Park Rapids' Forrest Drury and Isaac Overmyer fulfilled their goals by earning medals while Austin Carlson gained valuable experience at the state Class A track and field meet at Hamline University in St. Paul.
Drury tied for sixth place in the pole vault, Overmyer finished ninth in the 3,200-meter run, and Carlson finished 13th in the 400 dash and 20th in the 200 dash on Friday.
Those efforts gave the Panthers 3.50 points for 57th place in the team standings. That was the first time Park Rapids has scored points at the state meet since scoring 5 points and tying for 54th place in 2002.
Waseca won the state title with 56 points while Foley (46), Ottertail Central (38) and Pillager (30) followed.
Drury ties for sixth place
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Drury was hoping to end his high school career with a state medal and a school record in the pole vault.
The Park Rapids senior accomplished one of those goals.
Drury, who qualified for his first state track meet with a runner-up height of 13 feet at the Section 8A meet, tied with three other boys for sixth place at 12 feet, 9 inches during Friday's finals. Drury, who was looking to break Rex Rognstad's school record of 13-3.50 set in 1978, entered the state meet seeded fifth with three other competitors.
Blake junior Grant Krieger won the state title by clearing 15 feet.
Pole vault: 1, Grant Krieger, Blake, 15-0. 2, Jake Zebedee, Blue Earth, 14-9. 3, Max Maher, Rush City, 13-9. 4, Kevin Wagner, Mankato Loyola, 13-3. 5, Randy Juell, Redwood Valley, 13-3. 6 (tie) Forrest Drury, Park Rapids, Kevin Drotts, Deer River, Tim Davie, Legacy, and Ramsey Hovelson, Byron, 12-9.
Overmyer earns final medal
Overmyer was looking to break 10 minutes and earn a medal in his first trip to the state meet.
The Park Rapids freshman fulfilled both of those goals.
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Overmyer, who was seeded 12th after clocking a 10:00.06 as the runner-up at the section meet, claimed the final state medal by placing ninth in 9:58.20 during Friday's finals.
Foley junior Charlie Lawrence won the state title with a 9:22.92.
3,200 run: 1, Charlie Lawrence, Foley, 9:22.92. 2, Matt Welch, Proctor, 9:23.44. 3, Bryon Schuldt, Nevis, 9:29.11. 4, Brandon Clark, Blake, 9:32.63. 5, Nick Gaolebiowski, St. Cloud Cathedral, 9:43.37. 6, Romeo Benish, Proctor, 9:48.37. 7, Nathan Warneke, Zumbrota, 9:56.57. 8, Jacob Gerhartz, Sauk Centre, 9:57.34. 9, Isaac Overmyer, Park Rapids, 9:58.20.
Carlson misses out on finals
Carlson's main goal entering his first state meet was to get personal bests in both the 200 and 400.
The Park Rapids sophomore fell short of those goals.
During Friday's preliminaries of the 400, Carlson finished seventh in his heat and 13th overall with a 52.06. Pillager senior Wesley Delong had the fastest qualifying time of 49.66 and went on to win the state title in 48.69 during Saturday's finals. Carlson was the No. 11 seed after winning the section title in 51.22.
In the 200 preliminaries Friday, Carlson finished 20th out of 20 qualifiers with a 23.88. Foley sophomore Tyler Beehler had the fastest preliminary time of 22.08. Breckenridge junior Michael Whitney edged Beehler for the state title with a 22.31 during Saturday's finals. Carlson was the No. 20 seed with a section runner-up time of 23.74.
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400 dash: 1, Wesley Delong, Pillager, 48.69. 2, Josh Cisar, Moose Lake, 49.40. 3, Kendal Strandlund, Christ's Household of Faith, 49.58. 4, Riley Mudek, Esko, 50.23. 5, Paul Hernke, Cannon Falls, 50.48. 6, DJ Cline, Ottertail Central, 50.74. 7, Addison Montiel, Sibley East, 50.81. 8, Jason Vongsavanh, Jackson County Central, 50.86. 9, Jacob Rajkowski, Braham, 51.42. 13, Austin Carlson, Park Rapids, 52.06.
200 dash: 1, Michael Whitney, Breckenridge, 22.31. 2, Tyler Beehler, Foley, 22.40. 3, Adam Drenckhahn, Caledonia, 22.54. 4, Wesley Delong, Pillager, 22.65. 5, Johnson, Kenyon, 22.73. 6, Jake Disterhaupt, Moose Lake, 22.76. 7, Kendall Strandlund, Christ's Household of Faith, 22.79. 8, Mitchell Sella, Virginia, 22.85. 9, David Paynotta, Hinkley, 23.12. 20, Austin Carlson, Park Rapids, 23.88.
