ST. MICHAEL — Scoring points in 9 of 18 events, the Stillwater girls track and field team climbed to fifth in the Class AAA state meet on Saturday, June 8 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.
The Ponies totaled 51.5 points to trail only Minnetonka (100), Wayzata (87), St. Michael-Albertville (80) and Prior Lake (62).
It matched the program’s top finish since placing fifth in 2021 and within range of the team’s fourth-place finish in 2019.
“It was a great state meet,” Stillwater coach Travis Birklid said. “Getting fifth place as a team was pretty awesome. If everything went perfectly fourth could have happened, but those top three, there was no way we were catching them.”
After comfortably winning the Section 4AAA championship, the Ponies featured entries in 14 events at state and scored points in most. With good results in the field events on Day 1 of the three-day state meet on Thursday, the Ponies ranked first in the team standings going into the finals on Saturday.
“We had pretty good representation across the board and they competed,” Birklid said. “They didn’t show up just to participate and you get a pretty strong showing because of it. It was a fun, exciting meet. Every year you see teams get into that top five with two or three athletes. It’s pretty special to get fifth with what is a pretty big team where you have to take a bus to state legitimately, that’s a point of pride.”
Liberty Quast landed on the podium in all four of her events. The junior placed third in the 100 meters with a time of 12.00, which was just .01 off Alexis Pratt’s school record of 11.99.
“That’s some fuel for next year,” Birklid said. “She ran a great race.”
Quast also placed sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 25.36 and landed eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 36-2 1/2. She also joined teammates Angela Taylor, Cayman Pagel and Anya Williams to finish fifth in the 4x100 relay with a time of 48.78.
“She is ferociously competitive and incredibly focused, just an absolute gamer,” Birklid said of Quast, who was also an all-state gymnast for the Ponies the past two seasons. “She gets dialed in and there’s not much you need to do or say to her on game day. She is just locked in and goes about it in a professional manner.”
Taylor, Pagel and Williams were also busy at state.
Each of the three competed at state in the long jump, with Taylor (18- 1/2) and Pagel (17-8 3/4) leading the way in third and fifth place. Williams, whose whirlwind schedule of events kept her busy, followed in 11th place with a top jump of 16-11 1/2.
Taylor saved her best jump for her final attempt.
“It was the last jump of her high school career,” Birklid said. “She was sitting in I don’t know what place, but it wasn’t third, and she jumped into third.”
Each member of the talented trio is among the top four in the event in school history behind school record holder Corrie Hale (18-1 1/2). Pagel (18-1), Taylor (18- 1/2) and Williams (18-0) rank second through fourth on the list.
High winds forced officials to move the high jump and pole vault indoors, which required some extra effort for Williams in competing in the long jump and 4x100 relay outdoors and then hustling over to the high jump indoors.
Williams matched state champion Cora Clough of Brainerd in clearing 5-4 in the high jump, but settled for fourth based on misses. Stillwater teammate Kayla Kajer tied for fifth place at 5-2.
“Shout out to Anya,” Birklid said. “She was there in three events and they were all back-to-back-back on Thursday,” Birklid said. “Because high jump was inside, which was across the parking lot, she had to come out for the 4x100 where she finished the anchor leg, then the long jump was basically done and waiting for her so she had to rush through her jumps and wasn’t able to make the finals, which was a bummer, but she bounced back well and ended up fourth in the high jump. After the 4x100 and the long jump, she basically had to go try and win state on some tired legs.
“She still got fourth and anchored the 4x100 and got all-state so big shout out to her. She had to put up with a tough scenario running back and forth, but she maintained a good attitude about it and did her best.”
Kajer, who joined Taylor, Pagel and Williams as the only seniors among Stillwater’s state qualifiers, finished on a high note after overcoming a late-season injury. She also placed 16th in the 100 hurdles prelims with a time of 16.97.
“That was a nice surprise,” Birklid said. “We had high hopes, but she took two weeks off with a fracture in her foot prior to section week.
“She had a great start but then nailed a hurdle and was out of it, but she bounced back and ended up getting some big team points, which was awesome. She went back and stayed focused and got a PR in the high jump.”
Junior Karina Fischer placed seventh for the Ponies in the 400 meters with a time of 57.31 and she also anchored a 4x400 relay team that climbed to fifth with a time of 3:57.68. Ella Martens, Ari Riser and Casey Johnston also contributed in the 4x400, which narrowly made the finals after placing ninth in prelims (4:03.68), but they improved by six seconds with a strong race in the finals.
