The Crookston Pirate Boy’s and Girl’s Track teams both will be sending 24 athletes to the Section 8A Meet after an impressive performance in the Sub-Section 31 Track Meet held at the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo high school track in Warren.
GIRLS –
The Crookston girls were led by eight first-place finishes to set the tone for a successful meet. Breanna Kressin cruised in the 100-meters to win in 16.31 seconds and earn a spot in the section meet. “(Breanna) Is a strong competitor, she doesn’t like to lose,” noted Crookston head coach Amy Boll.
Katherine Geist continued her dominance in the distance races finishing the 1600 meters in just 5:15.85 to take the top spot on the podium before earn first-place place finish in the 3200 meters as well. “(Geist) looked really good on the track today,” said Boll. “Her form was beautiful. I know she really enjoyed running the 3200. She’s looking forward to the Section meet coming up here too.”
Anke Wiersma finished atop the podium in the 400 meters after finishing in 1:03.01. “That was her best time that she’d run all year,” noted Boll. “When she finished it and saw her time she was just beaming and so proud that she got that time. She’s been working really hard.”
Emma Borowicz won the 300-meter hurdles in 48.41 seconds. Borowicz continued her busy day clearing 9-feet to claim first place in the pole vault. “(Borowicz) really had a great meet,” exclaimed Boll. “She’s a competitor. She goes out there and wants to do the best that she can. She was smooth over the hurdles, and it was really run to watch her in the 4×400 as well. The pole vault, she had her personal best in that.”
Jada Dillabough delivered a throw of 36-04.25 to take first place in the shot put. “That’s her career-best in the shot put,” added Boll. “Her face lit up when she threw that. It was really fun to watch.”
In the 4×400 relay Kailee Magsam, Anke Wiersma, Rachel Hefta, and Emma Borowicz completed the event in 4:17.90 for the win. The 4×800 relay team of Thea Oman, Anke Wiersma, Hailey Spivey, and Hayden Winjum took second place to earn their spot in the Section meet. Breanna Kressin ensured her section meet would be eventful earning a spot in the 300-meter hurdles with a second place finish in the event. Hayden Winjum will compete in the triple jump at the Section meet following a second place finish in the Sub-Section meet after jumping 33-07 feet. Emma Borowicz took third place in the 200-meters with a time of 26.90 good for a berth in the Section Meet. Kailee Magsam and Rachel Hefta also claimed fourth place finishes in the 400-meters and shot put respectively to round out the Crookston entrants in the Section Meet before the wildcard selection. “It was a really good day, it was really exciting,” summarized Boll. “It came down to that final 4×400 relay that we ran. It was a really exciting meet between the top three. We had a really good day. I just think that since we went down to the State (True-Team) Meet our girls gained a ton of confidence. Our girls had a really, really good day today. It’s so exciting to be in the track program because the girls work so hard and we’re successful right now. It’s good to be a Crookston Pirates track girl again.”
BOYS –
Led by three first-place finishes, the Crookston boys ensured they’ll be well represented at the Section meet. Noah Kiel won in the 200-meters with a flashy 22.99-second sprint. “Noah Kiel went sub-23 seconds,” noted Crookston head coach Wayne Folkers. “He’s been wanting to break that all season, so that was awesome there.”
Karsten Isaacson cleared 5-07 feet in the high jump to take the top spot on the podium. “It’s a pleasant surprise, but Karsten has been jumping fairly well all season,” explained Folkers. “Today he just had a very good day and hit 5-7, and that was good enough to win the Sub-Section.”
Samuel Sanchez launched a throw 48-09.5 feet to win the shot put and punch his ticket to the Section meet. “(Sam) pretty much cleaned up on the field in the shot put,” said Folkers. “He continues to get better, and he’s kind of driven. He wants to win the Section meet.”
Noah Kiel added to his impressive day with a second place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.61 seconds.
Crookston’s strong relay performances continued as Brady Wisk, Jacob Brunelle, Sam Overgaard, and Noah Kiel sprinted through the 4×200 relay in a time of 1:37.43 to take second place while the 4×100 relay team of Wisk, Easton Tangquist, Overgaard, and Brunelle also claimed second place after a finish in 47.53 seconds. “All of those guys are advancing,” mentioned Folkers. “Those five are really all of my sprinters, so we fit them in for the 4×100 and 4×200. They had a bunch of really nice hand-offs today, and this gives us another week to work on those handoffs and see if we can cut a little bit more time off.”
Jaden Lubarski earned a spot back in the Section meet after taking second place in the 800 meters. “With Jaden we were kind of in between going in the 400 and the 800, to tell you the truth,” said Folkers. “He wanted to go in the 800, and he had a good race, finishing second.”
Jacob Brunelle joined Noah Kiel on the podium with a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash for a trip to the Section meet. “Jacob Brunelle finished third, right behind Noah (Kiel),” added Folkers. “He was just a little bit pumped up as well.”
