Girls track and field: Pagel chosen Most Valuable Athlete for Ponies

One of 10 all-state performers for the Ponies, senior Cayman Pagel was honored as the Most Valuable Athlete for the Stillwater girls track and field team.

Pagel placed fifth at state in the long jump and also joined teammates Angela Taylor, Liberty Quast and Anya Williams to place fifth in the 4x100 relay.

Quast, who earned all-state honors in all four of her events at state, received the team’s Track MVP award while Williams, who finished fourth at state in the high jump, was honored with the Field MVP award. Quast placed third in the 100 meters, sixth in the 200 meters and eighth in the triple jump.

Additional all-state performers for the Ponies included Karina Fischer, Ella Martens, Ari Riser, Casey Johnston, Sylvia Boyum and Kayla Kajer.

Stillwater outdistanced Mounds View and Forest Lake to win the Suburban East Conference championship and the Ponies also captured the Section 4AAA title before placing fifth in the MSHSL state meet. The state showing was among the best in recent history, matching the team’s fifth-place finish in 2021 and just outside of its fourth-place finish in 2019.

The Ponies placed second behind Eagan in the True Team Section 2AAA Meet to narrowly miss qualifying for state in that event.

Quast, Pagel, Karina Fischer, Riser, Greta Shockey, Martens, Taylor, Williams, Maddison Rupp, Katie Fischer, Johnston, Boyum and Nora Tweed each earned all-conference honors this season. Stillwater’s list of state qualifiers also included Tweed, Katie Fischer and Shockey.

Taylor, who finished third in the long jump at state after also contributing to the 4x100 relay, took home the Teammate Award.

Riser, a seventh-grader who also raced at state in the 400 meters, received the team’s Rookie of the Year Award.

Karina Fischer, a junior who placed seventh in the 400 meters in addition to running in two relays at state, earned the Hardest Worker Award while Quast garnered the Pony Award.

Also announced at the team’s postseason awards banquet is that Karina Fischer, Katie Fischer, Quast, Johnston, Eden Letourneau and Segolene Yemmene will serve as captains for next year’s team.

Girls track and field

All-Conference: Liberty Quast, Cayman Pagel, Karina Fischer, Ari Riser, Greta Shockey, Ella Martens, Angela Taylor, Anya Williams, Maddison Rupp, Katie Fischer, Casey Johnston, Sylvia Boyum and Nora Tweed; State qualifiers: Liberty Quast, Karina Fischer, Anya Williams, Kayla Kajer, Angela Taylor, Cayman Pagel, Ella Martens, Katie Fischer, Ari Riser, Greta Shockey, Casey Johnston, Nora Tweed and Sylvia Boyum; All-State: Liberty Quast, Karina Fischer, Angela Taylor, Cayman Pagel, Anya Williams, Ella Martens, Ari Riser, Casey Johnston, Sylvia Boyum and Kayla Kajer; Teammate Award: Angela Taylor; Rookie of the Year: Ari Riser; Hardest Worker Award: Karina Fischer; Pony Award: Liberty Quast; Track MVP: Liberty Quast; Field MVP: Anya Williams; Most Valuable Athlete: Cayman Pagel; Captains elect: Karina Fischer, Katie Fischer, Liberty Quast, Casey Johnston, Eden Letourneau and Segolene Yemmene.