Each placing second in the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Lions 7-team invitational track meet Tuesday night, April 30, the Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball boys’ and girls’ track
teams are starting the new season on the right “feet”. The athletes took to the great outdoors and the competition in Belgrade was exciting. Boys’ coach Jason Mortenson is very pleased with the squad’s improvement. “Our relays are starting to take shape and our individuals are pretty much in place. Right now we are working on our depth and trying to find strong second and third participants in events, to help our team score, as we head to our CMC meet in two weeks. Maple Lake is incredibly tough, but we are going to get as tough as we can to compete with them and see what happens.” The relay teams consist of Austin Marx, DJ Stewart, Brandon Faber and Shadly Callahan in the 4x800; Tommy Lochen, Torey Rohloff, Cole Denn and Deshaun James in the 4x200; Alex Shoenwetter, Torey Rohloff, Cole Denn and John Salzl in the 4x100; and Shadley Callahan, Austin Marx, Torey Rohloff and Austin Pelkey in the 4x400.
Connor Wittenberg broke the Kimball Area High School 110M hurdle record that had been held by Jim Hunt since 1981. Wittenberg took first in both the
110M and the 300M hurdles for the Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball track team at the St. John’s track meet held Friday, May 3.
Thirty-something guys’ and gals’ track teams competed at the Central Minnesota Mega Meet Saturday, May 4, at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School. Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball boys’ track and field coach Jason Mortenson knows the value of the mega meet competition. “As far as the mega meet goes, we only participate in this meet to prepare ourselves with great competition, both physically and mentally, as we head into our True Team, CMC and the sub-section meets. This really brings out our competitiveness and usually provides us with a bunch of personal bests because of the great competition.” Girls’ coach Gordy Schlangen was very pleased with what he saw. “At the Mega Meet, the girls fought the weather and very tough competition. Many girls were right at their personal best times, heights, or distances, but it was really tough competition. So it was very hard to finish in the top 8 to score for the team. I really liked their effort!”
Following are the results:
Girls’ 100-meter dash: First Place, Courtney Purcell, BHS, 12.85; EV-W-K: 38th Place, Tiffany Kuechle, 14.94; 40th Place, Seahara Mancini, 16.31
Boys’ 100-meter dash: First Place, Walter Grant, SLPSA, 11.36; EV-W-K: 10th Place, Deshaun James, 11.86; 39th Place, Keith Estes, 12.82; 43rd Place, Thomas Neuman, 13.66
Girls’ 200-meter dash: First Place, Jedah Caldwell, Cent, 25.51; EV-W-K: 25th Place, Holly Loch, 29.18; 29th Place, Madison Hurrle, 29.43; 35th Place, Julia Stotz, 30.74
Boys’ 200-meter dash: First Place, Akeem Sirleaf, North, 22.15; EV-W-K: fourth Place, Austin Pelkey, 23.12; 23rd Place, Deshaun James, 24.49; 33rd Place, Tommy Lochen, 25.51
Girls’ 400-meter dash: First Place, Justice Callahan, TECH, 1:01.74; EV-W-K: 19th Place, Brittany Hesse, 1:08.56; 26th Place, Madison Hurrle, 1:10.07; 39th Place, Kristen Howe, 1:21.40
Boys’ 400-meter dash: First Place, Sam Johnson, Monticello, 51.64; EV-W-K: fourth Place, Austin Pelkey, 53.10; 19th Place, Austin Marx, 57.07; 38th Place, Sawyer Mies, 1:04.00
Girls’ 800-meter run: First Place, Krista Steele, Monticello, 2:29.45; EV-W-K: 22nd Place, Malina Röttgermann, 2:46.33; 30th Place, Chelsey Barthel, 2:50.90; 31st Place, Courtney Geislinger, 2:50.91
Girls’ 800-meter run Wheelchair: First Place, Jolynn Super, SLPSA, 4:26.39
Boys’ 800-meter run: First Place, Anthoni Morrow, Sartell, 2:07.73; EV-W-K: Sixth Place, Kirby Knutson, 2:11.32; 37th Place, Chris Lamm, 2:39.22; 39th Place, Dylan Haan, 2:58.05
