Girls Track And Field: Ponies Qualify Nine Entries For State Meet | Free

Stillwater Heather Wiehe places second in the pole vault at the Section 4AA Meet on Thursday, June 10 at Stillwater Area High School. The senior cleared 11-3 to earn a spot in the state meet. (Contributed photo by Tony Morley/RedRacerStudio.com)

OAK PARK HEIGHTS — Thanks to a solid showing in the Section 4AA meet, the Stillwater girls track and field team will be busy in the Class AA state meet. The Ponies gained nine entries for the state meet, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 19 at St. Michael-Albertville High School starting at 3:30 p.m.

The Ponies scored 173 points to finish second behind Roseville (217) in the section standings. White Bear Lake followed in third place with 123 points.

Stillwater will be represented in nine events, including two relays.

“There was no big surprises,” Ponies coach Dawn Podolske said. “Our plan was to try and get as many qualified and into the state meet as we could. I think we thought we would get what we got in. It pretty much played out the way we through it would.”

Seniors Alexis Pratt and Ana Weaver each advanced in two individual events. This year’s state meet, which will be held separately from the Class AA boys, will be timed finals only, with no prelims.

Pratt, who holds school records in the 100 and 200 meters, finished first in both of those events in the Section 4AA Meet, which was held in steamy conditions on June 8 and June 10 at Stillwater Area High School.

“It’s a challenge for everybody,” Podolske said. “It’s been one streak of hot weather, but I thought we did a pretty good job of managing it. The sprinters didn’t notice it as much, but everybody was dealing with the same stuff.”

Pratt crossed the line in 12.16 to win the 100 meters and was clocked in 24.71 while winning the 200 meters. She finished more than a second ahead of runner-up Danielle Madden (25.85) of White Bear Lake in the 200.

The school record holder in the two distance races, Ana Weaver was equally dominant while winning the 3,200 meters on Day 1 with a time of 10:34.22 and adding a victory in the 1,600 meters on Day 2 with a time of 4:56.01. She finished more than 17 seconds ahead of Molly Moening (5:13.46) of St. Paul Highland Park in the 1,600 and nearly 32 seconds ahead of Highland Park’s Luna Scorzelli (11:06.14) in the 3,200.

“Alex all year long just wants to get better,” Podolske said. “All season long it’s been difficult because she hasn’t had a lot to run against and now is the time to step up and run against the best.

“It’s the same thing with Ana. She had a couple of meets to run against competition,” Podolske said. “It’s going to be a good race (at state) in the mile and two mile.”

Sophomore Morgan Peterman also captured an individual section title in the 800 meters to qualify for her first meet with a winning time of 2:17.28, about a second ahead of runner-up Ellie Moore (2:18.25) of Highland Park.

“She really made a huge turnaround before conference and section,” Podolske waid. “She found her pace and looked strong in the 800. For me, it wasn’t a surprise.”

Considering the termperatures, the coach was a little concerned with the pace Peterman set but she was up to the task while maintaining the lead throughout.

“It was still warm, but she kind of led it the whole way,” Podolske said. “At first I thought (the other runners) were just using her, but then she started pulling away and they could not respond to it. She ran like the perfect race. Going out, she had a really good start and a really strong finish. It really was an ideal race for her.”

Heather Wiehe has been a steady points producer for the Ponies all season and she will represent the team in three events at state. The senior finished second in the pole vault (11-3) and also qualified with a runner-up showing in the 100 hurdles (15.69). She also qualified as a member of Stillwater’s 4x100 relay team that also includes Angela Taylor, Eva Stafne and Cayman Pagel. They finished second in a time of 50.61.

“She has been such a strong athlete for us through the years,” Podolske said. “It’s a real challenge for her getting to the areas she needed to be and the events that she’s in. I’m really proud of her. She’s in three events and for her it’s just going to be a huge day. She’s been a real workhorse for us all season long and all of her career and it will be exciting to see her end her career at state.”

Taylor and Stafne also contributed to a second-place finish in the 4x200 relay (1:46.64) with a team that also featured Mary Slowinski and Abigail Hansen.

“The relays have a mixture of some seniors and underclassmen that are new to us this season,” Podolske said. “That’s really exciting to see.”

Sophomore Sophia Roskoski just missed advancing to state after placing third in both the triple jump (35-7 1/4) and the pole vault (10-9).

“We thought we had a chance,” Podolske said. “She’s an athlete and she’s come such a long way in such a short period of time. Heather is graduating and she will be the next one in line.”

After missing the 2020 season due to COVID-19 and having much of this season impacted as well, Podolske said it is fun to compete in important meets again.

