Boys track and field: Ponies place fourth at True Team State

OAK PARK HEIGHTS — A second-half surge was not nearly enough to carry the Stillwater boys track and field team to the podium as the Ponies landed fourth in the Class AAA True Team State Meet on Friday, May 17 at Stillwater Area High School.

Mounds View finished with 1,156 points to separate itself from Blaine (1,058) and the rest of the 12-team field to capture its first title in this event since 2007. Minnetonka accumulated 1,054 points to finish 12.5 points ahead of the Ponies (1,041.5), who were seeking their first top-three finish since 2021.

This marked the third straight year Stillwater has placed fourth and extended a long run of strong results in this meet, having placed among the top five in 24 of the program’s 32 appearances in the 37-year history of the event.

The meet was interrupted for nearly two hours due to a storm midway through, but managed to wrap up prior to 11 p.m., just before another round of showers began.

“It was a tough night to compete,” Ponies coach Ben Straka said. “We beat a lot of good teams to get there and we beat a lot of good teams that night.”

Just 16.5 points separated the runner-up Bengals from the fourth-place Ponies. Perennial contenders Rosemount (1,002) and Wayzata (953.5) followed in fifth and sixth.

“We’ve had goal since the beginning of the year to try and make it to the podium,” Straka said. “We knew it was going to be a tough goal to get to and we fell a couple points short, but the truth of the matter is there’s 75 teams in Class AAA for boys track and field and we were fourth in the state out of some really good schools. Overall, you have to be happy with what we put out there.”

“When we started digging into the numbers, we knew there were six teams that would have a shot at the championship and it was anybody’s meet. Mounds View just made the fewest mistakes out there and there was only 17 points that separated second to fourth.”

Stillwater was running in fifth or sixth place for much of the night and then lightning led to the delay. The Ponies gathered in a locker room until competition resumed and they hit the ground running.

“Every single guy in the 300 hurdles PR’d and that was the first event after the rain delay,” Straka said. “Going out for those hurdles on a wet track isn’t an easy thing to ask guys to do, especially after the rain delay. I’m thrilled that each of those guys gave their season best and personal best for each of those times.”

That momentum carried into the rest of the meet. Stillwater climbed up to third at one point, but there was plenty of jostling among the contenders down the stretch.

“Just staying together and focused on what they needed to do when they came out,” Straka said. “It was really athlete-led to the energy that they came out and wanting to restart the meet with. It was another meet when they came out and we went from sitting in seventh at one point to a push towards third.

“The rain delay didn’t hurt because we knew we were going to have some of our best events that were going to be there.

The Ponies produced their only first-place finish of the night as Quinten Howe, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Soel Riser won the 4x400 relay in 3:24.88, but Minnetonka’s team followed in second at 3:24.90 to maintain the lead over Stillwater in the overall standings.

Stillwater’s highest scoring event was the pole vault. Noah Rodenwald of Rosemount finished first after clearing 13-9, but the Liam Neis (13-6), Henry Corbett (13-6) and Andrew Brekke (13-0) finished second, third and fourth for the Ponies in the event.

“Scoring 102 points in an event is insane, to go 2-3-4 against some of the best competition in the state,” Straka said.

Tyler Curnow also delivered an impressive performance for the Ponies while placing second in the shot put (53-4 3/4) and discus (151-6). Cash Cerar added a sixth-place finish in the shot put at 49-7.

Stillwater also received second-place finishes from Riser (49.68) in the 400 meters and Ethan Foote (1:58.72) in the 800.

Chase Johnson tied for third in the high jump at 6-2 and also contributed important depth for the team while placing 18th in the triple jump and 23rd in the long jump.

“We jumped him in three different events and that was a first for him,” Straka said. “To go from normal high jump and to pick up triple jump and long jump in about a week really helped us in those events.”

It was just one example of what makes True Team such a popular event — often decided by the second and third finishers for each team in an event rather than those who are doing the scoring in more traditional formats.

