FOREST LAKE — After missing out on a chance to compete at the True Team state meet, the Stillwater girls track and field team focused on its next opportunity and cruised to a victory in the Suburban East Conference Meet on Thursday, May 23 at Forest Lake High School.
The Ponies totaled 206.5 points to outdistance runner-up Mounds View (169.5) and third-place Forest Lake (167). Roseville, which joined the Mustangs in qualifying for True Team, followed in fourth with 161 points.
“It’s always a strong conference in track and field and I think it was a nice bounce back,” Ponies coach Travis Birklid said. “We didn’t get to True Team state, but we didn’t let that slow us down at all. We had a good week or two of training and the girls had a great time with it and showed up with a lot of PRs.”
Liberty Quast delivered an impressive performance to help lead the way for the Ponies, placing first in three individual events and contributing to another victory in the 4x100 relay. It was a busy day and a productive meet for the junior as the meet was condensed to one day after the prelims were washed out on May 21. The competition consisted of timed finals and all of the field events were also contested in a single day.
“There’s quite a few we were leaning on to do four events and with 48 hours in between that’s more doable, but we didn’t change anything,” Birklid said. “They did build more time into the schedule and we were there from 1 to 10 p.m., but we didn’t change anything.”
Quast won the 100 meters (12.43), 200 (25.05) and the triple jump with a distance of 37-4 — bettering the previous school record of 36-8 1/4 held by Haley Tholen. She also joined Angela Taylor, Cayman Pagel and Anya Williams to win the 4x100 relay in a time of 48.74, nearly two-tenths of a second ahead of the runner-up team from Woodbury (48.93).
“She had quite a day,” Birklid said.
Stillwater also received a 1-2 finish from junior Karina Fischer (57.85) and seventh-grader Ari Riser (58.62) in the 400 meters.
“She was fourth or fifth coming around the final curve and kicked it in and hit a big PR,” Birklid said of Riser, whose older brother Soel Riser is a senior who placed first in the event on the boys competition. “I told Soel she’s coming for you.”
Junior Ella Martens added a victory for the Ponies in the 300 hurdles with a time of 46.89, finishing just ahead of Mounds View’s Kyra Marshall (47.04) and Allison Richter (47.08). Martens also finished seventh in the 100 hurdles (17.10).
“She was a softball player who came out for track and she put it all together,” Birklid said. “She’s run it a bunch, but put a whole race together and won it over the last 10 meters, which was really fun to see.”
In the field events, Anya Williams produced a victory for Stillwater in the high jump after clearing 5-2. The Ponies also delivered a strong showing in the long jump with Taylor (17-6 1/4), Pagel (17-6 1/4) and Williams (16-8) placing second through fourth in the event.
“They really helped give that comfort,” Birklid said. “That trio of seniors went two, three and four and that’s coming late in the meet, so knowing we had 24 points coming from that was huge.”
Karina Fischer added a fourth-place finish for the Ponies in the triple jump with a distance of 34-4 1/2 and Sylvia Boyum notched a fifth-place finish to earn all-conference honors in the shot put with a toss of 35-5 1/2.
The top six finishers in individual events and the top two relays receive All-SEC honors.
Stillwater’s top pole vaulter Abigail Jungmann was unable to compete due to a knee injury, but sophomore Nora Tweed tied for fourth and seventh-grader Nora Ribolzi placed seventh after both cleared 9-6.
“We only brought two vaulters to conference and they both had huge PRs to tie for fourth and seventh there,” Birklid said.
Stillwater also received important points with a gritty effort from sophomore Greta Shockey, who placed fourth in the 1,600 (5:18.31) and sixth in the 3,200 (11:42.20).
“That’s a tough double, but she did it for the sake of the team,” Birklid said. “She just said, ‘I heard it’s a close fight, so I‘m going to run the mile and two mile.’”
Pagel also received All-SEC honors while placing sixth in the 100 meters with a time of 12.97.
Stillwater closed out the meet with a victory in the 4x400 relay as Martens, Riser, Casey Johnston and Karina Fischer turned in a time of 4:02.57. Maddison Rupp, Katie Fischer, Riser and Karina Fischer added a second-place finish in the 4x200 relay with a time of 1:47.16.
Birklid said he was pleased with the approach and results from team members throughout the meet.
“It’s a really composed team,” the coach said. “When you have nine hours and it’s hot and sunny they were very responsible. I was really impressed with how serious they took everything.
“It was a lot of fun and there was team unity and cheering each other. They had a really fun day, which is really awesome.”
Stillwater also hosted the Section 4AAA Meet on May 28 and 30, where qualifiers will advance to the state meet at St. Michael-Albertville on June 6 and 8.
