Track and field: Perham girls soar to victory, boys secure runner-up spot at Heart of Lakes Conference meet

PELICAN RAPIDS – The Perham track and field teams asserted supremacy at the Heart of Lakes Conference meet in Pelican Rapids on May 16.

The Yellowjackets buzzed past their competition as the girls team was crowned Heart of Lakes champions with a team score of 191 and the boys finished runner-up with 141.5 team points.

The girls dominated the running events. Eighth grader Paiton Christianson took first in the 100-meter dash (13.55). Freshman Gracie Morris placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.92. Mya Morris finished third in the 200-meter dash.

Freshman Caidyn Breid secured the top spot in the 3200-meter run (12:46.52) while junior Mia Lung grabbed second place. Senior Lauryn Rustad continued her superiority of the hurdle events. She took first in the 100-meter hurdles (15.41) and the 300-meter hurdles (47.13). Sophomore Cora Grismer secured a third-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles.

All four of the relay teams were crowned conference champions. The 4x100-meter relay team of Arianna Doll, Kennedy Pilgrim, Willow Thiel and Christianson (52.92), the 4x200-meter relay team of Jaden Hackel, Rustad, Mya Morris and Gracie Morris (1:48.11), the 4x400-meter relay team of Mya Morris, Gracie Morris, Leelou Novotny and Hackel (4:08.75) and the 4x800-meter relay team of Liz Birkeland, Aspen Rhode, Novotny and Breid (10:22.81) each had first-place finishes.

In the field events, Perham had three conference champions. Gracie Morris set a new PR with her vault of 11 feet, 9 inches. She is ranked number one in Class A, tied for second overall in the state and has the 10th-best vault in the United States among freshman girls. Senior Natalie Rooney took second place and senior Maya Richter took third in the pole vault. Junior Willow Thiel grabbed a third-place finish in the high jump.

Hackel's jump of 16 feet, 4.5 inches declared her the HOL champion of the long jump. She also finished first in the triple jump (35 feet, 9 inches).

The boys dusted their competition in the track events. Sophomore Bjorn Anderson took first in the 800-meter dash (2:00.92) and the 1600-meter run (4:28.30). Junior Isaac Paurus took second and sophomore Carter Flatau took third in the 800-meter dash.

Senior Micah Thompson took second in the 400-meter dash. Freshman Dylan Guck was the silver medal holder in the 3200-meter run. Freshman Trystan Larson secured second in the 110-meter hurdles and third in the 300-meter hurdles.

The boys took first in three of the four relay races. The 4x200-meter relay team of Aiden Kennedy, Noah Thompson, Kiethen Anderson and Tyrus Coudron (1:33.52), the 4x400-meter relay team of Kennedy, Anderson, Micah Thompson and Blake Swenson (3:30.50) and the 4x800-meter relay team of Henry Mathiason, Swenson, Paurus and Guck were crowned HOL champions.

In the field events, the boys only had one conference champion. Kennedy’s vault of 13 feet was good enough for a first-place finish. Novotny finished in second place behind Kennedy. Micah Thompson leaped to a third-place finish in the triple jump.

All first-, second- and third-place finishers were given all-conference honors. The Yellowjackets had 29 all-conference honorees with multiple athletes given the award for multiple events.

HEART OF LAKES CONFERENCE MEET GIRLS TEAM SCORES- 1- Perham 191, 2- Barnesville 100.5, 3- Pelican Rapids 85.5, 4- Frazee 76, 5- Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 54, 6- United Clay-Becker 43, 8- Breckenridge 7

HEART OF LAKES CONFERENCE MEET BOYS TEAM SCORES- 1- Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 157.5, 2- Perham 141.5, 3- United Clay-Becker 113, 4- Pelican Rapids 84, 5- Barnesville 35, 6- Frazee 12, 7- Breckenridge 11

PERHAM GIRLS TOP FIVE FINISHERS- 100M- 1st- Paiton Christianson 13.55

200M- 3rd- Mya Morris 27.69

400M- 1st- Gracie Morris 1:01.92

800M- 3rd- Ella Hendrickson 2:32.35

1600M- 2nd- Ella Hendrickson 5:33.69, 3rd- Quincy Anderson 5:38.71

3200M- 1st- Caidyn Breid 12:46.52, 2nd- Mia Lung 13:08.50, 5th- Avalee Brown 13.29.40

100M HURDLES- 1st- Lauryn Rustad 15.41

300M HURDLES- 1st- Lauryn Rustad 47.13, 3rd- Cora Grismer 48.80

4x100M RELAY- 1st- Ariana Doll, Kennedy Pilgrim, Willow Thiel, Paiton Christianson 52.92

4x200M RELAY- 1st- Lauyrn Rustad, Gracie Morris, Mya Morris, Jaden Hackel 1:48.11

4x400M RELAY- 1st- Mya Morris, Gracie Morris, Cora Grismer, Jaden Hackel 4:08.75

4x800M RELAY- 1st- Leelou Novotny, Liz Birkeland, Caidyn Breid, Aspen Rhode 10:22.81

HIGH JUMP- 3rd- Willow Thiel 4’ 10”

POLE VAULT- 1st- Gracie Morris 11’ 9”, 2nd- Natalie Rooney 10’ 6”, 3rd- Maya Richter 10’

LONG JUMP- 1st- Jaden Hackel 16’ 4.5”, 5th- Kennedy Pilgrim 15’ 6”

TRIPLE JUMP- 1st- Jaden Hackel 35’ 11”, 2nd- Kennedy Pilgrim 35’ 9”

PERHAM BOYS TOP FIVE FINISHERS- 100M- Tyrus Coudron 11.66

200M- 4th- Noah Thompson 24.07

400M- 2nd- Micah Thompson 52.45

800M- 1st- Bjorn Anderson 2:00.92, 2nd- Isaac Paurus 2:07.29, 3rd- Carter Flatau 2:09.47

1600M- 1st- Bjorn Anderson 4:28.30, 5th- Carter Flatau 4:44.80

3200M- 2nd- Dylan Guck 10:13.60, 5th- Henry Mathiason 10:55.68

110M HURDLES- 2nd- Trystan Larson 16.64

300M HURDLES- 3rd- Trystan Larson 44.32

4x100M RELAY- 4th- Aiden Kennedy, Noah Thompson, Kiethen Anderson, Noah Novotny 45.64

4x200M RELAY- 1st- Aiden Kennedy, Noah Thompson, Kiethen Anderson, Tyrus Coudron 1:33.52

4x400M RELAY- 1st- Aiden Kennedy, Blake Swenson, Bjorn Anderson, Micah Thompson

4x800M RELAY- 1st- Blake Swenson, Henry Mathiason, Isaac Paurus, Dylan Guck 8:21.02

HIGH JUMP- 5th- Will Baker 5’ 6”

POLE VAULT- 1st- Aiden Kennedy 13’, 2nd- Noah Novotny 12’ 6”

TRIPLE JUMP- 3rd- Micah Thompson 38’ 7.5”