ST. MICHAEL — After matching its Suburban East Conference and Section 4AAA championships and fourth-place finish at True Team state from a year ago, the Stillwater boys track and field team inched up slightly while placing ninth in the Class AAA state meet on Saturday, June 8 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.
The Ponies placed 11th at the MSHSL state meet a year ago.
“It was a back to the future moment,” Ponies coach Ben Straka said. “We just repeated everything from last year.”
But it was a mixture of new contributors and familiar favorites for the Ponies, who featured state entries in 12 individual events and all four relays.
Stillwater totaled 30 points to tie Owatonna in the ninth spot. It was a tight battle for the team title, with Rosemount finishing with 53 points to edge runner-up Wayzata (52) and third-place Mounds View (50). Minnetonka was also in the hunt while placing fourth with 48 points.
“We had some good performances and some people who were at state for the first time and got overwhelmed by the experience, but overall it was a positive experience for our athletes and we got a lot of guys on the podium and had an excellent showing at the last meet of the year,” Straka said.
Senior Ethan Foote led the way for the Ponies with a third-place finish in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:13.36, which was less than five seconds behind champion Robert Mechura (4:08.89) of Roseville.
Foote, who placed sixth in the state cross-country meet in the fall, also placed 10th with a time of 9:25.63 in the 3,200-meter race on Thursday, a race also won by Mechura in 9:06.85.
“He had the same approach he did to his two-mile race,” Straka said. “There are lots of really good runners in the state this year and he kind of sat back with the pack, but this time his finish was spectacular. He wasn’t going to sit back and let other people control his race.
“We knew he was capable of doing it all year, but he really put it together with his final race as a senior. I was happy to see him finish the way he wanted to finish.”
Foote’s time in the mile moves him up to No. 6 on the program’s all-time list in the event — which is no small task when you consider each of the five runners ahead of him on the list (Ben Blankenship, Eli Krahn, Wayde Hall, Luke Watson and Andy Tate) is an individual state champion in track and/or cross-country.
The 1,600 has been a headliner for the Ponies, who have produced seven gold medals in the event since 1996.
“That is certainly something he should be proud of,” Straka said.
Senior Soel Riser added a fifth-place finish for the Ponies in the 400 meters with a time of 49.97. He also joined Colin Johnston, Eli Aldridge and Brett Hilde to place sixth in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:22.80. It was the final event of the meet and pushed the Ponies up two spots in the team standings.
“Along with the other seniors on that squad, Hilde and Aldridge, it was a really good way for us to end the night,” Straka said. “We finished last year in 11th place (overall team standings) and with the 4x400 coming across it pushed us to ninth and a top-10 finish.”
It also capped a busy night for the Riser family.
“I think this was a special meet for Soel, especially with his sister running (at state) as well,” Straka said. “To be able to have a bookend with your sister coming in as a seventh-grader and going out as a senior is something most people don’t get to experience when there’s that much of a gap between siblings, but I know it was a special day for him. He was able to have his individual glory in the 400 and showed he can race with some of the best in the state.”
Dylan Riniker joined Foote in the 3,200 meter race and placed 16th with a time of 9:42.06. The junior also anchored Stillwater’s 4x800 relay team that also included Max Gerald, Cohen Smith and Andrew Walsh and placed 11th in a time of 8:01.75.
Stillwater also featured entries in the 4x200 and 4x100 relays. Alem Kovac, Hilde, Aldridge and Riser placed 12th in the 4x200 relay with a time of 1:29.62 while Eric Uddin, Aldridge, Hilde and Kovac ranked 15th in the 4x100 relay with a time of 44.01.
The Ponies were also well represented in the field events, led by junior Chase Johnson’s tie for fourth place in the high jump at 6-2.
“I’m happy for him to be able to finish in fourth place,” Straka said. “I was pleasantly surprised for him coming back in the high jump. He’s been here every year since his freshman year and this was his best finish at state. I know he’s happy with where he finished. He had an outside chance of going in the top three, but didn’t get much love from the crossbar a couple of times.
“That can be frustrating, but he handled himself so well and a fourth-place finish is something. He keeps climbing the mountain and doing better each year.”
Teammate Liam Neis also competed in the event and tied for 14th after clearing 5-10.
Andrew Brekke (14-0) and Henry Corbett (13-6) placed seventh and 14th for the Ponies in the pole vault, an event that was moved indoors on Thursday due to the windy conditions.
“Moving pole vault inside didn’t play into our strength and evened out the field, which is why a lot of guys went 14-0 in the pole vault,” Straka said. “It was a strong field, but if you throw wind into it you don’t have as many guys going 14 feet on that day.”
