Boys track and field: Ponies extend section title streak to four

OAK PARK HEIGHTS — It took a little longer than expected, but the Stillwater boys track and field team eventually secured one final state bid after cruising to the Section 4AAA championship on Thursday, May 30 at Stillwater Area High School.

The Ponies racked up 299 points to easily outdistance runner-up White Bear Lake (181) and third-place Woodbury (144.5) for the program’s fourth consecutive section championship.

There was far more breathing room for Stillwater after needing a victory in the last event of the night to slip past Mounds View for the Suburban East Conference title on May 23.

“It was the polar opposite of the conference meet and waiting until the very end to pull it out,” Ponies coach Ben Straka said. “It made a for a less dramatic night for sure on finals night. It also didn’t necessarily pull our guys to the best competition we’ve had, but it was a fun night for the guys to put out an effort and compete in front of the home crowd and get a big win.”

Stillwater qualified all four relays and gained 12 individual entries for the state meet, which began on Thursday, June 6 and continues on Saturday, June 8 at St. Michael-Albertville High School. But that total was not confirmed until well after much of the competition was completed.

The top two individuals and relays in each event automatically advance to state, along with any making the state qualifying standard, which is the average time of the top nine teams at state over the past three seasons.

The timing system went out during the 4x200 relay, so while the places were determined the times were not official. This was an issue for Stillwater after placing behind the top two teams and automatic qualifiers Woodbury and White Bear Lake. As a result, the Ponies and St. Paul Central took advantage of an opportunity to run the race for time in an attempt to advance to state based the qualifying standard.

The team of Alem Kovac, Brett Hilde, Eli Aldridge and Soel Riser were clocked in 1:28.71 on the second race, which was under the state cut of 1:29.19.

“They let the race continue on (after the timing system went out) and the head coaches sorted out the ruling on the field,” Straka said. “There was still places they could go off of and the first two teams were state qualifiers by MSHSL rules, but we knew we had a team that was able to hit the time standard so we asked for a re-run with time at the end of the meet. Forty minutes after the 4x400 we sent guys who just ran the 4x400 back onto the field and asked them to put everything out there and they hit the standard by a second.”

It didn’t make a difference in the team standings, but added another state entry for the Ponies.

“We had won the meet, but the guys wanted to go to state and they were happy to go out and run it to get to the state meet,” Straka said.

It was a rewarding finish to a productive section meet for Stillwater, which placed fourth at the True Team state meet earlier this season.

“It’s something we’re not surprised in because we were an excellent team in the True Team format and still have a lot of guys competitive in the individual style of meets,” Straka said. “It will help keep things rolling along and making sure the guys are staying competitive in the prelims where they don’t have to wait to see their teammates competing hours in between each other. That kind of pumps everybody else up to have your friends out there and supporting them to make sure we get through to the finals.”

The Ponies were strong on the track and exceptional in the field events, including two state qualifiers each in the high jump, pole vault and shot put.

Andrew Brekke (13-5) and Henry Corbett (12-11) claimed the top two spots in the pole vault to advance to state while teammate Liam Neis finished third after clearing 12-5. Stillwater also finished 1-2-3 in the high jump, with Chase Johnson leading the way with a winning height of 6-4. Neis followed in second at 6-2 while Nagayo Barento placed third at 6-0, under the state qualifying standard of 6-2.

“Having Chase go over 6-4 in the high jump again shows the poise and focus he is having as we continue our championship meets,” Straka said. “Liam missed out in pole vault even though he had been over the state standard seven times, but to hit his high jump standard which he hadn’t done, was great to see him get his goal. He didn’t hit his goal in one thing, but it wasn’t over for him and he came back and had a great day in high jump.”

Sophomore Tyler Curnow turned in an impressive double while winning the shot put (52-11) and discus (162-8).

“You look at Tyler Curnow, a 10th-grader who is throwing like an experienced thrower and just keeps getting better in every meet,” Straka said. “It has been fun to watch him grow into the athlete that he is.”

Teammate Evan Uddin, a sophomore, also advanced in the shot with a second-place toss of 52-5 1/2, becoming the second member of his family to qualify for state.

Senior Eric Uddin ran the first leg for Stillwater’s second-place 4x100 relay team (42.96) that also included Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Alem Kovac.

“It’s great to see both brothers have success,” Straka said. “Eric in the relays and Evan to be able to make it to state as a sophomore was a big surprise.”

Competition was fierce in the long jump and Aldridge earned a spot in the state meet while placing fifth with a distance of 21-8 1/4. Four athletes covered 22-5 1/2 or better, but Aldridge eclipsed the state qualifying standard of 21-8 by just a quarter of an inch.

“He’s a senior and those are the moments that make a track team celebrate the successes that you have,” Straka said. “Hitting the state qualifying standard, regardless if it’s by an inch or five inches, means you are the average of an all-state qualifier over the last three years. He had a really good night there.”

Senior Ethan Foote paced a strong showing for the Ponies in the distance events, qualifying for state with a victory in the 1,600 meters (4:24.34) and second-place finish in the 3,200 (9:24.65), less than a second behind teammate and winner Dylan Riniker (9:23.76).

“Ethan Foote has been a great leader out there and just driving that distance group,” Straka said.

Riniker narrowly missed joining Foote at state in the 1,600 after placing third with a time of 4:25.78.

