Esko Girls Repeat as State True Team Champions

Deb Decker-NSO

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May 19, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Esko girls Track & Field team repeated as Class A True Team Champions Saturday at the Minnesota State True Team Championships in Stillwater Minnesota. Esko topped out Blue Earth to capture their second consecutive True Team Championship. The Esko boys also finished a very respectable fourth in the True Team Meet.

Esko finished with a team total of 465.5, while Blue Earth who was second finished with 426. Lake City was third with a total of 342, Maple Lake finished fourth with 338.5 and it was Luverne finishing fifth overall.

The boys meet was won by Maple Lake with 401 points, Montevideo was second with 391, Cotter was third with 356, Esko had 343.5 in their fourth place finish and it was Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton finishing in the top five with 338 points overall.

True Team was started in 1987 by the Minnesota High School Coaches Association, making 2012 the 26th year or the event. The track meet in which teams qualify sectionally for the opportunity compete in the state meet in Stillwater. True Team was originated by the Minnesota state track and field coaches association for the purpose of having it be about a true team winning a championship not just a few individuals that can carry a team to victory. True Team track meets award points all the way down to the final finisher.

The winner of each event receives two times the points of the amount of teams entered. So with nine teams competing, winners received 18 points for a win and scored all the way down to the 18th place finisher receiving one point. Relays are awarded points equal to three times the amount of teams entered.

Eskomos Marisa Shady continued to show her dominance in the 100 meters as she won with a time of 13:78 seconds. Shady also had a second place finish in the 800 meter dash. Erika Shady was the winner in the 200 meter dash and her teammate Olivia Rengo was third overall.

Kailee Kiminski was the winner of the 1600 meter run and Kallyn Knutson placed third overall. Knutson also took a top three in the 3200 meter run with a third place finish. Brooke Schramm was the winner in the Long jump with her teammate Caitlin Lilly finishing right behind her in second.

Ava Gonsorowski placed third in the 300 meter hurdles and Megan Bergstedt had a third place finish in the triple jump. The Esko relay teams did well also; they finished second in the 4×100 meter relay, and had three third place finishes in the 4×200, 4×400, and 4×800 meter relay races.

The Esko boys saw fist place finishes from Riley Mudek, who won the 400 meter dash; he also placed second in the 200 meter dash. Max Reinertsen won the triple jump Saturday, and he added a second place finish in the long jump and a third in the 100 meter dash.

Jackson Lindquist took home a second place finish in the 3200 meter run. Tyler Denzler won the discus event and the Eskomos 4×100 meter relay team finished in second place, just fractions of a second behind Crookston.

In Class AA, Totino-Grace won both the girls and boys events. The teams representing Section 7 were Grand Rapids, who finished fifth for the boys and Chisago Lakes, who were sixth for the girls. Natalie Stauber finished third in the 800 meter dash for the Hawks while the Hermantown 4×800 meter relay team was third overall. Wayzata won the AAA boys meet while Lakeville North was the girls AAA champion.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com

Deb Decker-NSO