EMMA BOROWICZ AND NOAH KIEL ADVANCE TO STATE TRACK MEET

Two Crookston Pirate Boys and Girls Track and Field athletes earned spots in the State Track meet after competing in the Section 8A Track and Field meet in East Grand Forks.
Noah Kiel won the 100-meter dash and finished second in the 200 meters to qualify for state in the two races. Emma Borowicz won the 300-meter hurdles to earn a trip to state.
The Crookston girls finished in fourth place as a team with 56 points with Barnesville winning the Section title with 59 points. The Crookston boys took sixth place with 41 points as Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton won the boys’ section title with 114 points. 

GIRLS –
Emma Borowicz won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.26 seconds to advance to the state track meet next weekend at Hamline University. “I don’t think its hit me yet, I’m so tired, but yeah, it feels great,” said Borowicz. “My first 200 (meters), that was good, that was how I wanted it to be, and then after that, I was just grinding it out because I was tired. It felt exhausting, but it felt good to have the stands there (for the final 100 meters) with my parents and everybody from Crookston helping cheer.”
Borowicz finished third place in the pole vault and just missed going to state after tying her personal best vault of nine feet.
“Emma had a big job to do today,” noted Crookston head coach Amy Boll. “She had four events to do, and she came out really strong. Both headstrong and physically strong. Her performance was really amazing. In the hurdles, she really just started training this year. It really shows how coachable she is and how athletically gifted she is, and mentally strong that she is. That is a hard race to run, and you have to be very physically strong, and she is a multiple sport athlete. She had a good race. She had little hiccups. They have work to do. Knowing Emma and how hard she works, I really think she’s going to obtain that goal (of an improved finish time in the state meet). We’ll see what she does. She’s got a week more of practice.”

Jada Dillabough started the day strong of the Pirate girls with an impressive showing in the discus using a 100-11.00 feet throw to take third place in the Section.  She also finished fifth-place in the shot put after a throw of 35-01.00 feet. “She came in the discus as a wildcard,” noted Boll. “She was probably the calmest as they went through and she (set a personal record) her goal was to throw over 100 feet, and she did. She did really well by placing third after coming in as a wildcard and not even being expected to place. She had a good day in the shot put too. She didn’t have her best throw, but she still had a pretty good throw.”

In the 4×800 relay Thea Oman, Anke Wiersma, Hailey Spivey, and Hayden Winjum finished in 10:05.26 finishing in third place for Crookston.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Breanna Kressin finished in 16.33 seconds to take fourth place.  In the 300-meter hurdles, Kressin claimed fifth place with a time of 49.76 seconds.  “She was a little disappointed in her run today,” said Coach Boll. “But where she came from after getting injured at the Bemidji State meet, she came a long way and I am proud of her.”

Battling through a foot injury, Katherine Geist tried to compete through the pain and led through three laps but ultimately was unable to finish with her usual pace taking fourth place with a time of 5:26.14. Due to the injury, Geist did not compete in the 3200-meter race. “I don’t want my voice to crack, but I’ve been saying prayers and hoping for the best,” said Boll. “It’s kind of one of those strange things that happened. She’s been practicing with us all year, and she’s been practicing prior to track season. She’s been practicing really hard so I can imagine how she feels about not being able to do it. She wanted to run the 3200 meters (as well), and she had put on her shoes to run the 3200 but she just wept and my heart broke.”

In the final event of the meet, the 4×400 relay, Crookston took fifth place with a time of 4:16.34 between runners Kailee Magsam, Anke Wiersma, Rachel Hefta, and Emma Borowicz. “All of them had really good times,” said Boll. “It’s been fun (coaching them).”
Crookston’s 4×200 relay team took sixth place as Breanna Kressin, Cassie Solheim, Emma Gunderson, and Rachel Hefta finished in 1:53.36. “I thought both of our two relay teams ran really well,” added Boll. “Our 4×200 relay team moved up in the time that we had projected. Their goal was to get a medal and get on the podium, and that’s what they did. I was very excited about that.”

