TRACK AND FIELD: Lumberjacks shine in season's first indoor event

BEMIDJI – There is still plenty of snow on the ground, which means spring sports are staying indoors for the time being. Yet, the Bemidji High School track and field team has its first competition of the 2023 season under its belt.

Several Lumberjacks notched top finishes at the Lion's invite at the Bemidji State's Gillette Wellness Center on Tuesday, March 28.

The 4x800 relay team of Regan DeWitt, Addison Maish, Alivia Thompson and Mia Hoffmann took first place with a time of 10:22.31. Hoffmann also took first place in the 1,600-meter race at 5:36.96. DeWitt cruised to a first-place time of 2:23.50 in the 800 meter, missing her personal best by just three seconds.

BHS was a force in several long-distance events. Carson Maish won the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:38.43. Will Termont wasn’t far behind in fourth place (4:46.60), followed by Ashton Niemi in seventh (4:58.02) and Isaac Schouten in ninth (5:11.63).

Both Bemidji boys and girls 4x400 relay teams took third place. Faye Calver, Elena Harmsen, Aubrey DeWitt and Regan DeWitt clocked a time of 4:43.05. Maish, Brett Kurschner, Carson Turn and Adam Allery posed a 3:55.39.

Over 100 sprinters entered both 60-meter dash preliminary races, and the Jacks were represented with a handful of top-20 finishes. Jadyn Kelly was one of 14 girls to qualify for the finals with a time of 8.81. Marima Seely was just outside of the mark with a 17th-place finish (8.9).

Ontario Tate-Beaulieu’s 12th-place finish (7.67) locked up a spot in the boys final. Trenten Fredriksen-Holm took 17th (7.82), while Riley Branson finished 19th (7.82).

Kelly took 14th in the 60-meter finals with a time of 8.92. Tate-Beaulieu improved on his preliminary place, finishing 11th at 7.84. Kelly also took second place in the high jump at 4-10.

The Lumberjacks had several other finishers near the top of several races on the track. Sam Gifford took second place in the boys 200-meter dash with a time of 24.44. Raya Nordlund’s time of 6:25.33 was good enough for ninth place in the girls 1,600. Chloe Knott clocked in at 1:10.09 for 15th place in the 400 meter.

Aubrey DeWitt and Spencer Briggs each qualified for the finals in their respective 60-meter hurdles races. DeWitt took 10th place at 11.75, while Briggs took 14th (11.63).

Alec Newby took home second place in the boys pole vault by clearing nine feet. He paced an impressive day of indoor field events for Bemidji. Harper Amdahl tied for sixth in the girls competition at 6-00, with Adrian Williams in 11th at 5-00.

Braden Luksik took fifth in the high jump at 5-06. Quinten Yeung and Taylen Schemerhorn tied for ninth place at 5-04.

Anika Harmsen took fifth place in the girls triple jump at 28-09. Alex Nelson claimed seventh among the boys at 35-00. Garrett Frazer and Gifford each cleared 33-00 for 12th and 13th place. Garrett also took 11th place in the shot put (34-03), not far behind Riley Brandon in fifth place at 37-07.25.

The Jacks are back at BSU on Tuesday, April 4, for their second indoor meet of the season. The start time of the meet is yet to be announced.