Team standings
1. Stillwater 206.5; 2. Mounds View 169.5; 3. Forest Lake 167; 4. Roseville 161; 5. Woodbury 98; 6. White Bear Lake 74; 7. East Ridge 49; 8. Irondale 39; 9. Cretin-Derham Hall 16; 10. Park 13.
Stillwater results
100 — 1. Liberty Quast (St) 12.43; 6. Cayman Pagel (St) 12.97; 7. Anya Williams (St) 13.03; 12. Angela Taylor (St) 13.20; 20. Toriahnna Nielsen (St) 13.42; 23. Camille Francis (St) 13.45.
200 — 1. Liberty Quast (St) 25.05; 8. Katie Fischer (St) 27.08; 13. Stella Wilcek (St) 27.46; 15. Camille Francis (St) 27.53; 21. Maddison Rupp (St) 28.06; 26. Hattie Schotzko (St) 28.44.
400 — 1. Karina Fischer (St) 57.85; 2. Ari Riser (St) 58.62; 11. Madison Komarek (St) 1:03.11; 30. Alexandra Dougherty (St) 1:06.74.
800 — 1. Sarah Vaske (Wo) 2:21.13; 12. Jenna Kurth (St) 2:33.75; 16. Lauren Willhaus (St) 2:35.41; 17. Ruby Peterson (St) 2:35.86; 23. Jayne Priester (St) 2:40.92.
1,600 — 1. Norah Hushagen (FL) 5:01.05; 4. Greta Shockey (St) 5:18.31; 28. Casey Johnston (St) 6:10.76; 30. Meredith Christensen (St) 6:15.07; 39. Zola Tuccitto (St) 6:32.86.
3,200 — 1. Norah Hushagen (FL) 10:53.00; 6. Greta Shockey (St) 11:42.20; 16. Meredith Christensen (St) 13:29.60; 18. Jaclyn Jurek (St) 13:51.04; 22. Addison Bergstad (St) 15:04.83.
100 hurdles — 1. Kyra Marshall (MV) 15.70; 7. Ella Martens (St) 17.10; 8. Mana’olana Kavapalu (St) 17:43; 11. Addison Brekke (St) 17.97; 14. Lucy Wilcek (St) 18.08.
300 hurdles — 1. Ella Martens (St) 46.89; 12. Addison Brekke (St) 50.44; 14. Lucy Wilcek (St) 51.31; 15. Scarlet Huelsmann (St) 51.32; 24. Eden Letourneau (St) 53.20; 28. Julia Kustritz (St) 55.90.
4x100 relay — 1. Stillwater (Angela Taylor, Liberty Quast, Cayman Pagel and Anya Williams) 48.74.
4x200 relay — 1. Roseville, 1:43.85; 2. Stillwater (Maddison Rupp, Katie Fischer, Ari Riser and Karina Fischer) 1:47.16.
4x400 relay — 1. Stillwater (Ella Martens, Ari Riser, Casey Johnston and Karina Fischer) 4:02.57.
4x800 relay — 1. Forest Lake, 9:29.02; 5. Stillwater (Lauren Willhaus, Jenna Kurth, Ruby Peterson and Lucy Schacht) 10:22.33.
Long jump — 1. Jayda Wilson (Ros) 18-2 1/4; 2. Angela Taylor (St) 17-6 1/4; 3. Cayman Pagel (St) 17-6 1/4; 4. Anya Williams (St) 16-8; 17. Olivia Madison (St) 14-10 1/2; 20. Alivia Amundson (St) 14-9; 22. Toriahnna Nielsen (St) 14-8 1/4.
Triple jump — 1. Liberty Quast (St) 37-4; 4. Karina Fischer (St) 34-4 1/2; 16. Katie Fischer (St) 32-1; 18. Scarlet Huelsemann (St) 31-7 1/2; 19. Jonna Swanson (St) 31-7.
Shot put — 1. Maja Henslin (FL) 39-6 3/4; 5. Sylvia Boyum (St) 35-5 1/2; 23. Karley Galowitz (St) 29-3 1/2; 28. Robin Thury (St) 26-10 1/2; 33. Kathleen Akway (St) 25-5 3/4.
Discus — 1. Alexis Fahey (FL) 147-8; 16. Isabel Isaacson (St) 92-2; 23. Segolene Yemmene (St) 86-11; 31. Sylvia Boyum (St) 77-3; 36. Natalie Jansen (St) 73-5.
High jump — 1. Anya Williams (St) 5-2; T12. Alexandra Dougherty (St) 4-6; 15. Olivia Madison (St) 4-6; T16. Ava Cybulski (St) 4-6.
Pole vault — 1. Jayda Wilson (Ros) 12-0; T4. Nora Tweed (St) 9-6; 7. Nora Ribolzi (St) 9-6.
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