“The 4x400 girls squeaked into finals and then they were really fired up about it,” Birklid said. “They ran hard and came back for the last race of the whole meet and they ended up fifth. They all had some of their best splits of the season.
“Going from prelims and making it into the finals and starting out in Lane 9 and running their butts off to get fifth was pretty awesome.”
Also on the track, Martens, Katie Fischer, Scarlet Huelsmann and Karina Fischer placed 15th in the 4x200 relay prelims with a time of 1:47.05. Riser, a seventh-grader, joined Karina Fischer in the 400 meters but missed out on a spot in the finals after placing 13th with a time of 59.71.
Riser’s older brother Soel, a senior, ran to a fifth-place finish in the boys 400 meters.
“She has just had a phenomenal season,” Birklid said. “It was fun for Soel and her to have a year of high school track together.”
Greta Shockey finished 15th for the Ponies in the 800 meters with a time of 2:22.72.
Stillwater had entries in five of six field events and sophomore Sylvia Boyum finished strong in the shot put with a toss of 38-7 1/4 to earn a place on the podium in ninth place.
“The throws are typically mostly juniors and seniors and for her to get in there and get all-state and a team point as a 10th-grader was great,” Birklid said.
Nora Tweed, another sophomore, tied for 15th in the pole vault after clearing 9-6.
“We have those four seniors, but there are plenty of youngsters there so that bodes well for the program,” Birklid said.
Team standings (top 10)
1. Minnetonka 100; 2. Wayzata 87; 3. St. Michael-Albertville 80; 4. Prior Lake 62; 5. Stillwater 51.5; 6. Lakeville South 43; 7. Roseville 34; 8. Lakeville North 31; 9. Minneapolis Washburn 24; 10. Forest Lake 21.
Stillwater results
100 — 1. Addyson White (Prior Lake) 11.74; 3. Liberty Quast (St) 12.00. Prelims: 3. Quast, 12.09.
200 — 1. Zeal Kuku (Minnetonka) 24.52; 6. Liberty Quast (St) 25.36. Prelims: 9. Quast, 25.54.
400 — 1. Emma Kvant (St. Michael-Albertville) 54.30; 7. Karina Fischer (St) 57.31. Prelims: 7. Fischer, 57.45; 13. Ari Riser (St) 59.71.
800 — 1. Sydney Drevlow (Hopkins) 2:10.24. Prelims: 15. Greta Shockey (St) 2:22.72.
1,600 — 1. Evie Malec (Minnetonka) 4:50.93.
3,200 — 1. Madelyn Gullickson (Wayzata) 10:42.44.
100 hurdles — 1. Claire Kohler (Minnetonka 13.86. Prelims: 16. Kayla Kajer (St) 16.97.
300 hurdles — 1. Claire Kohler (Minnetonka 43.85. Prelims: 12. Ella Martens (St) 48.43.
4x100 relay — 1. Lakeville North, 48.24; 5. Stillwater (Angela Taylor, Liberty Quast, Cayman Pagel and Anya Williams) 48.78. Prelims: 3. Stillwater, 48.61.
4x200 relay — 1. St. Michael-Albertville, 1:40.06. Prelims: 15. Stillwater (Ella Martens, Katie Fischer, Scarlet Huelsmann and Karina Fischer) 1:47.05.
4x400 relay — 1. Prior Lake, 3:52.67; 5. Stillwater (Ella Martens, Ari Riser, Casey Johnston and Karina Fischer) 3:57.68. Prelims: 9. Stillwater, 4:03.68.
4x800 relay — 1. Wayzata, 9:11.93.
Long jump — 1. Samantha Carr (Shakopee) 18-8 3/4; 3. Angela Taylor (St) 18- 1/2; 5. Cayman Pagel (St) 17-8 3/4; 11. Anya Williams (St) 16-11 1/2.
Triple jump — 1. Shiaflyn Cooper (Elk River) 37-6; 8. Liberty Quast (St) 36-2 1/2.
Shot put — 1. Anya Schmidt (Rogers) 43-11 3/4; 9. Sylvia Boyum (St) 38-7 1/4.
Discus — 1. Alexis Fahey (Forest Lake) 154-11.
High jump — 1. Cora Clough (Brainerd) 5-4; 4. Anya Williams (St) 5-4; T5. Kayla Kajer (St) 5-2.
Pole vault — 1. Jayda Wilson (Roseville) 12-0; T15. Nora Tweed (St) 9-6.
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