FOREST LAKE — There was plenty occurred in between, but victories in the first and last races of the day helped Stillwater edge Mounds View for the Suburban East Conference championship on Thursday, May 23 at Forest Lake High School.
The Ponies needed and received a narrow victory in the closing 4x400 relay to secure a 203-199.5 victory over Mounds View and the rest of the conference field to claim the program’s third consecutive SEC championship.
Jonas Peterson, Colin Johnston, Samuel Pareja and Quentin Howe provided that final victory with a time of 3:26.36 — just three-tenths of a second over the second-place relay from Mounds View (3:26.66).
The three-point difference provided the winning margin in the final team standings.
“It doesn’t get more exciting than that,” Ponies coach Ben Straka said. “It was an exciting race. When we came around the final curve to the finishing stretch we had a five-meter lead and that shrunk as we were coming down the final stretch, but competition kicked in and we fended them off and went pole to pole, which we knew we had to do.”
In a meet where each point turned out to be significant, the Stillwater team of Dylan Riniker, Max Gerald, Cohen Smith and Ethan Foote finished in 7:57.53 to register a narrow victory over the Mustangs (7:57.82) in that event.
“We put in a good lineup and Mounds View put out a good lineup and both teams’ goal was to run under eight minutes,” Straka said. “We had our best lineup in there to do that and it was the first time since 2018 to go under eight minutes.
“You’re not thinking this is going to change the meet and I don’t know in an eight-hour meet if it had the effect of amping up the team, but that’s a competitive 4x800 that may be re-formed for the state meet depending on the results of the section meets.”
Stillwater and Mounds View are consistently among the top teams in the state and both have fared well again this year, with the Mustangs winning and the Ponies placing fourth at True Team state on May 17.
The conference meet was originally scheduled for May 21 and 21, but reduced to one day due to poor weather conditions predicted for Day 1.
“Moving to a one-day meet impacted everybody, but it impacted us for the positive and Mounds View and Roseville, any big school that has depth can run guys in place,” Straka said. “We did change our lineup and Mounds View and Roseville and I’m sure White Bear did as well, but we had some guys who stepped up.”
Along with the two relays, Stillwater also notched first-place finishes in three individual events — including an impressive sweep of the top three spots in the pole vault.
Liam Neis cleared 13-0 to secure first while teammates Andrew Brekke and Henry Corbett tied Mounds View’s Lincoln Maloney for second at 12-6.
“We talk about the pole vault being one of the events we just count on,” Straka said. “That was a cool opportunity for those guys to be on the top of the podium together and that made a huge difference when you put that many points in an individually scored meet. We kind of count on those points in this type of meet.”
Soel Riser ran to a victory in the 400 meters (48.94) and also added a fifth-place finish in the 200. He also anchored Stillwater’s runner-up 4x200 relay team (1:28.93) that also included Alem Kovac, Brett Hilde and Eli Adlridge.
“Soel ran sub-49 for the first time this year,” Straka said. “He went out there and ran his race and put himself in position to really make a statement in sections in this event.”
Ethan Foote posted a victory in 1:58.10 to lead three points among the top seven in the 800 meters. Max Gerald (2:01.38) and Cohen Smith (2:01.80), followed in sixth and seventh. Andrew Walsh added a fifth-place finish for the Ponies in the 1,600 with a time of 4:27.79.
Stillwater also showed off its depth in the 3,200 meters, led by Dylan Riniker in second place with a time of 9:33.25. Jack Richter (9:55.13), George Nelson (9:55.20), Evan Goddard (10:01.61) and Brady Bushlack (10:04.38) placed fifth through eighth for the Ponies.
“I was really impressed by the 3,200 as far as the regulars in that race,” Straka said. “We had Riniker who led our guys and took second overall, then a pack of four or five that just pushed each other through the race and they all PR’d. That was a push at the end that really opened up the possibility of winning.
“At that point we were still 10 down to Mounds View, but seeing the guys in pink uniforms coming across in the race was really kind of a highlight of the night to be able to watch with a giant pack of distance guys pushing each other.”
Chase Johnson and Nagayo Barento each cleared 6-2 to tie for second place in the high jump and Hilde also earned all-conference honors, which goes to the top six individuals and top two relays in each event, in the triple jump with a distance of 42-11 1/2.
“We had 14 all-conference individuals and three all-conference relays out of the four,” Straka said. “I don’t know if that would have happened if you did it over the course of two nights, but this team has always been a team-first mentality and I think Mounds View was the same way and that’s why those teams were battling and each of those teams knew how to feed off each other.”
The Ponies were also strong in the throws, led by Tyler Curnow with a second-place finish in the discus (166-0) and fourth-place showing in the shot put (50-3 3/4). Evan Uddin (50-0) placed fifth in the shot while Emmett Valley (142-11) and Dominic Slaughter (132-2) placed sixth and seventh in the discus.
It was a fun day for the Ponies, Straka suggested, noting the Stillwater sweep with the girls winning with slightly more breathing room.
“They weren’t ever worried about the 4x400 at the end,” Straka said. “They had locked it up and had a fantastic night.”
“From the standpoint of the teams, it is always fun to compete together. We’ve had a couple more meets in common than we’ve had in the past and from practicing on the same field and being classmates it just makes it fun for everybody to see your friends and classmates and track mates all in the same place trying to achieve a top goal. The boys and girls both pulled it off that night and it was kind of a special night.”
