By Brian Tschetter –

The Minnesota State Class A Track & Field Meet took place on Thursday and Friday, June 9 and 10, at the St. Michael – Albertville High School Track Complex. 

SWC / E had three athletes in four events that participated in the meet. They were: Reece Wassink in discus, Grant Busker in high jump and Micah Schaap in the 400 and long jump. The athletes qualified for the state meet a week earlier at the Section 3A meet held in Pipestone. Weather was sunny and warm for the meet as temps were in the 80’s.

The meet is held as a two-day event with prelims on Thursday and finals on Friday. Field events are split with some being held on day one and some being held on day two. All running events have prelims except the 1600, 3200, and the 4X800.

The girls discus event was held on Thursday so Reece was first to compete. There were 17 competitors with the winning distance being 134-05. Reece came into the meet with a seed distance of 107-11 from the section meet. Reece was able to nearly throw that same distance at the state meet as her top throw was 105-03 for a 12th place finish. She threw right around the 100-00 mark most of the season. Her season best was also a career best, and a school record throw of 113-04. The state meet was a great way to cap off a great career for Reece. She has been a constant for the team for years in both the discus and shot put and will be missed by the team.

The only runner in the track event for the Eagles was Micah Schaap competing in the 400. Prior to the state meet Micah had the second best 400 time in the state with a 49.98 Unfortunately, at the section meet Micah sustained a significant hamstring injury. He was still able to will himself to a 53.10 which won the section meet and qualified him for the state meet. In the prelim heat, the hamstring just simply would not allow him to run like he is capable of running. His time of 52.54 placed him 11th, two positions short of advancing to finals. Heartbreaking doesn’t begin to describe the situation. A healthy Micah cruises into finals and is looking at a great overall finish. In finals, the winning time was 48.60, 2nd place at 49.52 and third with a 50.05. 

On day two, Micah had the long jump competition. On his first jump at the section meet Micah hit a state meet qualifying jump of 21-08. On the approach of his second jump, the injury occurred. Micah knew that his chance of doing anything at the state meet was not great but as they say, he gave it the old college try. It’s pretty easy to understand that a hamstring injury makes trying to jump nearly impossible. Micah did all he could but his leg just wouldn’t allow that to be anything close to his normal abilities. His best jump was 18-01.25. Micah hasn’t had a jump of that length probably since 7th grade, so this too was a very difficult time. The winning jump was 21-05.75. Micah had the top mark in the state of Minnesota at 23-03 and, in just one jump a week earlier, jumped 21-08. I am most certain that Micah on two healthy legs would be a state champion. It was also heartbreaking to not be in the triple jump competition. Micah was not able to get any jumps in at the section meet. Micah had a season best jump of 45-05.5. The state winner hit a jump of 46-01.5. Second and 3rd places were 44-07.75 and 44-01.75. For all the joys you see in sports, there most certainly are gut wrenching moments as well. Micah simply had an unbelievable high school career. He has school records in long jump and triple jump and would have been gunning for the 400 record as well. His work ethic and how he conducted himself made for the perfect role model for younger members of the squad. Needless to say, Micah will be very missed as part the Eagle squad.