TRF track teams shine at Quentin Jones Invitational

by Scott DCamp Sports Editor The Thief River Falls  girls track team won eight events and had four runner-up finishes on its way to a first place team finish at the Quentin Jones Invitational Friday afternoon at Lowell T. Swenson Field. Kendra Mehrkens continued her dominance in the sprints, winning both the 100 and 200. Gwen Wojciechowski was right behind her, placing second in both the 100 and 200. "Kendra Mehrkens has been dropping times and has run under the state qualifying times in the 100 and 200,” said Girls Head Coach Katie Nelson. That is a great outlook for the section meet to qualify for state. Gwen Wojciechowski is my number two sprinter and has continued to improve throughout the season and push through injury and illness to consistently place high in meets." Like Mehrkens, Elory Mossestad doubled up with wins in both the 800 and 1600. "Elory Mossestad has been improving in her distance events and is consistently at the top of any event she runs,” Nelson said. "I look forward to seeing what she will do at sections and in the next few years." Avah Waldal won long jump. Sera Johnson won the discus and placed third in the shot put. Kelsey Baltes placed second in high jump. Livia Harbott placed second in the 400 and fourth in the 800. Livia Thibert placed third in the 100 hurdles. Madelyn David placed third in triple jump. In relay action, the team of Kenzie Reynolds, Wojciechowski, Waldal and Mehrkens won the 4x200 by 10 seconds over the runner-up team from East Grand Forks. The Prowlers also got a relay win from the team of Reynolds, Ruby Geiser,  Harbott and Janaya Albers in the 4x400. "Kelsey Baltes has been jumping extremely well in the high jump and I look forward to seeing what she can accomplish at sections,” Nelson said. "It is very promising to have such success with a very young team. Kayla Peterson is another one to watch at sections. Her times have been very impressive, especially considering she is an 8th grader. The section meet should be exciting to see all the hard work pay off and see what this great group of girls can accomplish." The Thief River Falls boys team aslo had a strong showing, winning three events with four runner-up finishes. Tyler Brouse was a double winner, with victories in both  the 100 and 200. “I want to highlight Tyler Brouse's performance in the 100M and 200M dash,” said Boys Head Coach Nathan Hruby. “Tyler won both events and although not setting personal bests, he did tell me that his starts felt the best they have which he has been giving a lot of attention to leading up to sections now.” Curtis Griffin took home the win in the 1600. Brayden Spears won 300 hurdles and placed second in the 110 hurdles. “Brayden is starting to really come on down the stretch here towards sections and looks to be a podium finisher come section time,” Hruby said. William MacLean placed second in the 800; and Colin MacLean placed second in the 1600. Landen Chute placed third in the 1600; and Lincoln Davis placed third in the 3200. Griffin Lundeen placed third in pole vault and fourth in the 800. Trian Petrescue placed third in discus and fourth in shot put. “Trian is another one of our boys who is aiming at a chance to go to state in the discus,” Hruby said. “He knows the competition will be tough, but he has proven he can hang right in there with ’em.” Kale Masseth placed fourth in the 100 and 200. Briley Olsonawski placed fourth in the 400; and Jaxson Tanner placed fourth in long jump. The Prowler boys team had three relays finish in the top-three Friday. The 4x800 team of