at the section meet with the hopes of earning a trip to state. We are looking forward to seeing this group compete against the state’s fastest relays next Friday.”
Feig also qualified for state in the pole vault with a second-place finish in the section meet at 13-3.
The other Northfield qualifier for the state meet is the 4x400 relay team of Sam Sweden, Weitz, Novotny and Feig.
“The team finished in fifth place, but with a nearly eight-second season-best time, they were able to hit the state qualifying standard with a time of 3:28.73. This result surprised a lot of people since the Raiders started the day as the 9th seeded team in the section,” Balow said.
As a team, Northfield placed sixth at the Section 1AA meet with a score of 57 points. Stewartville won the meet at 190, while Winona placed second at 164 and Faribault was third at 123.5. Byron (60) and Kasson-Mantorville (57) completed the top five spot.
The 12-team field was rounded out by Waseca in seventh place (54.5), Albert Lea in eighth place (54), Red Wing in ninth place (50), Austin in 10th place (38), Plainview-Elgin-Millville in 11th place (27) and Tri-City United in 12th place (25).
“The 4x800 relay also ran a season best time but just missed qualifying for the state meet,” Below said. “The 4x800 relay of Fletcher Aylin, Jason Aldorfer, Evan Loe, and Isaac Schelif took third place by improving on their season-best time by 14 seconds but finished just three seconds behind the second place and state qualifying team of Albert Lea. Every relay member ran a season best split time and ran their hearts out.”
Northfield’s 4x100 relay team of Novotny, Weitz, Feig and Lippert also hit a season-best with a fifth place time of 43.78.
Individuals to reach the podium at the section meet included Isaac Schleif with a sixth-place finish in the 800 meters, Aldorfer with an eighth-place finish in the 1600 meters and Soren Murphy Pearson with an eighth-place finish in the 3200 meters. In the high jump, Kamarion Gant placed fourth and teammate Malcolm Poole placed seventh.
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