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Section 7AA Championships

While a wealth of athletes had a shot at the state tournament, Brian Hasleiet knew that just getting some of his athletes to the big dance at Hamline University later this week would be a big accomplishment.

The Vikings sent four competitors last year, and this year they only get two bids, but junior John Morrison qualified in both the discus and shot put events.

The other qualifier was Catie Bettendorf, a heavy favorite in the section after earning a bid to the state meet last year as a junior.

Bettendorf earned the first ticket to the state meet in the 300-meter hurdles event. After coming close in the 100-meter hurdles -- Bettendorf finished fourth in the shorter distance event -- she knew her last chance at a berth in the state tourney as a senior would come in the longer race.

She dominated the qualifying heat for the race, finishing in first place out of 42 girls with a time of 48.05 seconds.

The win qualified her, along with seven other competitors, for the final heat to determine who would be moving on to the state meet. In the finals, she chopped more than a quarter second off of her time, finishing the race in 47.75 seconds. But, sophomore Kadie Savage of Princeton turned it up another notch and moved from second in the qualifying heat to the top of the list with a time of 46.86 seconds in the finals.

Although Bettendorf came in second, she still earned a berth to the state tournament on Friday. "Catie ran her best time by over a half of a second in her 300 race," Head Coach Brian Hasleiet said.

John Morrison was definitely a candidate for a tournament berth heading in, but he didn't seem like a dominating thrower that could earn a trip in both power events.

Well, the junior laid that argument to rest with a second place finish in the shot put and a win in discus.

Morrison tossed the shot 51'9" to finish in second place. The throw was nearly a foot over his personal best so far this year. The winner was freshman Tom Anderson of Andover, who also chucked the shot 51'9"

In the discus, Morrison blasted his personal best throw by four feet. He threw the discus 151'5", which was 13 feet further than second place Kyle Asmus of Cambridge-Isanti.

The throws seem to indicate that Morrison is peaking at a perfect time to make some noise in at Hamline. "John is just a competitor," Hasleiet said. "He stepped up and had his best meet he's had all year."

Morrison's tournament journey begins on Friday, June 5 at Hamline at 9 a.m. He'll be tossing the shot then. Bettendorf will then take to the track on the same day at 11:40 a.m. for the 300-meter hurdle preliminaries. Morrison will continue on Saturday with his discus throws at 9:45 a.m. If Bettendorf makes it to the finals, she'll run at 11:33 a.m. on Saturday morning.

"Both of them had their goals set to make it to the state meet, and they did what it took to get there," Hasleiet explained. "I'm so proud of them. I want to congratulate them and our whole coaching staff for doing a great job this year.

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