Girls’ 1600-meter run: First Place, Sam Sunstrom, SRR, 5:20.72; EV-W-K: 38th Place, Mandy Molitor, 6:47.26; 39th Place, Hannah Holmberg, 7:04.34 Boys’ 1600-meter run: First Place, Charlie Lawrence, Foley, 4:29.70; EV-W-K: 39th Place, James Gathje, 5:52.69; 41st Place, John Zipoy, 5:58.11; 42nd Place, Keith Estes, 6:36.23
Girls’ 3200-meter run: First Place, Amber Seidenkranz, Monticello, 11:26.40
Boys’ 3200-meter run: First Place, Charlie Lawrence, Foley, 9:44.06
Girls’ 100-meter hurdles: First Place, Alex Williams, BHS, 15.61; EV-W-K: 16th Place, Tiffany Kuechle, 18.18; 19th Place, Maline Röttgermann, 18.19; 24th Place, Emily Donnay, 18.45
Boys’ 110-meter hurdles: First Place, CJ Janu, SLPSA, 14.90
Girls’ 300-meter hurdles: First Place, Erin Huls, Rocori, 46.98; EV-W-K: Seventh Place, Emily Donnay, 51.21; 11th Place, Abbey Straley, 52.82; 28th Place, Emma Kuechle, 57.50
Boys’ 300-meter hurdles: First Place, CJ Janu, SLPSA, 39.28; 20th Place, Shadly Callahan, 46.92; 29th Place, James Gathje, 49.64; 34th Place, Thomas Neuman, 52.74
Girls’ 4x100-meter relay: First Place, BHS, 50.79; EV-W-K: 11th Place, 58.25
Boys’ 4x100-meter relay: First Place, North St. Paul, 45.73; EV-W-K: 12th Place, 49.37
Girls’ 4x200-meter relay: First Place, BHS, 1:48.91; EV-W-K: 1:58.46
Boys’ 4x200-meter relay: First Place, SLPSA, 1:33.80; EV-W-K: 11th Place, 1:41.35
Girls’ 4x400-meter relay: First Place, TECH, 4:16.20; EV-W-K: Ninth Place, 4:41.08
Boys’ 4x400-meter relay: First Place, Coon Rapids, 3:32.74; EV-W-K: Fourth Place, 3:44.37
Girls’ 4x800-meter relay: First Place, Monticello, 10:20.44; EV-W-K: 12th Place, 11:51.66
Boys’ 4x800-meter relay: First Place, SLPSA, 8:39.55; EV-W-K: 12th Place, 9:25.41
Girls’ High Jump: First Place, Kelsey Mohlenkamp, Sartell, 5-00.00; EV-W-K: tied Seventh Place, Malina Röttgermann, 4-06.00;
Boys’ High Jump: First Place, Josh Lieberg, Sartell, 6-05.00; EV-W-K: tied 12th Place, Kirby Knutson, 5-06.00
Girls’ Long Jump: First Place, Molly McGrath, 15-10.50; EV-W-K: tied 12 Place, Holly Loch, 14-08.50; tied 14th Place, Brittany Hesse, 14-06.00
Boys’ Long Jump: First Place, Jason Lilja, Coon Rapids, 21-04.00; EV-W-K: Ninth Place, Austin Pelkey, 19-07.50; tied 18th Place, Deshaun James, 18-01.50; 35th Place, Tommy Lochen, 15-02.50
Girls’ Triple Jump: First Place, Greta Walsh, Litchfield, 33-07.50; EV-W-K: 29th Place, Madeleine Geislinger, 27-00.50; 30th Place, Courtney Geislinger, 25-08.00
Boys’ Triple Jump: First Place, Ejiya Ejodamen, SLPSA, 42-06.25; EV-W-K: 16th Place, Kirby Knutson, 37-02.50; 34th Place, Monte Albert, 31-00.00; 35th Place, Samuel Ehlinger, 30-11.75
Girls’ Shot Put: First Place, Courtney Pasiowitz, Coon Rapids, 42-02.50; EV-W-K: Ninth Place, Raevon Willner, 31-08.75
Boys’ Shot Put: First Place, Daulton Olinger, SLPSA, 49-09.75; EV-W-K: Fifth Place, Austyn Schlueter, 46-08.75
Girls’ Discus Throw: First Place, Erica Oawster, Cent, 122-05
Boys’ Discus Throw: First Place, Sam Udermann, Foley, 167-00
Girls’ Pole Vault: First Place, Alisha Stemper, Foley, 9-06.00
Boys’ Pole Vault: First Place, Ryan Thibaudeau, North, 13-03.00
In the women’s 20-event contest, EV-W-K placed 17th, with 3.5 points, and the men’s 18-event competition saw EV-W-K taking 12th place, with 22 points.
Senior, captain, shot-put thrower Austyn Schlueter of the EV-W-K track team broke the school record (held by Dave Asfeld of 45’10” from 1976) at the Foley meet Tuesday, April 23, with a throw of 47’10” and then broke his own record at Maple Lake Thursday, April 25, with a launch of 49’8-1/2”.
Spring has sprung … and the Cubs have finally come out of hibernation, as the girls cruised to a 7-2 victory Friday afternoon, 
April 26, over non-conference opponent Long Prairie/Grey Eagle.
Kimball first-year coach Eric Primus was excited for the new season.
Lexi Rose picks up the win for the Cubs in the season opener. Staff photo by Marguerite Laabs.