The Cobra Track and Field team missed quite a few meets due to weather cancellations this spring, but that didn’t stop our athletes from posting numerous personal records, and setting several school records as the season wrapped up over the past few weeks.
The remarkable post season started when the boys took home the subsection championship as a team for the first time in school history. Nearly every athlete that competed in the meet scored team points by finishing in the top 8, and those that finished in the top-4 had the opportunity to compete in the Section 1A Championships hosted by Triton the last week of May.
The Cobras made the most of their section opportunities, as well; the boys placed 4th and the girls 13th in the loaded field of 27 teams. Highlights from sections included state meet berths for five Cobras – the most individual qualifiers in Triton history!! For the girls, Averee Henslin qualified for state in the 200 after finishing 5th in the section and running qualifying standard time, and Olivia Weber qualified in the 400 by finishing 2nd in a personal record time of 1:00.28. On the boys’ side, Brady Staub and Craig Knutson both qualified in the discus; Brady was the section champion with a personal-best and school record throw of 154’ 6”, and Craig finished fourth in the section, qualifying on standard with a throw of 146’4”. Pierce Petersohn had a phenomenal section meet, qualifying for state in all four of his events after winning the high jump (6’8”), 400 (BIG PR and school record of 48.41), and 200 (personal record of 22.33), and placing second in the 100 (11.24).
This week, those 5 Cobras represented Triton at the state meet at St. Michael/Albertville High School. On Tuesday, Weber (400 – 1:00.43) and Henslin (200 – 26.06) ran very well in their preliminary races, each running the second-best times of their careers. While they both moved up from their seeded placements, they did not qualify for finals. Petersohn ran well enough to qualify for finals in all three of his running events (100 – 11.23, 200 – 22.37, 400 – 48.43).
Thursday, all three boys competed. And all three earned all-state honors in their events. For the first time in Triton history, TWO individuals qualified in the same event – the discus – AND both medaled! Staub shattered his own personal (and school) record with a toss of 165’ 7”, finishing in second place. Knutson also had a big personal record, throwing the discus 154’4”, earning the 7th-place medal.
Petersohn had a legendary day, beginning with high jump, which was moved indoors due to rain. He took a break from the high jump to head outside to run the 100 meter finals, and his first medal of the day came by finishing 6th in that race (moving up from his 8th-place seed). He maxed out at 6’4” in the high jump, good for 4th place. He followed that up by shattering his personal (and the school) record in the 400, finishing second in 48.16 seconds (this time would have been first in both class AA and AAA!). Finally, he ended the day with another personal record, this time in the 200, as he raced to a 4th-place finish in 22.18. His efforts earned the team 25.5 points and meet MVP status as he was the biggest individual point-scorer in the Class A meet.
Petersohn, Staub, and Knutson combined to score enough points to earn a 4th-place team finish for the Cobras! This ties the highest team ranking the Cobras have achieved at the state meet (previously 4th in 2008). Congratulations!!
