Park Rapids boys win Little Amik title

Led by a pair of wins in the relays, the Park Rapids boys track and field team ran away with the team title at the Little Amik Invitational at Bemidji State University on Tuesday, April 2.

Skylar Hagen, Lane Monaghan, Kaleb Stearns and Seth Breitweser opened the meet by winning the 4 x 800-meter relay in 9:03.63 while Monaghan, Stearns, Breitweser and Chris Day ended the running events by winning the 4 x 400 relay in 3:46.40. Those two efforts helped lead the Panthers to the title in this 21-team indoor meet at the Gillett Wellness Center with 81.50 points. Pillager was a distant second with 58 points.

Hannah Morgan broke her school record in the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, 4 inches and won the 200 dash in 28.19 in leading the Panthers to runner-up honors in the girls meet with 54.50 points. Morgan, Kendra Scholz, Julia Johnson and Holly Johnson also took first in the 4 x 400 relay in 4:29.94. Thief River Falls captured the team title with 85 points.

Adding runner-up showings for the Park Rapids boys were Breitweser in the 800 run (2:11.26), Monaghan in the 1,600 run (5:00.53) and Jake Reish in the high jump (5-8). Avery Wolff placed third in the triple jump at 36-10.50 and tied for fourth in the high jump at 5-6.

Also placing for the Panthers in the boys meet were Day in the 400 dash (fourth in 56.20), Max Crist in the 60 hurdles (fifth in 9.87), Jake Reish in the triple jump (fifth at 36-4), Sam Reish in the long jump (sixth at 18-1), Darryl Etter (sixth in 11:12.31) and Parker Harmon (seventh in 11:31.48) in the 3,200 run, and Dawson Dahring in the 60 hurdles (eighth in 10.98). The 4 x 200 relay team of Day, Sam Reish, Josiah May and Jeremiah Engst placed fifth in 1:43.49.

"The boys performed awesome. Many boys ran their fastest indoor times ever and it resulted in winning the meet," said Park Rapids head coach Andrew Lachowitzer. "We are hitting times that took us until late April last season to hit already so that is really exciting. We are just going to keep training hard and see what happens."

For the Park Rapids girls, Scholz, Olivia Davis, Julia Johnson and Morgan finished third in the 4 x 200 relay in 1:56.71 and Holly Johnson tied for third place in the pole vault by clearing 6-6. Also placing for the Panthers were Morgan Koppelman (fifth in 1:06.06) and Holly Johnson (sixth in 1:06.24) in the 400 dash, Savana Damar in the pole vault (tied for sixth at 6-6), and Natalia Lopez in the 800 run (seventh in 2:41.92). The 4 x 800 relay team of Lopez, Liesl Smee, Julia Harmon and Madeline Guida also placed seventh in 11:58.78.

United North Central placed 12th in the boys meet with 24 points and 11th in the girls meet with 21 points. Zach Floyd finished second in the long jump (20-4), third in the 200 dash (24.84) and fourth in the 60 dash (7.62) while Dylan Rasmussen finished fourth in the pole vault at 10-6 to account for the Warriors' points in the boys meet. Annika Aho won the 1,600 run in 5:39.91 and placed third in the 800 run in 2:32.60 while the 4 x 800 relay team of Kaarin Lehto, Rachael Smith, Kylynn Warmbold and Alessandra Matson placed fourth in 11:44.64 to account for UNC's points in the girls meet.

"They did very well. We saw a huge change in performance from the meet last week to this week," said UNC head coach Tom Smith. "I'm very happy with improvements and we can see the potential in all the athletes on what they will be bringing to the team. We are very excited about the upcoming season."

Boys team scores: Park Rapids 81.50, Pillager 58, Wadena-Deer Creek 57, Frazee 52, International Falls 39.50, Staples-Motley 39, Bagley/Fosston 35, Roseau 34, Thief River Falls 32, Cromwell-Wright 29, Clearbrook-Gonvick 27, United North Central 24, Lake of the Woods 21, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 18, Pine River-Backus 15, Pequot Lakes 12, West Marshall 8, New York Mills 2, Badger-Greenbush-Middle River 0, Northome-Kelliher/Blackduck 0, Trek North 0.

