The West Marshall Fusion Track & Field team has been having plenty of great individual performances this spring. Two individuals on the team just broke school records this past week at the same meet in Thief River Falls on May 17. Sophomore Hannah Pederson broke the record in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.42, edging out the previous school record of 48.46 set by Tami Pawlowski in 2006. During the same meet, seventh-grader Ayla Woinarowicz crushed the 3200 meters with a time of 12:37.52, which beat the previous record of 12:40 set by Megan Dufault all the way back in 1999.
West Marshall Track & Field Coach Ben Miska had nothing but great things to say about Pederson. “I think the best thing about Hannah, is that she’s such a strong kid. We can put her really in any event and she’s going to do a good job,” said Coach Miska. “She is a kid that has contributed for us at the varsity level since seventh grade, and she’s really come on strong this year and just had a solid season.”
As Coach Miska noted, Hannah has participated in a lot of different events for the Fusion. “I run the 100-meter hurdles, the 4X200 relay, and the 300-meter hurdles,” said Hannah Pederson. “With the 300-meter hurdle run where I broke the school record, it was only my second time doing it, so I was extremely happy with how I ran that one.”
Pederson also does the Triple Jump for the Fusion and said that is probably her favorite event. Pederson started Track & Field at a younger age and all her siblings also participated in the sport, which explains why she has been able to have so much success while still only being a sophomore. Breaking a school record was never something she imagined happening, but she is incredibly thankful to know her name is in the record books for the time being. “I never thought by any means I would break a school record,” said Hannah Pederson. “I just followed the girl that was in front of me and kept going. It does feel great knowing I did something that had never been done before.”
From the coaching side of things, Coach Miska said you can’t help but be proud and excited for a kid like Hannah. “I’m incredibly proud of Hannah and everything she has accomplished. You are very excited when things like this happen to good kids, and Hannah is a great kid,” said Coach Miska. “She excels in the classroom, in the community, and whatever field she is competing on, so you just really love to see someone like that have success.”
As for Ayla, not only did she break the school record in the 3200 meters, but it was also just the first time she ran the event. She normally runs the 1600 meters, 800 meters, and 4X800 relay, as this typically helps the team get the best scores. Ayla always wanted to run the 3200 meters, however, as she loves the longer distance runs. “I wanted to run the event because I ran the 3000 meters during an indoor meet, and I really liked that,” said Ayla Woinarowicz. “I definitely like the longer distance runs better.”
Ayla unlike Hannah said her goal was to break the school record and she believed that she could do it. “I had the goal going into the race that I could beat the record,” said Ayla Woinarowicz. “I would like to beat it again at some point and continue to improve on my times moving forward.”
This is the first year that Ayla has run Track & Field, and in short, she said she joined simply because she loves to run. Ayla said that the conditions set up well, and that it was a good day to run when she broke the school record.
West Marshall Fusion Coach Garry Kotts works closely with the long-distance runners and said it is very unusual to see someone start Track & Field and have this much success right away. “Ayla is a very good runner and it’s not normal to see someone who is just starting immediately have this much success,” said Coach Kotts. “She has now run two 3200 meter races, the one being where she broke the school record, and then more recently she ran it again at our last meet and while the time wasn’t as good, she placed 5th out of 24 kids at the State True Team Meet. That is extremely impressive considering a lot of those kids she was running against went to State in Cross Country.”
Coach Kotts says for as much as Ayla has helped the team with her talent, she has been a joy to have around because of the kind of person she is. “She is very quiet, but she does every workout and whatever you need her to do,” said Coach Kotts. “She is a hard worker and a great kid to have around and on the team.”
Coach Kotts is hopeful and excited to see what Ayla and the rest of the Fusion distance runners can accomplish moving forward. “There is a number of good runners in the area and in our section but with the time that Ayla just recently ran she would probably be good to finish in the top 4 in the section,” said Coach Kotts. “She is capable of putting up a good time and I think that she has a good chance of advancing to State, but the thing to remember is she is only a seventh-grader, and there are many years to come still after this one.”
Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, or the rest of their careers, Ayla and Hannah will, for the time being, be able to say they did something no one else for West Marshall Fusion Track & Field ever had, and they managed to each do it on the same day.
