Several MACA girls climb to state track/field

I was rather astonished to see that the Saturday, May 30, issue of the Morris newspaper did not include coverage of the section track and field meet. Instead there was a rather large spread on the top half of page 1B about the sub-section meet that was held a week previous.
This is not acceptable. The section meet is a big deal, producing qualifiers for the prestigious state meet. In am pleased in this post to supply information about the Section 6A meet which was held on Thursday, May 28, two days before the current edition of the Morris paper came out. The section competition was at Minnesota State University-Moorhead (what my generation used to call "Moorhead State University").
My last post on Tiger softball and baseball is on my companion website, "Morris of Course." Tiger softball had its impressive climb stopped by Pipestone, score of 3-0. The southern teams can be a real obstacle. I invite you to click on the permalink below to read my final post on Tiger softball and baseball for 2015. Incidentally, I was delighted to be invited to a graduation reception, "just like old times."
http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-southern-minnesota-curse-maca-girls.html
 
What a section meet it was, for the MACA girls track and field Tigers! A gaggle of girls team members are climbing to the Class A meet which is set for June 5-6. The state meet is quite the spectacle. I attended several in my print journalism days. It's too bad the Morris Sun Tribune couldn't have at least published a box listing the state qualifiers - ten according to my count, although the West Central Tribune said eleven. Track meet info can be involved, and you have to wade through it. Feel free to clarify anything you see here, via an email. Thanks.

The Morris Area Chokio Alberta girls finished second as a team at the section level. Our long jumpers wowed the fans, as Anna Grove took first with her distance of 16 feet/two inches, and Katie Cannon was No. 2 as she flew 15 feet/nine and three-quarters inches.
In the triple jump the orange and black made an impression too, as Kindra Cannon took No. 1 with her distance of 35 feet/two and a half inches.
 

A real up-and-comer

Keep an eye on Maddie Carrington as a distance runner. Maddie has already had impact as a cross country runner. At Moorhead this budding runner of note took third in the 800-meter run, and normally third place means you're edged out of state. But in Maddie's case, she bettered the state qualifying time and is thus in for state. The seventh-grader will ply her talents at the elite state level. She ran a 2:19.98 time at MSUM. The champion in this event was Olivia Lane of Pequot Lakes, time of 2:18.45.
When I think back to when I was in the seventh grade, I was just getting used to handling my own locker combination! (Teacher John Anderson gave us some help.) Seventh grade was when the kids from St. Mary's joined us. Our principal was Carl Johnson. "Mr. Coombe" taught us history. He's the man for whom Coombe field was named. He liked to refer to himself in the third person.
The Tigers' Carla Wittern placed second in the 1600 meters with her time of 5:35.84. The first and second place achievers in section make state. Congrats to Carla, who was beaten only by Perham's Brynnan Covington whose time was 5:29.81. Another Perham Covington - Caitlin - was the 3200m champion with her time of 12:00.37.
Let's turn to the sprints. Here was have Katie Folkman with a fifth place showing in the 100 meters, timed at 14 seconds even. Chloe Bermel of Pequot Lakes topped this event, timed at 13.61. McKenna Lubenow was the No. 3 achiever in the 200-meter dash with her time of 27.89. Mariah Beckius of Minnewaska Area topped the 200 meters with her 27.57 performance.
In the 300m hurdles we had Midori Soderberg placing third, a notch shy of state, with her 51.03 performance. The 300m champ was Perham's Olivia Nelson (49.56). Millie Klefsaas topped the 100m event, time of 16.32.
On to relays: the MACA foursome of Lubenow, Folkman, Grove and Islande Sperr placed second in the 4x100m with their time of 50.98. Pequot Lakes had the top team in this event (49.99). Our 4x800m team handled the baton with precision and turned on the jets too, as they took second behind the Pequot Lakes team. Our time was 9:53.79, and the team members were Savannah Aanerud, Wittern, Carrington and Correy Hickman.
The MACA tandem of Grove, Carrington, Soderberg and Aanerud placed fifth in the 4x400m, time of 4:12.60.
So, to try to make things perfectly clear, here's the list of state qualifiers from the hard-charging Tigers: Carrington, Wittern, Lubenow, Folkman, Grove, Sperr, Aanerud, Hickman, Katie Cannon and Kindra Cannon. Whew! You know what? It's difficult to assemble information from a sub-section or section meet. The info just sort of snows you. A detached journalist can get nervous.
The MACA boys team tied for 13th place. The boys team champion was Perham. Our boys team had Bo Olson placing fifth in the 800-meter run, timed at 2:07.85. The 4x200m relay team of Connor Koebernick, Ian Howden, Levin Strand and Max Jerke placed fifth, time of 1:36.92. Nate Vipond placed fourth in the shot put with his distance of 45 feet, 11 inches. Trent Ostby was the No. 3 pole vaulter, getting over the bar at 12 feet, six inches.
 

Constructive idea?

Maybe I'm getting too old for this, but it's a challenge for me trying to compile info from a big track and field meet, and today I don't have a hundred other things to do that day. I'll re-state a proposal I made several years ago: For the section meet, the coaches, upon arrival at home or first thing the next morning, could type some paragraphs with the news about their team, and just email it to the paper which could then copy, paste and publish with no hassle or potential for confusion.
The section meet news should be in the Saturday issue following the section meet. I know of a former Morris school administrator who would have smoke coming out of his ears over this shortcoming. One thing is for sure: the paper will be 100 per cent certain you get your Elden's ad circular on Saturday. I wonder why that's such a high priority. Oh yes, the almighty dollar.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com