Griffin, Colin MacLean, Lundeen and Will MacLean placed second. The 4x100 team of Brouse,  Masseth, Lundeen and Spears placed third; and the team of Colin MacLean, Clay Nelson, Tanner and  Olsonawski placed third in the 4x400. “Our Boys 4X800 M Relay of Griffin, Curtis, Colin, and Will took second place, yet again running a very solid time,” Hruby said. “Kale Masseth also contributed by placing 4th in both events helping out with team points along with he, Tyler, Brayden Spears, and Griffin Lundeen placing third in an all senior 4-by-1 team in their last ever home meet.” “The boys team really outdid the expectation at this meet,” Hruby said. “They had solid performances all around, the combination of being at home, a lot of support, and the weather made for a great night for the boys. They really ended their regular season on a high note and a good amount of confidence going into our section meet coming up next week in Pequot Lakes and Rocori. The season seems like it started just yesterday and we are down to the last stretch. I enjoy going to work everyday with this group and watching them improve and their willingness to be coached to get better. We may have a week and a half of no competition, but they view it as more time to get to their peak performance.” Next up for the Prowlers is a  Wednesday May, 29 trip to Pequot Lakes for the Section 8AA preliminaries. “We are aiming to send a big handful of both girls and boys to finals on Saturday in Rocori,” Hruby said. “We have a good number of athletes sitting in a great spot for seeding, but we all know seeds do not matter the day of competition. Both Katie and I, along with Paul and Lori, really look forward to seeing what our kids can do in a week and a half. This season has been remarkable and full of ups and downs due to weather, but our kids have battled through it and are ready to make some noise at sections.” Team Scores • Girls - 1.    Thief River Falls 150; 2. BGMR 143.5; 3. Warroad 103; 4. East Grand Forks 87; 5. Kittson County Central 76; 6. Roseau 59.5; 7. Red Lake County 35. • Boys - 1. East Grand Forks 220; 2. Thief River Falls 173; 3. BGMR 102.5; 4. Red Lake County 84; 5. Warroad 67.5; 6. Roseau 1. Winner/TRF Places-Girls 100 Meters - 1. Kendra Mehrkens, Thief River Falls, 12.85; 2. Gwen Wojciechowski 13.55; 5. Janaya Albers 14.31; 12. Lilly Homme 14.82; 16. Brynn Olson 15.38; 17. Nora Bruggeman 15.41; 18. Autumn Fladeland 15.49; 21. Macey Baltes 15.83; 22. Billie Jo Moore 16.05; 28. Sophie Eidsmoe 17.14; 30. Brianne Ellison 17.23; 200 Meters - 1. Kendra Mehrkens, Thief River Falls, 26.69; 2. Gwen Wojciechowski 27.08; 6. Kenzie Reynolds 29.60; 8. Isabella Dicken 29.90; 10. Janaya Albers 30.48; 13. Livia Thibert 30.78; 14. Lilly Homme 30.90; 15. Nora Bruggeman 31.55; 20. Autumn Fladeland 32.42; 21. Brynn Olson 32.71; 27. Billie Jo Moore 34.01. 400 Meters - 1. Morgan Turn, Kittson County Central, 1:06.86; 2. Livia Harbott 1:06.95; 10. Ruby Geiser 1:11.88; 11. Natalia Zoller 1:14.29; 19. Billie Jo Moore 1:18.83. 800 Meters - 1. Elory Mossestad, Thief River Falls, 2:32.80; 4. Livia Harbott 2:45.19; 13. Natalia Zoller 3:02.86; 15. Samantha Rodahl 3:07.12; 17. Samantha Zoller 3:11.99; 19. Sophie Eidsmoe 3:21.40; 1600 Meters - 1. Elory Mossestad, Thief River Falls, 5:35.17; 13. Samantha Zoller 7:19.06; 100 Hurdles - 1. Shali Anderson, East Grand Forks, 16.32; 3. Livia Thibert 18.96; 7. Isabella Dicken 19.72. 300 Hurdles - 1. Faith Lilly, Warroad, 51.58. 4x100 - 1. Kittson County Central A 54.68. 4x200 Relay - 1. TRF A (Kenzie Reynolds, Gwen Wojciechowski, Avah Walda, Kendra Mehrkens) 1:48.59; 4x400 Relay - 1. TRF A (Kenzie Reynolds, Ruby Geiser, Livia Harbott, Kayla Peterson) 4:30.85. 