Team standings
1. Stillwater 203; 2. Mounds View 199.5; 3. Roseville 112.5; 4. Forest Lake 106; 5. White Bear Lake 92; 6. Woodbury 75; 7. Irondale 74; 8. East Ridge 66; 9. Cretin-Derham Hall 36; 10. Park 29.
Stillwater results
100 — 1. Juriad Hughes, Jr. (Ir) 10.90; T7. Eric Uddin (St) 11.60; T30. Max Biever (St) 11.97; 32. Zach Nelson (St) 11.97; 36. Nathan Doggett (St) 12.21.
200 — 1. Juriad Hughes, Jr. (Ir) 21.36; 5. Soel Riser (St) 22.41; 9. Eric Uddin (St) 22.71; 10. Alem Kovac (St) 22.73; 12. Eli Aldridge (St) 22.95; 26. Max Biever (St) 23.79; 37. Sam Fredericks (St) 24.53.
400 — 1. Soel Riser (St) 48.94; 10. Colin Johnston (St) 52.01; 12. Jonas Peterson (St) 52.89; 13. Quentin Howe (St) 52.90; 19. Samuel Pareja (St) 54.13; 30. Owen Pelletier (St) 56.23; 40. Raphael Kustritz (St) 58.63.
800 — 1. Ethan Foote (St) 1:58.10; 6. Max Gerald (St) 2:01.38; 7. Cohen Smith (St) 2:01.80; 13. Cal Heinz (St) 2:04.00; 15. James Kalmon (St) 2:05.12; 32. Martin Luchsinger (St) 2:10.48.
1,600 — 1. Nathan Schultz (ER) 4:17.30; 5. Andrew Walsh (St) 4:27.79; 14. Carson Fellows (St) 4:42.07; 15. Davis Rolstad (St) 4:43.49; 19. Harper Drexel (St) 4:45.80.
3,200 — 1. Robert Mechura (Ros) 9:19.18; 2. Dylan Riniker (St) 9:33.25; 5. Jack Richter (St) 9:55.13; 6. George Nelson (St) 9:55.20; 7. Evan Goddard (St) 10:01.61; 8. Brady Bushlack (St) 10:04.38; 20. Wyatt Wolfe (St) 10:35.88; 22. Porter Shockey (St) 10:45.92; 25. Josiah Bliss (St) 10:56.20; 28. Nathan Fellows (St) 11:04.63; 29. Cole Wanvig (St) 11:04.75.
110 hurdles — 1. Reid Olson (FL) 14.88; 9. Daniel Belonio (St) 16.15; 12. Nagayo Barento (St) 16.78; 13. Fruma Felema (St) 16.85; 14. Finn Hanson (St) 16.93; 25. John Corbett (St) 17.81; 26. Yassin Tirelbar (St) 17.89; 35. Antonio Kustritz (St) 19.18; 36. Biniam Tsegai (St) 19.37.
300 hurdles — 1. Reid Olson (FL) 38.94; 9. Thomas Cass (St) 42.83; 10. Nagayo Barento (St) 42.84; 14. Yassin Tirelbar (St) 43.44; 15. Fruma Felema (St) 43.46; 21. Jibril Mohamed (St) 44.23; 30. Antonio Kustritz (St) 45.97; 36. Finn Hanson (St) 47.85.
4x100 relay — 1. Irondale, 42.81; 6. Stillwater (Eric Uddin, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Alem Kovac) 43.22.
4x200 relay — 1. Roseville, 1:28.84; 2. Stillwater (Alem Kovac, Brett Hilde, Eli Aldridge and Soel Riser) 1:28.93.
4x400 relay — 1. Stillwater (Jonas Peterson, Colin Johnston, Samuel Pareja and Quentin Howe) 3:26.36.
4x800 relay — 1. Stillwater (Dylan Riniker, Max Gerald, Cohen Smith and Ethan Foote) 7:57.33.
Long jump — 1. John Attipoe (Ros) 22-8 1/2; 10. Emilio Rosario Matias (St) 20-2 1/2; 13. Brett Hilde (St) 19-9 1/2; 22. Eli Aldridge (St) 18-9; T23. Zach Nelson (St) 18-8 1/2; 27. Taylor Young (St) 18-5.
Triple jump — 1. Colin Elliott (MV) 46-3; 6. Brett Hilde (St) 42-11 1/2; 22. Jonas Peterson (St) 38-10; T23. Ajibola Afuye (St) 38-6 1/2; 35. Taylor Young (St) 36-0.
Shot put — 1. Howie Johnston (FL) 59- 1/4; 4. Tyler Curnow (St) 50-3 3/4; 5. Evan Uddin (St) 50-0.
Discus — 1. Luke Van Oort (MV) 168-7; 2. Tyler Curnow (St) 166-0; 6. Emmett Valley (St) 142-11; 7. Dominic Slaughter (St) 132-2; 11. Preston Deck (St) 130-9; 25. Ajibola Afuye (St) 114-5; 34. Brett Hoge (St) 102-0.
High jump — 1. Tonie Torboh (MV) 6-2; 2, tie, Chase Johnson (St) 6-2 and Nagayo Barento (St) 6-2; T8. Ajibola Afuye (St) 5-10; 10. Ryder Reddin (St) 5-10; T11. Liam Neis (St) 5-8.
Pole vault — 1. Liam Neis (St) 13-0; 2, tie, Andrew Brekke (St) 12-6 and Henry Corbett (St) 12-6; T14. Franklin Ribolzi (St) 10-6; 20, tie, Noah Pagel (St) 10-0 and Tyler Schutz (St) 10-0.
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