Apple Valley boys and girls track teams both competed Tuesday at the Wildcat Invitational at Eagan. This meet features some tough local competition, with teams competing from Shakopee and Eagan. Bitter conditions provided an extra challenge with frigid weather and strong gusts, hindering some athletes from smashing their personal records. However, the Eagles have improved significantly this season, with the boys finishing 5th overall as a team and the girls finishing 7th overall at the invitational.
Boys Battle on Bitter Day
In the midst of gloomy conditions the boys track and field team competed well, with notable performances in many categories.
On the field side of events, Apple Valley competitors had stellar performances:
Kieran McKeag getting ready to throw discus.
A duo of Apple Valley pole vaulters, Hugh Jones and Josh Bauer-Boyd, finished 5th and 7th respectively, with both of them reaching 10’.
Senior captain Kieran McKeag claimed the top berth in both of his field events, discus and shot put, with discus being 161’ 10” and shot put being 54’ 11.25”. The Gopher commit has dominated this season so far and can only improve.
In both jumping events, triple jump and high jump, junior Josh Hylland did extremely well for Apple Valley, placing 4th and 6th overall, respectively.
“We’ve shown a lot of improvement in a short amount of time,” said head coach Jeff Flugum. The team displayed this improvement as they finished 5th overall this year in the Wildcat Invitational, a step up from last year.
On the track side of races, Apple Valley has improved immensely, with some achieving personal records:
Senior Robert Hapke shattered his previous personal best in the 3200 race with a time of 10:24 this year, placing 3rd. His teammate, Nate Williams came in close finishing 5th place with a time of 10:38.
Nate Williams (front) and Michael Boerboon (back) fend off Eagan competitors in the 3200 meter race
Hurdlers Justin Smithwick and Mohamed Kone competed in the 110 meter hurdles with excellent performances, finishing 6th and 8th respectively.
Junior Kyle Bergevin finished the 1600 meter race with a scorching pace of 4:51, taking 6th place.
Senior Captain Isaiah Hall sprinted the 100 meter race with a time of 11.77 seconds. This placed him 8th overall.
In the 800 meter race, senior captain Yassin Abasher recorded 2:08, which placed him 5th in competition.
“I’ve been excited to see how deep our distance crew is,” said Flugum. This was showcased as many first year runners have been called up to the varsity level for the Tuesday meet.
Yassin Abasher (center) lines up at the waterfall for the 800 meter race.
On the slate for the team is the South Suburban relays at Prior Lake Tuesday, May 3rd, but even more importantly, the team is training for True Team, a home event where every place count.
Other notable performances:
Jackson Green(shot put) : 6th 45’ 11.25”
Michael Boerboon(3200)- 7th 10:42
Girls Grapple With Gritty Day
Cold and windy conditions did not stop the girls track team from improving their performances on Tuesday as they competed at the Wildcat Invitational at Eagan.
Senior Bailey Roberts coming in on second lap in the 800 meter race
On the track side of events, the sprinters had some excellent performances.
In the 100 meter sprints, Khanaila Kielo and Myah Cloutier finished in 9th and 10th place, respectively.
Senior captain Sara Beneke leaped into a 9th place finish in the 100 meter hurdles.
Senior captain Olivia Anger continues her reign in the 1600 meter race. Her snappy pace of 5:21 was enough to fend off the rest of competitors in her event.
Senior captain Bailey Roberts finished second in her heat in the 800 meter race.
Junior Amanda Berg excelled in her performances. She claimed 7th in the 200 meter sprint with a time of 27.62 seconds. In her 400 she finished 6th with a time of 1:03.
Amanda Berg in her block ready to start the 4×400 relay
“We’re pretty young… [we’re] moving around people to find out where their best event is,” said head coach Raedi Zimmer.
Building a team on young athletes is important, but leadership for younger teams is critical in order to build a strong team.
“We have very good senior leadership,” said Zimmer.
This is especially important so that younger athletes have role models to look up to as they continue to develop their own skills.
On the field side of events, the girls performed well:
Madison Reed –an 8th grader– captured 6th place overall, leading Apple Valley’s girls discus with a throw of 104’ 4”.
In shot put, senior Taylor Wangerin lead the Apple Valley girls with a 12th place finish, with a distance of 31’ 5.5,” and Madison Reed finishing 13th with a distance of 31’ 1.25”.
Senior captain Amanda Sonnenberg had a remarkable performance in her area of expertise, pole vaulting. She jumped a height of 10,’ which claimed a 2nd place finish at the Invitational.
3200 meter runners line up for the race. From left to right for Apple Valley- Morgan Meyer, Hallie Hughes
In the high jump competition, Mykel Parham landed a 4th place finish with a height of 4’ 10”.
The team as a whole will continue to build and improve as they approach their most important meets in the upcoming month.
One of their primary goals is “to perform well and put everything together for our true team section,” said Zimmer.
True Team is one of the most important meets of the year for both boys and girls track and is scored in a unique way, where every person receives points.
The girls next competition is alongside the boys at Prior Lake as conference teams will meet at the South Suburban Relays on Tuesday May, 3rd.
Other notable performances:
The 4×100 relay team finished with total time of 52.11 seconds claiming 3rd out of 10 places.