Five events claim medals; Schaap earns 3

By Brian Tschetter –

The Minnesota State Class A Track & Field Meet took place on Friday, June 18, at the St. Michael – Albertville High School Complex. SWC / E had 10 athletes in 8 events that participated in the meet. They were: Braelyn Kracht in the 100 meter hurdles, Anna Suda in the 100, Kaitlyn Schuur in pole vault, Haley Wieck, Kierra Binford, Suda, and Ellie Decker in the 4X200 relay, Micah Schaap in the 400, long jump and triple jump and Jaden Barron, Levi Van Dyken, Aidan Schaap, and Schaap in the 4X400 relay. Elizabeth Eisma, Savannah Schultz, Carter Kracht, and Ethan Sas were prepared to compete as well as they were alternates for the relays. This group of tracksters did an amazing job at the state meet. They claimed medals in 5 of the 8 events and season best performances and career best performances were given. The athletes qualified for the state meet a week earlier at the Section 3A meet held in Redwood Falls. Weather was sunny and very hot for the meet as temps were in the low 90’s.

The state meet was run a bit different this year due to COVID. Usually, the meet is a two day event with prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday and both the girls meet and boys meet held together. This year, no prelims were held. All events were finals and the girls meet and boys were separated. Class A boys was held Friday morning, Class A girls in the afternoon. The AA meets were held Saturday.

The 4X200 relay team: Haley Wieck, Kierra Binford, Anna Suda and Ellie Decker. They posted their season best time and earned 9th place at state.

The boys 4X400 relay team of Jaden Barron, Levi Van Dyken, Aidan Schaap and Micah Scaap. They earned 10th place at state.