Ty Hamre delivered a throw of 45-05 feet in the shot put for a third-place finish. Hamre also threw the discuss 123-01 feet to earn the opportunity to compete in both throwing events in the Section meet with a fourth-place finish in the discuss. “Ty advanced in both of those, and normally, for Ty, his best event is the discuss,” added Folkers. “In the shot put, he had a heck of a throw today.”
Ben Brantner ran the 1600 meters in 5:03.85 taking fourth place to earn the Pirates’ final berth to the Section meet before the Wildcard entrants being announced.”That’s not Ben’s best time that he can run,” explained Folkers. “Hopefully, we have a nice day a week from Saturday because it will be fun to see what he can do.” Crookston’s focus now shifts to the Section meet after a successful Sub-Section showing, “the boys came ready to run, throw, and jump today,” summarized Folkers. “We had tons of (personal-records) across the board, and I haven’t even counted them all up yet. It was a fun day just to watch them. I’ve said it all along that I’ve been happy with each meet and this one is no different. The kids were competing and competing at their highest abilities.”
Crookston now awaits the wildcard results Friday morning as several more Pirates may earn the opportunity to compete in the Section Meet. All three Sub-Section Meet times will be compared and the top four times in each individual event or top two relay teams (outside of those already qualified) will be invited to the Section Meet.
The Pirates that advanced out of the Sub-Section meet will return to the track next Saturday, June 1 when Crookston’s top athletes will compete in the Section 8A Meet in East Grand Forks beginning at 11:00 a.m.
| GIRLS TEAMS | BOYS TEAMS | |
| 1. Crookston – 138 | 1. East Grand Forks – 136 | |
| 2. East Grand Forks – 132 | 2. Roseau – 134 | |
| 3. West Marshall – 129 | 3. Crookston – 110 | |
| 4. Warroad – 72 | 4. West Marshall – 92 | |
| 5. Roseau – 60 | 5. Climax/Fisher-SH – 69 | |
| 6. Red Lake County – 44 | 6. Badger-Greenbush-MR-58 | |
| 7. Kittson Co. Central – 43 | 7. Red Lake County – 48 | |
| 8. Climax-Fisher-SH – 39 | 8. Warroad – 43 | |
| 9. Badger-Greenbush-MR-35 | 9. Grygla-Gatzke-9 | |
| 10. Grygla-Gatzke-6 |
| PIRATE’s Advancing to Sections | Event | Result | Place |
| Breanna Kressin | 100 hurdles | 16.31 | 1st |
| Katherine Geist | 1600 meters | 5:15.85 | 1st |
| Anke Wiersma | 400 meters | 1:03.01 | 1st |
| Emma Borowicz | 300 hurdles | 48.41 | 1st |
| Noah Kiel | 200 meters | 22.99 | 1st |
| Katherine Geist | 3200 meters | 11:21.19 | 1st |
| Kailee Magsam, Anke Wiersma, Rachel Hefta, Emma Borowicz |
4×400 Relay | 4:17.90 | 1st |
| Emma Borowicz | Pole Vault | 9-00 | 1st |
| Jada Dillabough | Shot Put | 36-04.25 | 1st |
| Karsten Isaacson | High Jump | 5-07 | 1st |
| Samuel Sanchez | Shot Put | 48-09.5 | 1st |
| Thea Oman, Anke Wiersma, Hailey Spivey, Hayden Winjum |
4×800 Relay | 10:15.25 | 2nd |
| Noah Kiel | 100 meters | 11.61 | 2nd |
| Brady Wisk, Jacob Brunelle, Sam Overgaard, Noah Kiel |
4×200 Relay | 1:37.43 | 2nd |
| Brady Wisk, Easton Tangquist, Sam Overgaard, Jacob Brunelle |
4×100 Relay | 47.53 | 2nd |
| Breanna Kressin | 300 hurdles | 49.65 | 2nd |
| Jaden Lubarski | 800 meters | 2:12.73 | 2nd |
| Hayden Winjum | Triple Jump | 33-07 | 2nd |
| Jacob Brunelle | 100 meters | 11.87 | 3rd |
| Emma Borowicz | 200 meters | 26.90 | 3rd |
| Ty Hamre | Shot Put | 45-05 | 3rd |
| Ben Brantner | 1600 meters | 5:03.85 | 4th |
| Kailee Magsam | 400 meters | 1:06.17 | 4th |
| Rachel Hefta | Shot Put | 32-06.75 | 4th |
| Ty Hamre | Discus | 123-01 | 4th |
| PIRATES Advancing as Wildcards | |||
| Breanna Kressin, Emma Gunderson, Rachel Hefta, Cassie Solheim |
4×200 Relay | 1:53.78 | 3rd |
| Jada Dillabough | Discus | 95-07 | 5th |
| Thea Oman | 800 meters | 2:31.18 | 6th |
| Brady Wisk | 200 meters | 24.45 | 6th |
| Caden Osborn | Shot put | 42-00.5 | 6th |