Stillwater will also be represented in the 4x800 relay after Max Gerald, Andrew Walsh, Davis Rolstad and Cohen Smith placed second with a time of 8:03.64, finishing just over a second behind Two Rivers (8:02.44).

“We have an experienced team that knows how to run in big races like this,” Straka said. “Our distance crew put together a great effort to be able to get a 4x800 through and get individual qualifiers.”

Soel Riser finished third with a time of 48.73 in the finals of a sizzling 400-meter race. He easily eclipsed the state qualifying standard of 49.95 while placing behind Harlow Tong (46.98) of St. Paul Central and Caleb Anderson (48.59) of White Bear Lake.

“It’s great to see Soel Riser, who has been a leader throughout the season, have him run in some of his best races,” Straka said.

The Ponies ran to a victory in the 4x400 relay with Colin Johnston, Quentin Howe, Foote and Riser turning in a winning time of 3:24.70.

There were some narrow misses for the Ponies with third-place finishes in seven events. In addition to Neis (pole vault), Barento (high jump) and Riniker (1,600), the Ponies also received third-place finishes from Hilde (triple jump), Kovac (200), Daniel Belonio (110 hurdles) and Thomas Cass (300 hurdles).

Team standings

1. Stillwater 299; 2. White Bear Lake 181; 3. Woodbury 144.5; 4. Two Rivers 119.5; 5. St. Paul Central 49; 6. Cretin-Derham Hall 46; 7. Tartan 34.

Stillwater results

100 — *1. Caleb Anderson (WBL) 11.24; *2. John Schmitz (Wo) 11.43; 4. Eric Uddin (St) 11.61; 9. Jonas Peterson (St) 12.07.

200 — *1. Caleb Anderson (WBL) 22.41; *2. Mason Kuchenmeister (C-DH) 22.83; 3. Alem Kovac (St) 22.98; 5. Eric Uddin (St) 23.04; 8. Jonas Peterson (St) 23.81.

400 — *1. Harlow Tong (SPC) 46.98; *2. Caleb Anderson (WBL) 48.59; *3. Soel Riser (St) 48.73; 8. Colin Johnston (St) 51.59.

800 — *1. Jon Wollan (TR) 1:58.87; *2. Isaias Acosta (Tar) 1:59.43; 4. Davis Rolstad (St) 2:01.30; 5. Max Gerald (St) 2:01.88; 10. Cohen Smith (St) 2:05.82.

1,600 — *1. Ethan Foote (St) 4:24.34; *2. Vaughn Larson (WBL) 4:24.47; 3. Dylan Riniker (St) 4:25.78; 8. Jack Richter (St) 4:43.46.

3,200 — *1. Dylan Riniker (St) 9:23.76; *2. Ethan Foote (St) 9:24.65; 4. Andrew Walsh (St) 9:38.43.

110 hurdles — *1. Tomi Animasaun (WBL) 15.95; *2. Michael Seifu (C-DH) 15.99; 3. Daniel Belonio (St) 16.08; 5. Fruma Felema (St) 16.55; 6. Nagayo Barento (St) 16.75.

300 hurdles — *1. Michael Seifu (C-DH) 39.43; *2. Tomi Animasaun (WBL) 40.29; 3. Thomas Cass (St) 42.11; 5. Nagayo Barento (St) 43.10; 6. Yassin Tirelbar (St) 43.18.

4x100 relay — *1. Woodbury, 42.86; *2. Stillwater (Eric Uddin, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Alem Kovac) 42.96.

4x200 relay — *1. Woodbury, 1:29.42; *2. White Bear Lake, 1:31.94; *3. Stillwater (Alem Kovac, Brett Hilde, Eli Aldridge and Soel Riser) 1:28.71.

4x400 relay — *1. Stillwater (Colin Johnston, Quentin Howe, Ethan Foote and Soel Riser) 3:24.70; *2. Two Rivers, 3:26.37.

4x800 relay — *1. Two Rivers, 8:02.44; *2. Stillwater (Max Gerald, Andrew Walsh, Davis Rolstad and Cohen Smith) 8:03.64; *3. Woodbury, 8:04.96.

Long jump — *1. Easton Miles (WBL) 23-1; *2. Tomi Animasaun (WBL) 22-10 3/4; *3. Ernest Moindi (TR) 22-6 1/4; *4. Liam Frommelt (Wo) 22-5 1/2; *5. Eli Aldridge (St) 21-8 1/4; 7. Emilio Rosario Matias (St) 21-0; 10. Zach Nelson (St) 20-7 1/2.

Triple jump — *1. Liam Frommelt (Wo) 45-6 1/2; *2. Quentin Cobb-Butler (Wo) 44- 1/4; 3. Brett Hilde (St) 42-10; 4. Zach Nelson (St) 42-8 1/2; 13. Chase Johnson (St) 38-4 1/2.

Shot put — *1. Tyler Curnow (St) 52-11; *2. Evan Uddin (St) 52-5 1/2; 4. Cash Cerar (St) 47-2 3/4.

Discus — *1. Tyler Curnow (St) 162-8; *2. Mathias Sengsouvanna (Wo) 161-11; 4. Emmett Valley (St) 140-1; 10. Dominic Slaughter (St) 117-4.

High jump — *1. Chase Johnson (St) 6-4; *2. Liam Neis (St) 6-2; 3. Nagayo Barento (St) 6-0.

Pole vault — *1. Andrew Brekke (St) 13-5; *2. Henry Corbett (St) 12-11; 3. Liam Neis (St) 12-5.

* State qualifier