Individual results

4 x 800 relay: 1, Park Rapids (Hagen, Monaghan, Stearns, Breitweser), 9:03.63.

60 hurdles: 1, Wosmek, PRB, 8.78. 5, Crist, PR, 9.87. 8, Dahring, PR, 10.98.

60 dash: 1, Olson, Roseau, 7.46. 4, Floyd, UNC, 7.62.

400 dash: 1, Hale, WDC, 54.19. 4, Day, PR, 56.20.

1,600 run: 1, Lizakowski, TRF, 4:58.59. 2, Monaghan, PR, 5:00.53. 8, Hagan, PR, 5:07.62.

4 x 200 relay: 1, W-DC, 1:39.94. 5, Park Rapids (May, Day, Engsts, S. Reish), 1:43.49.

800 run: 1, Tirkkonen, Bagley, 2:06.74. 2, Breitweser, PR, 2:11.26.

200 dash: 1, Peterson, Pillager, 24.06. 3, Floyd, UNC, 24.84.

3,200 run: 1, Wilson, IF, 10:56.95. 6, Etter, PR, 11:12.31. 7, Harmon, PR, 11:31.48.

4 x 400 relay: 1, Park Rapids (Monaghan, Day, Breitweser, Stearns), 3:46.40.

High jump: 1, Davis, S-M, 5-8. 2, J. Reish, PR, 5-8. 4 (tie), Wolff, PR, 5-6.

Pole vault: 1, Maxwell, IF, 11-6. 4, Rasmussen, UNC, 10-6.

Long jump: 1, Ehlers, C-G, 20-8. 2, Floyd, UNC, 20-4. 6, S. Reish, PR, 18-1.

Triple jump: 1, Fleisher, Frazee, 38-9. 3, Wolff, PR, 36-10.50. 5, J. Reish, PR, 36-4.

Shot put: 1, Helmers, Frazee, 52-5.

Girls team scores: Thief River Falls 85, Park Rapids 54.50, Frazee 53, Pillager 48.50, Pequot Lakes 48, Wadena-Deer Creek 44, International Falls 38, Cromwell-Wright 29, Northome-Kelliher/Blackduck 28, Clearbrook-Gonvick 26, United North Central 21, Bagley/Fosston 19.50, Pine River-Backus 18, West Marshall 15.50, New York Mills 15, Lake of the Woods 14, Staples-Motley 10, Badger-Greenbush-Middle River 9, Roseau 9, Trek North 0, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 0.

Individual results

4 x 800 relay: 1, W-DC, 11:11.73. 4, United North Central (Lehto, Smith, Warmbold, Matson), 11:44.64. 7, Park Rapids (Lopez, Smee, Harmon, Guida), 11:58.78.

60 hurdles: 1, Johannsen, Frazee, 10.11.

60 dash: 1, Malone, W-DC, 8.22.

400 dash: 1, Brouse, TRF, 1:01.98. 5, Koppelman, PR, 1:06.06. 6, H. Johnson, PR, 1:06.24.

1,600 run: 1, Aho, UNC, 5:39.91.

4 x 200 relay: 1, Frazee, 1:54.81. 3, Park Rapids (Scholz, Davis, J. Johnson, Morgan), 1:56.71.

800 run: 1, Finstad, TRF, 2:28.63. 3, Aho, UNC, 2:32.60. 7, Lopez, PR, 2:41.92.

200 dash: 1, Morgan, PR, 28.19.

3,200 run: 1, Mills, NKB, 12:48.58.

4 x 400 relay: 1, Park Rapids (Scholz, Morgan, J. Johnson, H. Johnson), 4:29.94.

High jump: 1, Johnson, Pillager, 4-10.

Pole vault: 1, Johnson, Pillager 9-0. 3 (tie), H. Johnson, PR, 6-6. 6 (tie), Damar, PR, 6-6.

Long jump: 1, Morgan, PR, 17-4.

Triple jump: 1, Lodge, PRB, 32-0.

Shot put: 1, Johnson, NKB, 36-0.