Panthers to crowd state track meet
Girls team sending several athletes to Hamline
The Lakeville North girls track and field team finished second in a highly competitive Section 1AA meet last week.
The girls will have 10 opportunities to collect points at the Class AA state meet at Hamline University in St. Paul this weekend while the boys will send two individuals.
“They have worked hard. This is a nice reward,” head coach Todd Endersbe said. “Our goals at state are to get everyone into finals and/or on the podium, get All-State honors, and score some points. We’ve had to deal with some adversity this season so I’m hoping the state meet will take away some of the sting.”
Distance runner Taylor Perkins demonstrated her endurance by winning the 1,600-meter race and finishing second in the 3,200. She had personal-best times in both races.
Angelica Anyaogu qualified in both the 100 dash and long jump. She also anchors the 4×100 relay, which won the Section 1AA title. Kendall Naatjes, Alexa Trakalo and Claire Seivert also run on the 4×100 team.
Trakalo will run in the 200, which “surprised the competition and other teams in the 200 but not our coaching staff,” Endersbe said. “She ran very well early on and is now getting back to showing her speed.”
Emma Erickson will toss both the shot put and discus at state this weekend.
Delaney Miller is a state qualifier in the discus after improving by more than 30 feet this season.
“This is all because of her work ethic and discipline during the off-season,” Endersbe said.
Max Leake will join her at state after nailing a personal record 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump at sections.
The boys placed fourth as a team at the section meet. Kyle McPhee hit the qualifying standard in the pole vault, and Ben Saxton finished second in the 1,600 to advance.
A few athletes left the section meet disappointed. Ben Krynski was a top seed in the discus but missed the state standard by 4 inches. Andrew Anyaogu had third-place finishes in the 100 and 200. The 4×100 relay of Nick Valentini, Derek Duong, Kyrell Newell and Andrew Anyaogu missed qualifying for state by a fraction of a second.
Michaela Preachuk also came close, getting third place in the girls 100 hurdles.
