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The first track and field meet of the year, the Minnesota State University-Mankato Varsity Showcase, was held on Saturday, March 29 on the Mankato campus, and there were some nice performances from area athletes, even though some of the events are non-traditional distances.

For Chisago Lakes, the top finisher was senior Ava Bringgold, who came in second place in the high jump at 5’2”, with only Princeton’s Kyleigh Noble ahead of her, with a 5’4” jump.

The other top three finisher for the ‘Cats was freshman Annika Hall in the 1,600 meter run. She came in 5:13.03, behind only a pair of seniors, Macy Hanson from Fairmont and Marley Turk from Ames, Iowa.

Unfortunately, Hall’s best event, the 3,200 meter run, wasn’t featured at the meet.

The boys’ pole vaulters also had a great start to the season with Trent Guth and Nathaniel Bear both clearing 12’6” to finish top six.

Kendra Warren finished sixth for the ‘Cats in the girls’ triple jump, Bene’ Smith came in seventh in the pole vault for girls and Bringgold led a host of CL athletes that finished in eighth in events. She came in eighth in the 60 meter hurdles. Edmund Morris, the highest finisher among the boys,  came in eighth in the 60 meter dash. Laura Carlson, who is again pulling double duty between track and lacrosse, finished eighth in the shot put.

North Branch’s best finish from Ella Dick, who cleared a personal best 12 feet in the pole vault,  was good enough for second place in the meet behind Jayda Wilson of Roseville, who cleared 13 feet.

Sophomore Sophia Thorsen had a great meet for the Vikings as she finished in third place in the 200 meter dash. Her time of 25.89 seconds was behind only athletes she won’t see again this year, including a Class AAA standout from Stillwater and a Class A sprinter from Bagley/Fosston.  Senior Ella Kuhlman finished in ninth place in the event and senior Dakota Esget was right behind in 10th.

Thorsen also got a high finish in the 60 meter dash, finishing in sixth place for NB.

Kuhlman also had another high finish, with the basketball standout running a near sub one minute time in the 400 meter run.

Thorsen, Esget, Sophia Benedict and Derrian Dick also teamed up to finish in fifth place in the 4x200 meter relay. They finished in 1:50.40, beating some big schools in the process. The foursomes in front of them were mostly from large schools, as well, so it bodes well for their future in the Class AA ranks.

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