After dealing with some adversity in the shot put two days earlier, Stillwater’s Tyler Curnow stormed back with a seventh-place finish in the discus with a distance of 160-2. It was a strong showing for the sophomore in an event where 15 of the 18 competitors were juniors or seniors.
Curnow also had expectations for the shot put on Thursday, but fouled on all three attempts and failed to advance to the finals. Sophomore teammate Evan Uddin, however, heaved a toss 51-1 3/4 top move into eighth in the event.
“It was great to see him on the podium,” Straka said. “I thought it was going to be Tyler, but Evan is also certainly a bright spot in the future of this team. I was surprised to see him get on the podium his first year at state.
“You have surprises, both positive and negative, over the course of two days,” Straka said. “We expected to have a few more points after the first day of competition and that set the tone for the Saturday portion where we had to have some big performances to get back into a respectable finish for us.”
With a lot of entries and events, there are often pleasant surprises and some disappointments along the way.
“It is a rarity to have a perfect meet at that meet,” Straka said. “There’s so many teams with different variables that go into the day. The guys that might have had a poor first day but had a second event to push for those goals.
“Foote and Curnow came back with a second event and really put together a meet they could be happy with.”
After his work in the relays, Aldridge also competed for Stillwater in the long jump and placed 21st with a top jump of 19-9 3/4.
“We only had 12 seniors this whole year, so we were very light on our top class,” Straka said. “It just sets us up so nicely for next year with a huge junior class and sophomore contributors at the state meet and freshmen contributing at the section meet. There’s positivity with the way we ended and also optimism with where we’re going.
“There is an amazing amount to celebrate with a team that had to adapt to a new head coach, adapt to a new assistant coach coming into the team even though they weren’t totally new faces. To be able to come into a season and have changes, but still compete at the same level we’ve been competing at the last couple of years or slightly improve on those is a sign of things to come for this program. I am thrilled with the way the season went and excited for what we can do next year.”
Team standings (top 10)
1. Rosemount 53; 2. Wayzata 52; 3. Mounds View 50; 4. Minnetonka 48; 5, tie, Chaska 41 and Irondale 41; 7. Brainerd 39; 8. Rochester Century 24; 9, tie, Stillwater 30 and Owatonna 30.
Individual results
100 — 1. Juriad Hughes Jr. (Irondale) 10.35.
200 — 1. Juriad Hughes Jr. (Irondale) 21.22.
400 — 1. Dwyne Smith Jr. (Apple Valley) 47.55; 5. Soel Riser (St) 49.97. Prelims: 3. Riser, 50.64.
800 — 1. Henry Risser (Hopkins) 1:52.31.
1,600 — 1. Robert Mechura (Roseville) 4:08.89; 3. Ethan Foote (St) 4:13.36.
3,200 — 1. Robert Mechura (Roseville) 9:06.85; 10. Ethan Foote (St) 9:25.63; 16. Dylan Riniker (St) 9:42.06.
110 hurdles — 1. Seth Johnson (Owatonna) 13.98.
300 hurdles — 1. Maki Whelan (Rosemount) 38.00.
4x100 relay — 1. Minnetonka, 41.56. Prelims: 15. Stillwater (Eric Uddin, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Alem Kovac) 44.01.
4x200 relay — 1. Owatonna, 1:26.52. Prelims: 12. Stillwater (Alem Kovac, Brett Hilde, Eli Aldridge and Soel Riser) 1:29.62.
4x400 relay — 1. Mounds View, 3:18.73; 6. Stillwater (Colin Johnston, Eli Aldridge, Brett Hilde and Soel Riser) 3:22.80. Prelims: 7. Stillwater, 3:26.65.
4x800 relay — 1. Lakeville North, 7:54.27; 11. Stillwater (Max Gerald, Cohen Smith, Andrew Walsh and Dylan Riniker) 8:01.75.
Long jump — 1. Juriad Hughes Jr. (Irondale) 24-5 1/4; 21. Eli Aldridge (St) 19-9 3/4.
Triple jump — 1. Ty Nelson (Brainerd) 47-7 1/2.
Shot put — 1. Dylan Gross (Brainerd) 62-10 1/2; 8. Evan Uddin (St) 51-1 3/4; Tyler Curnow (St) foul.
Discus — 1. Dylan Gross (Brainerd) 184-6; 7. Tyler Curnow (St) 160-2.
High jump — 1. Isaiah Salami (Anoka) 6-5; T4. Chase Johnson (St) 6-2; T14. Liam Neis (St) 5-10.
Pole vault — 1. Henry White (Maple Grove) 15-3; 7. Andrew Brekke (St) 14-0; 14. Henry Corbett (St) 13-6.
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