Zach Nelson (42-10) placed sixth for the Ponies in the triple jump, just ahead of eighth-place teammate Brett Hilde (42-3), who also contributed in three relays.

“They believed in each other and they didn’t let the rain bother them,” Straka said. “Watching Curnow throw discus when it was wet and the focus he had as a young athlete out there and in the triple jump, they put up some great jumps at the end of the night.”

Dylan Riniker placed seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:00.41 and Foote added an eighth-place effort after a tight 1,600-meter race, where the top 10 finishers were separated by less than two seconds.

It was the first True Team state meet as a head coach for Straka and he was pleased with the efforts across the board. The sprints have not been the most prolific events for the Ponies this season, but there are positives to be found even with the 4x100 relay placing 10th in a season-best time. Even moving up a spot or two in each event makes a difference.

“I loved what our guys put out there and their energy,” Straka said. “They never gave up in the meet.

“I love this team and I love the competitive level they bring and I love the captains for their leadership. Nobody is hanging their head in placing fourth. I think we competed and ended up where we needed to be this year.”

• Stillwater was slated to compete in the Suburban East Conference Meet this week at Forest Lake, but storms on Tuesday, May 21 led to the cancellation of prelims and caused the event to be shortened to one day. The entire meet was moved to Thursday, May 23 and will use timed finals for the track events.

The Section 4AAA Meet will be conducted on May 28 and 30 at SAHS.

• In the girls competition, Minnetonka racked up 1,169.5 points to outdistance runner-up Lakeville South (1,044.5) and third-place St. Michael-Albertville (1,027). Roseville (786.5) and Mounds View (687) from the Suburban East Conference placed 9th and 12th while Eagan (764), which held off Stillwater for the True Team Section 2AAA title, finished in 10th place at state.

Boys team standings

1. Mounds View 1,156; 2. Blaine 1,058; 3. Minnetonka 1,054; 4. Stillwater 1,041.5; 5. Rosemount 1,002; 6. Wayzata 953.5; 7. Edina 851; 8. Mankato East 798; 9. Anoka 732; 10. Prior Lake 701; 11. Moorhead 645.5; 12. Shakopee 569.5.

Individual results

100 — 1. Tobias Williams (Min) 10.83; 26. Max Biever (St) 11.50; 27. Alem Kovac (St) 11.50; 32. Zach Nelson (St) 11.71.

200 — 1. Tobias Williams (Min) 22.17; 12. Sole Riser (St) 22.84; 16. Alem Kovac (St) 23.10; 27. Jonas Peterson (St) 23.88.

400 — 1. Cooper Drake (Ed) 48.72; 2. Soel Riser (St) 49.68; 22. Quinten Howe (St) 52.72; 23. Colin Johnston (St) 52.79.

800 — 1. Aaron Peterson (An) 1:57.79; 2. Ethan Foote (St) 1:58.72; 7. Dylan Riniker (St) 2:00.41; 20. Cohen Smith (St) 2:03.32.

1,600 — 1. Jace Haerter (Ed) 4:20.22; 8. Ethan Foote (St) 4:21.70; 15. Dylan Riniker (St) 4:25.84; 21. Max Gerald (St) 4:34.89.

3,200 — 1. Tyler Vos (Min) 9:14.40; 11. Andrew Walsh (St) 9:38.00; 20. Jack Richter (St) 10:00.09; 25. Brady Bushlack (St) 10:13.98.

110 hurdles — 1. Maki Whelan (Ros) 14.79; 9. Daniel Belonio (St) 15.87; 17. Fruma Felema (St) 16.34; 21. Nagayo Barento (St) 16.77.

300 hurdles — 1. Maki Whelan (Ros) 39.41; 12. Nagayo Barento (St) 42.41; 17. Thomas Cass (St) 43.17; 19. Yassin Tirelbar (St) 43.47.

4x100 relay — 1. Rosemount, 42.10; 10. Stillwater (Eric Uddin, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Alem Kovac) 43.54.

