By John George
The Perham track and field teams got their first taste of an outdoor meet on Tuesday at the Wild Oats Invite in Fergus Falls. No team scores were kept at the meet.
The Jacket boys had a strong showing with five first place finishes as they dominated the distance races.
Their best event was the 1600m run, where Perham runners took the top four places and five of the top-seven. Eddie Stenger won the race with a time of 4:34.05. He was followed by Justin Tellinghuisen (2), Joe Ulrich (3) and James Covington (4) with Sam Huber finishing seventh.
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Stenger and Tellinghuisen also finished 1-2 in the 800m run. Stenger's first place time was 2:07.92.
Kevin Lachowitzer, the defending State Class A cross country champ, got off to a strong start in the track season with a first place finish in the 3200m run with a time of 9:49. Perham took the top-three places in the race with Nick Atkins finishing second and Alex Barney taking third.
The distance runners also teamed up to win the 4x800 relay with a time of 8:48.09.
Jake Hunter won the 300m hurdles with a time of 44.30 and he finished third in the 110m hurdles. Kurt Weber was fourth in the 110m hurdles.
The girls finished with eight first place finishes in Fergus Falls, showing balance throughout the event.
Distance races were also the girls strong point, as they were led by a first place finish in the 1600m by Maddie McClellan with a time of 5:35.38. Alli Januszewski was second with a time of 5:42.43.
Brittany Gigstead won the 800m with a time of 2:16.59.
McClellan, Gigstead, Holly Sheets and Jenna Gigstead won the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:19.18, and the 4x800 relay with a time of 10:00.78. That group is the defending State champs in the 4x800 relay.
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Jacket girls won both hurdling events with Becca Peloquin winning the 100m hurdles (18.47) and Danielle Refsland taking the 300m hurdles (52.35).
Elisa Moenkedick led the Lady Jackets with a pair of wins in field events, taking first in the discus (98'5") and in the shot put (36'0").
Perham's next meet will be April 20 at D-G-F. They return home to host the Perham Invite on April 24.