“As you look back it was a very unique season,” Podolske said. “Earlier on it was just going against the same old teams, but it was against teams like Roseville and Mounds View so we saw some good competition. When we went to Rosemount then it seemed like track from other years. There was more fans and the competition was high. It seemed like a normal season after that. The kids are really happy they got to compete and I felt happy for them the last three weeks where it felt like this is what track should really feel like.”

1. Roseville 217; 2. Stillwater 173; 3. White Bear Lake 123; 4. St. Paul Highland Park 114; 5. St. Paul Central 99; 6. Mahtomedi 83; 7. Tartan 22; 8, tie, North St. Paul 21 and Hill-Murray 21; 10. St. Paul Como Park 15; 11. Cretin-Derham Hall 11; 12, tie, Minneapolis Roosevelt 7 and St. Paul Washington 7.

100 — *1. Alexis Pratt (St) 12.16; *2. Tamia Horton (NSP) 12.50.

200 — *1. Alexis Pratt (St) 24.71; *2. Danielle Madden (WBL) 25.85; 5. Abigail Hansen (St) 27.27.

400 — *1. Katelyn Porter (WBL) 59.71; *2. Julia Freed (Ros) 1:00.49; 7. Madison Truhlsen (St) 1:03.98; Calli Dierkhising (St) DQ.

800 — *1. Morgan Peterman (St) 2:17.28; *2. Ellie Moore (SPHP) 2:18.25; 5. Avery Braunshausen (St) 2:26.85.

1,600 — *1. Ana Weaver (St) 4:56.01; *2. Molly Moening (SPHP) 5:13.46; 12. Lucy Johnson (St) 5:49.23.

3,200 — *1. Ana Weaver (St) 10:34.22; *2. Luna Scorzelli (SPHP) 11:06.14; 6. Brooke Elfert (St) 11:58.62; 11. Meredith Christensen (St) 12:36.23.

100 hurdles — *1. Ava Fitzgerald (Ros) 15.02; *2. Heather Wiehe (St) 15.69; 4. Sophia Roskoski (St) 16.26.

300 hurdles — *1. Ava Fitzgerald (Ros) 46.02; *2. Lily Hamacher (SPC) 47.09; 6. Nora Wilcek (St) 50.90; 7. Anna Bushlack (St) 51.37.

4x100 relay — *1. Roseville, 50.31; *2. Stillwater (Angela Taylor, Eva Stafne, Heather Wiehe and Cayman Pagel) 50.61.

4x200 relay — *1. Roseville, 1:44.77; *2. Stillwater (Mary Slowinski, Angela Taylor, Eva Stafne and Abigail Hansen) 1:46.64.

4x400 relay — *1. White Bear Lake, 4:07.43; *2. Roseville, 4:09.32; 4. Stillwater (Madison Truhlsen, Anna Bushlack, Calli Dierkhising and Avery Braunshausen) 4:18.87.

4x800 relay — *1. St. Paul Highland Park, 9:39.76; *2. Roseville, 10:25.38; 5. Stillwater (Megan Cuta, Casey Johnston, Annabel Lantz and Abigail Rupnow) 11:04.22.

Long jump — *1. Hemetii Apet (Ros) 17-10 1/2; *2. Jackelyn Ong (Mah) 17-2 1/4; 8. Angela Taylor (St) 15-11 1/2; 12. Madison Truhlsen (St) 14-10; 13. Mia Lucido (St) 14-10.

Triple jump — *1. Kaili Malvey (Mah) 35-11 1/2; *2. Jackelyn Ong (Mah) 35-9 1/2; 3. Sophia Roskoski (St) 35-7 1/4; 7. Nora Wilcek (St) 33-2; 21. Johanna Swanson (St) 28-1 1/2.

Shot put — *1. Oreoluwa Olusi (WBL) 37-3 3/4; *2. Morgan Jones (SPHP) 37-3 1/2; 9. Kylie Galowitz (St) 31-5; 14. Abigail Kyllo (St) 28-7 3/4; 15. Lydia Kehner-Anderson (St) 28-5 1/2.

Discus — *1. Hattie DeVries (Ros) 110-1; *2. Hannah Heffernan (Ros) 109-11; 6. Abigail Kyllo (St) 102-10; 10. Kylie Galowitz (St) 97-7; 23. Lydia Kehner-Anderson (St) 61-10.

High jump — *1. Julia Thompson (SPHP) 5-2; *2. Ajibola Omoyeni (H-M) 4-10; 5. Morgan Delaney (St) 4-8; 9. Abigail Hansen (St) 4-8.

Pole vault — *1. Olivia Gentile (Ros) 11-3; *2. Heather Wiehe (St) 11-3; 3. Sophia Roskoski (St) 10-9; 9. Megan Palmer (St) 7-9.

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