BEMIDJI -- For the second time in as many weeks, the Bemidji High School track and field team was at Bemidji State’s Gillett Wellness Center, this time for the Beaver Relays on Tuesday.
“That’s kind of what we’re looking at: meet two, just to see where we are from meet one,” BHS girls head coach Chris Lehman said. “We worked on a lot of technique with the athletes.”
In that regard, both Lehman and boys head coach Steve Sneide were happy with how Tuesday played out.
“We’ve seen some nice progress out of our athletes,” Sneide said. “Looking at the different events, we’re working on technique in the field events. Our sprinters are working on their running form and different phases of their sprint races. Our distance guys are getting some speed in also, being indoors.”
Both Lumberjack teams took second place in the meet. The girls totaled 61 points to trail only Thief River Falls’ 91, while the boys tallied 97.5 to fall just shy of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton’s 109.
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Lauren Berg and Jacob Kelly did their part for their teams, each claiming first-place finishes in the 60 meter hurdles in 10.29 and 8.87 seconds, respectively. The boys 4x800 relay of Riley Berg, James Siems, Isaak McDonald and Gage Mostad also took first with an 8:51.48 time.
“It was a good first 4x800 of the year for that team,” Sneide said. “Jacob, being a freshman, he just keeps getting better every week. He’s learning how to hurdle better every day. It’s nice to see what he’s accomplishing. We also saw a lot of great performances out of a lot of different kids today, also.”
Elsewhere for Bemidji, four individuals earned second-place spots on the boys side, as did a relay team. Mostad finished the 1,600-meter run in 4:45.52, while Zac Fouquerel-Skoe ran the 3,200 in 10:48.16. Ryan Bieberdorf clocked in at 7.33 in the 60-meter dash, and Ryan Yang posted a 41-06.00 mark on the triple jump. The 4x400 team was also second at 3:41.91.
For the girls, Jordan Mann ran the 60-meter dash in 8.05 for second, while the 4x400 relay team timed out at 4:28.98 for second place.
“There were a lot of kids that had some really nice improvements on their mechanics, and also we had some kids with really nice performances by beating their best times, as well,” Lehman said. “It was a really nice, overall team effort and good improvement.”
Matthew Arel rounded out top-three finishes for individuals with a 7.36 time on the 60-meter dash, while the boys’ 4x200 relay team registered a 1:39.59 time to round out all top-three marks for the Jacks.
Another chance to step foot on the track was a welcome one, as BHS hadn’t been in action since March 26.
“A lot of the returning kids had some really nice meets for this time in the season,” Lehman said. “And also a lot of the newer kids, too, made some really nice jumps. They got their second meet under their belt so they’re a little more confident and ran some really nice races.”
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The Bagley/Fosston boys headlined the area teams taking part in the meet with 23 points for an eighth-place finish, jumpstarted by Roni Tirkkonen’s first-place time of 2:03.54 in the 800-meter run. Hunter Ehlers (20-06.50 in the shot put) and Josiah Hubbard (54.47 in the 400) picked up second- and third-place marks for the Clearbrook-Gonvick boys, who finished 11th with 18 points.
Adnew Stueven guided the Northome/Kelliher/Blackduck boys to 12th with 16 points, as Stueven was first in the 1600 (4:43.61) and third in the 800 (2:09.17).
On the girls’ side, the NKB girls took 13th with 16 points. Zoey Mills led the way with a first-place time of 12:51.18 in the 3,200, while Monica Johnson’s throw of 35-02.00 in the shot put was good for third.
The Bagley/Fosston girls settled into 16th with 11 points, most coming from Emma Drellack’s third-place mark of 4-10.00 in the high jump. The C-G girls also tallied 11 points for a share of 16th place, led by Danae Stenzel’s 34-04.00 throw in the shot put that placed her fourth.
Girls team results
1-Thief River Falls 95; 2-Bemidji 61; 3-Park Rapids 57; 4-East Grand Forks 54; T5-Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 43; T5-West Marshall 43; 7-International Falls 39; T8-Nevis 36; 8-Wadena-Deer Creek 36; 10-Crookston 35; 11-Red Lake County 25; 12-Bigfork 21; 13-Northome/Kelliher/Blackduck 16; 14-Fertile-Beltrami 14; 15-Warroad 13; T16-Bagley/Fosston 11; T16-Clearbrook-Gonvick 11; 18-BGMR/Freeze 6; 19-Roseau 5; 20-Kittson County Central 3.
Boys team results
1-Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 109; 2-Bemidji 97.5; 3-Wadena-Deer Creek 92.5; 4-East Grand Forks 80; 5-Park Rapids 39; 6-Roseau 35; 7-Thief River Falls 27; 8-Bagley/Fosston 23; 9-Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 20; 10-International Falls 19; 11-Clearbrook-Gonvick 18; 12-Northome/Kelliher/Blackduck 16; 13-West Marshall 11; 14-Nevis 10; 15-Crookston 8; 16-Bigfork 7; T17-Fertile-Beltrami 5; T17-BGMR/Freeze 5; 19-Warroad 2.
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