4x800 Relay - 1. BGMR/Freeze A 11:01.34. Shot Put - 1. McKinley Folland, Kittson County Central, 38-02.00; 3. Sera Johnson 30-05.00; 9. Natalia Zoller 23-01.00; 11. Brianne Ellison 22-10.00; 13. Samantha Zoller 22-04.00; 16. Dawson Colden 21-08.00; 18. Samantha Rodahl 21-00.00; 22. Elory Mossestad 19-03.00; 29. Ruby Geiser 17-01.00; 30. Kayla Farias 16-10.00. Discus - 1. Sera Johnson, Thief River Falls, 86-04; 16. Brianne Ellison 56-09; 18. Lilly Homme 52-04; 21. Isabella Dicken 44-03; 22. Dawson Colden 39-01; 26. Kayla Farias 33-02; High Jump - 1. Kaydence White, Kittson County Central, 5-02.00; 2. Kelsey Baltes 5-00.00; 9. Madelyn David 4-04.00; 10. Janaya Albers 4-02.00; 10. Isabella Dicken 4-02.00. Pole Vault - 1. Lilya Baumwalkd, East Grand Forks, 8-00.00; 6. Samantha Zoller 6-00.00. Long Jump - 1. Avah Waldal, Thief River Falls, 15-11.50; 6. Madelyn David 14-03.50PR; 9. Macey Baltes 13-01.50. Triple Jump - 1. Kyllie Snare, BGMR/Freeze, 34-08.50; 3. Madelyn David 29-10.00; 9. Macey Baltes 28-09.00. Winner/TRF Places-Boys 100 Meters - 1. Tyler Brouse, Thief River Falls, 11.82; 4. Kale Masseth 12.66; 8. Landen Larson 13.00; 10. Caleb Mauch 13.30; 11. Adrian Narvaiz 13.35; 12. Tallon Vordebruggen 13.38; 14. Clay Nelson 13.78; 15. Keaton Tillet 13.79; 18. Gabe Nelson 15.16. 200 Meters - 1. Tyler Brouse, Thief River Falls, 23.64; 4. Kale Masseth 25.56; 6. Briley Olsonawski 25.97; 9. Landen Larson 26.50; 11. Tallon Vorderbruggen 26.95; 12. Caleb Mauch 26.96; 13. Adrian Narvaiz 27.16; 15. Keaton Tillett 27.93; 16. Michael Rowe 27.94; 17. Clay Nelson 28.27; 20. Kason Hanson 29.21; 24. Gabe Nelson 31.47; 400 Meters - 1. Everett Nelson, BGMR/Freeze, 53.27; 4. Briley Olsonawski 56.40; 5. Jaxson Tanner 56.53; 6. Landen Chute 58.25; 10. Caleb Mauch 1:02.16; 12. Michael Rowe 1:03.56; 13. Kason Hanson 1:04.27. 800 Meters - 1. Weston Mahar, East Grand Forks, 2:09.26; 2. William MacLean 2:12.62; 4. Griffin Lundeen 2:16.55; 10. Wyatt Novak 2:50.09; 1600 Meters - 1. Curtis Griffin 4:57.02; 2. Colin MacLean 5:12.85; 3. Landen Chute 5:13.09; 5. Wyatt Novak 5:55.53. 3200 Meters - 1. Hunter Jordheim, East Grand Forks, 10:41.82; 3. Lincoln Davis 12:09.22; 6. Dylan Lane 13:34.09, 110 Hurdles - 1. Caden Lee, Red lake County, 17.28; 2. Brayden Spears 17.54; 6. Ian Hruby 22.51. 300 Hurdles - 1. Brayden Spears, Thief River Falls, 45.44; 6. Ian Hruby 53.02; 4x100 Relay - 1. BGRM/Freeze A 46.34; 3.        TRF A (Tyler Brouse, Kale Masseth, Griffin Lundeen, Brayden Spears) 47.59; 4x200 Relay - 1. East Grand Forks A 1:36.67. 4x400 Relay - 1. East Grand Forks A 3:46.83; 3.  TRF A (Colin MacLean, Clay Nelson, Jaxson Tanner, Briley Olsonawski) 3:53.47a   4x800 Relay - 1. East Grand Forks A 8:45.01;  2.        TRF A (Curtis Griffin, Colin MacLean, Griffin Lundeen, William MacLean) 8:50.12. Shot Put - 1. Messi Kalenda, East Grand Forks, 50-09.00; 4. Trian Petrescue 43-10.00; 13. Landen Larson 29-00.00; Discus - 1. Mavrik Martine, East Grand Forks, 152-00; 3. Trian Petrescue 135-00; 13. Michael Rowe 80-01; 20. Keaton Tillett 55-07; High Jump - 1. Matthew Rieckman, East Grand Forks, 5-06.00; 6. Brayden Spears 5-02.00; 10. Kason Hanson 5-00.00; 13. Briley Olsonawski 4-08.00; Pole Vault - 1. Eliot Afshari, East Grand Forks, 11-06.00; 3. Griffin Lundeen 10-06.00; 7. Lincoln Davis 8-00.00; Long Jump - 1. Liam Collins, BGMR/Freeze, 19-02.00; 4. Jaxson Tanner 15-09.50; 7. Adrian Narvaiz 15-06.00; 15. Michael Rowe 12-08.00; Triple Jump - 1. Matthew Rieckman, East Grand Forks, 37-10.00; 5. Caleb Mauch 30-07.50; 6. Clay Nelson 30-06.50.