4x200 relay — 1. Blaine, 1:29.05; 8. Stillwater (Eric Uddin, Jonas Peterson, Brett Hilde and Eli Aldridge) 1:30.79.

4x400 relay — 1. Stillwater (Quinten Howe, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Soel Riser) 3:24.88.

4x800 relay — 1. Mankato East, 7:58.02; 8. Stillwater (Cal Heinz, Andrew Walsh, Davis Rolstad and Cohen Smith) 8:07.55.

Long jump — 1. Tobias Williams (Min) 23-4; 16. Eli Aldridge (St) 20-5; 23. Chase Johnson (St) 19-8; 29. Emilio Rosario Matias (St) 19-2.

Triple jump — 1. Colin Elliott (MV) 45-9; 6. Zach Nelson (St) 42-10; 8. Brett Hilde (St) 42-3; 18. Chase Johnson (St) 40-6.

Shot put — 1. Emmanuel Wilson (Way) 58- 1/4; 2. Tyler Curnow (St) 53-4 3/4; 6. Cash Cerar (St) 49-7; 18. Evan Uddin (St) 46-3 1/4.

Discus — 1. Luke Van Oort (MV) 158-2; 2. Tyler Curnow (St) 151-6; 18. Dominic Slaughter (St) 129-8; 21. Emmett Valley (St) 126-3.

High jump — 1. Zughumnan Zillang (Bl) 6-4; T3. Chase Johnson (St) 6-2; 9. Nagayo Barento (St) 6-2; T12. Liam Neis (St) 6-0.

Pole vault — 1. Noah Rodenwald (Ros) 13-9; 2. Liam Neis (St) 13-6; 3. Henry Corbett (St) 13-6; 4. Andrew Brekke (St) 13-0.

True Team Track honors Michel

Stillwater Area High School has hosted the Track and Field True Team State Meet since 2006 and Ricky Michel has been an important contributor to ensure a successful event each year since he took over as Activities Director at SAHS.

This marks the final year Stillwater will host the popular event and Michel was inducted into the True Team Hall of Fame prior to the start of the Class AAA competition on Friday, May 17. Michel, who is planning to retire as Activities Director after the school year ends, was credited for going above and beyond to ensure a smooth-running event each year.

“I know Ricky is a great administrator because he’s everywhere he needs to be and does everything that is asked of him,” Stillwater boys track and field coach Ben Straka said. “That’s what these top-level meets need is someone who goes the extra mile to make sure everything runs smoothly and he has a back-up plan and has a back-up plan for that back-up plan. He’s organized and has the ability to roll with whatever the weather throws our way and he’s happy to accommodate the coaches who are coming and makes sure the integrity of the meet stays the same. It’s his integrity that got the respect of everyone within the True Team community.”

Michel becomes the third member of the hall of fame with strong Stillwater ties. Joe Samuelson was inducted in 1996, which was the 10-year anniversary of the inaugural True Team State Meet in 1987. Long-time Ponies coach Scott Christensen, who has also played a key role during the event’s run in Stillwater in beyond, was inducted in 2001.

Michel was previously inducted into the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012 and the St. Croix Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

Straka appreciated having this meet conducted at the home of the Ponies and admitted feeling nostalgic during its finale.

“Myself and the coaches probably are more sentimental than the athletes are,” Straka said. “This is something that was born out of some our Stillwater coaches and Scott (Christensen) pushed for a true team style meet all the way back in the early 1980s. It’s been here for almost half of the history of the True Team State Meet. It’s something that we absolutely see as our top event in track and field, over individual state, conference and over anything else, so there’s a nostalgia and it was a bittersweet night to leave the stadium knowing it’s the last time for a long time that it may be held at Pony Stadium.”

The event will move to Eden Prairie starting next year.

“There are benefits to going to another school,” Straka said. “We’re no longer responsible for set-up and finding workers and the athletes are going to compete with whatever track they’re on. It’s just going to be strange not having our home field feeling when we go there the first couple of years, but it’s something that Eden Prairie can do really well and it’s something where we will still make it our top priority to get back to every single year.”