Hayden Winjum took seventh place after jumping 32-04.50 in the triple jump.

In the 400 meter dash, Anke Wiersma finished in eighth place after running in 1:02.90. “Overall, the girls had a really good day,” summarized Boll. “It was an emotional day. A lot of good things happened. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of the Crookston staff.”

BOYS –
Noah Kiel won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.42 seconds and he finished second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.14 to advance to the state track meet.  The sophomore pulled off a rarity in Pirate and Section 8A track meet history.  It is very rare to have a sophomore advance in either race, let alone both the 100 and 200-meter races.
Kiel had a slow start to the day, but finished his 100-meter race strong. “I came out of the prelims pretty slow, and I didn’t feel that I started very good in, so that was my biggest concern going into the finals” explained Kiel. “I felt like I did okay out of the start and just caught some kids. I’m more of a finisher guy, that’s why I like my 200s better, but in my 100 I thought I did okay. It was so tight coming across the line. I thought I had second place. Then I saw my name on the board in first, and it felt good. I kind of got pumped up.” Kiel said he was happy with his 200. “I felt like my start was pretty good in (the 200 meters),” said Kiel. “I started not to feel my legs as I came around the bend there and just tried to keep up with everybody else that was running and tried to pull a win out. I was hoping I could pull out at least second.”
“It was kind of the opposite of what I was expecting,” said Crookston head coach Wayne Folkers. “He ran a lot of events. He ran the 100 and 200 prelims, the 100 and 200 finals and the 4×200 relay. It was a busy day for him. I don’t think I’ve had somebody advance in both,” noted Folkers. “Not the same person. It’s pretty special for the Section in general, it really is. He did an exceptional job, stayed focus, and did a lot of work. It’s paid off for him because he’s going off to state next week.”

The Pirate boys shot put throwers had a strong showing to in the Section meet. Sam Sanchez launched the shot put 46-02 feet to take fourth place while Ty Hamre’s throw of 43-09.25 feet was good for sixth place. “Sam has had an awesome year,” added Folkers. “He’s another senior kid who started off the year throwing right around forty-feet and finishes the year in the upper-forties, so we’re sure going to miss him next year.  Ty had a great year and kept on improving all year long.  I am looking for big things from him next year.”

In the 800 meters, Jaden Lubarski won his heat and finished fourth-place with a time of 2:05.12. “It was the best race that he’s ever ran,” said Folkers of Lubarski’s performance. “He came out of the first heat, which is the slow heat, and still came out in fourth place. Who knows what would’ve happened if he would’ve been in the faster heat for sure? He’s a senior for us this year and has been a great kid for six years.”

The boy’s 4×200 meters Brady Wisk, Jacob Brunelle, Sam Overgaard, and Noah Kiel took fifth place with a time of 1:36.49. “Earlier in the year,  I wasn’t sure we’d have relays this year or not, but both the 4×100 and 4×200 did really well this year,” said Folkers.

Karsten Isaacson cleared 5-09 feet in the high jump for a sixth-place finish. “If you can (achieve your personal record) at the section meet, that’s all you can ask for,” noted Folkers of Isaacson’s career-best jump. “He’s excited about high-jumping so we’ll work him a little more next year.”

In the 4×100 relay, Brady Wisk, Easton Tangquist, Sam Overgaard, and Jacob Brunelle finished in 47.23 seconds to take sixth place. “I was pleased that they competed,” summarized Folkers. “They got better throughout the year and showed it today. I’m just pleased that they competed hard. It was a fun group too.”

Noah Kiel and Emma Borowicz will return to the track next weekend when they represent Crookston at the State Track and Field Meet in St. Paul at Hamline University starting Friday at 3:30 p.m. with reports throughout the meet.

FOR ALL THE SECTION 8A TRACK MEET RESULTS, CLICK HERE