by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Race wins by Curtis Griffin and the 4×400 relay team led the Thief River Falls boys track and field team to a sixth place finish at the Dick Clay Open on Friday, March 28 at the Fritz Pollard Athletic Center on the campus of the University of North Dakota.
Griffin was unseeded in Friday’s one-mile race and he was drawn into the fifth and final heat of the event, rather than the first two heats with the other contenders. Griffin lapped multiple competitors in his heat and never took his foot off the gas pedal. He finished with a first-place time of 4:46.80 that was over a second faster than runner-up Peter Newark of Ottertail Central.
Joining Griffin with a race win was the Thief River Falls boys 4×400 relay team. The team of Briley Olsonawski, Colin MacLean, Everett Nelson and William MacLean bested 17 other teams including runner-up Moorhead’s top team by almost three seconds to pick up the win. The team of Olsonawski, MacLean, Nelson and MacLean also set a new meet record with a final time of 3:40.32 that is currently the sixth-fastest in Minnesota for the current season.
Griffin also had a strong showing in the 3200 meters with a runner-up finish; and Will MacLean added a fifth place finish in the 400-meter dash that included 74 entries; and 4th in the 800-meter run that had 54 entries.
“The boys’ times are impressive so early in the season,” said Thief River Falls Co-Head Coach Katie Nelson. “Will is running great and is bettering his times. Curtis Griffin is leading the distance crew this season with great foundation times. Our 4×4 is looking good and we have about six boys fighting for a spot on the relay.”
The Thief River Falls girls team battled its way to a 13th place finish in the 26-team field.
Kayla Peterson led the way with a runner-up finish in the 74-entrant 400-meter dash out of 74. Her time is currently the seventh fastest in Minnesota.
Gwen Wojciechowski finished fifth in the 200-meter dash, which had 146 entries, and Elory Mossestad finished fifth out of 58 entries in the 800.
“The girls ran hard this meet and most of them improved on their event times from the first meet with a lot of PRs,” Nelson said. “They are working hard and it is showing.”
Team Scores
• Girls – 1. Moorhead 160; 2. Detroit Lakes 54; 3. Fergus Falls 48; 4. Hillsboro/Central Valley 47; 5. Oak Grove Lutheran 45; 5. Devils Lake 45; 7. West Marshall 34; 8. Carrington 29; 9. Central Cass 28; 10. Climax-Fisher-Sacred Heart 25; 11. Grafton 21; 12. New Rockford-Sheyenne 19; 13. Thief River Falls 16; 14. Larimore 15; 15. BGMR Freeze 13; 16. Wahpeton 12; 17. Ottertail Central 11; 18. Grand Forks Central 10; 19. LaMoure/Litch-Marion 6; 20. Red River 5; 20. Roseau 5; 20. Ada-Borup-West 5; 23. Northern Lights 4; 24. Lake of the Woods/Rainy River 3; 25. Clearbrook-Gonvick 2; 26. United Clay-Becker 1.
• Boys – 1. Moorhead 133; 2. Central Cass 76; 3. Fergus Falls 68; 4. Oak Grove Lutheran 55; 5. Detroit Lakes 48.5; 6. Thief River Falls 37; 7. United Clay-Becker 36; 8. Devils Lake 30.5; 9. Wahpeton 29; 10. Roseau 26; 11. Grafton 23; 12. Climax-Fisher-Sacred Heart 21; 13. Ottertail Central 16.5; 14. May-Port CG 16; 15. New Rockford-Sheyenne 8; 15. Hillsboro/Central Valley 8; 17. Red River 7; 17. BGMR Freeze 7; 19. Ada-Borup-West 6; 20. West Marshall 5; 21. Carrington 3; 22. LaMoure/Litch-Marion 2.
Winner/TRF Places-Girls
60 – 1. Cipriana Jones, Moorhead, 7.80; 21. Gwen Wojciechowski 8.42; 36. Janaya Albers 8.65; 64. Lila Dalager 9.08; 120. Nora Bruggeman 9.71; 163. Kennedy Bakke 10.95; 166. Brianne Ellison 11.10; 168. Cora Jensen 11.22; 171. Dawson Colden 11.54; 174. Braylin Fish 12.01.
200 – 1. Cipriana Jones, Moorhead, 25.72; 5. Gwen Wojciechowski 27.13; 13. Kayla Peterson 27.91; 21. Janaya Albers 28.33; 22. Kenzie Reynolds 28.57; 31. Jordyn Skjerven 29.13; 35. Bella Dicken 29.35; 82. Nora Bruggeman 31.56; 93. Ella Giffen 32.04; 132. Aveah Hanson 34.48.
400 – 1. Chloe Woinarowicz, Grafton, 1:01.02; 2. Kayla Peterson 1:01.27; 22. Jordyn Skjerven :08.02.
600 – 1. Avery Dunnigan, Moorhead 1:40.92; 27. Natalia Zoller 2:09.21; 35. Samantha Zoller 2:20.05.
800 – 1. Hannah Barberg, Detroit Lakes, 2:24.13; 5. Elory Mossestad 2:33.83; 10. Livia Harbott 2:37.53; 44. Gabby Zoller 3:08.68; 51. Natalia Zoller 3:13.14; 54. Samantha Zoller 3:30.09.
1 Mile – 1. Claire Grinde, Hillsboro/Central Valley 5:21.41; 9. Elory Mossestad 5:52.31; 22. Evelyn Griffin 6:23.72.
3200 – 1. Claire Grinde, Hillsboro/Central Valley 11:27.05; 10. Evelyn Griffin 13:15.53.
60 hurdles – 1. Emmie Belquist, New Rockford-Sheyenne, 9.81; 19. Alyssa Foster 11.89.
300 hurdles – 1. Mallory Fischer, Detroit Lakes, 48.42; 31. Aveah Hanson 1:13.18.
4×200 – 1. Moorhead A 1:48.03; 10. TRF A (Kenzie Reynolds, Jordyn Skjerven, Janaya Albers, Gwen Wojciechowski) 1:56.15.
4×400 – 1. Moorhead A 4:11.47.
4×800 – 1. Moorhead A 10:07.98.
High Jump – 1. Markelle Pederson, West Marshall, 5′ 3″; 10. Kelsey Baltes 4′ 8″; 12. Adrian Solheim 4′ 6″; 23. Madelyn David 4′ 3″; 28. Bella Dicken 4′ 0″.
Pole Vault – 1. Alonna Moench, Detroit Lakes, 10’0″; 28. Samantha Zoller 5′ 0″.
Long Jump – 1. Amari Paape, Oak Grove Lutheran, 17′ 2.75″; 63. Alyssa Foster 12′ 9.25″; 92. Gabby Zoller 10′ 11.25″.
Triple Jump – 1. Sara Kraft, Devils Lake, 33′ 8.75″; 14. Madelyn David 29′ 10″; 28. Alyssa Foster 26′ 2.75″.
Shot Put – 1. Jacie Reardon 40’ 9″; 59. Kennedy Bakke 23′ 8″; 63. Natalia Zoller 23′ 6.75″; 72. Brianne Ellison 23′ 0″; 85. Samantha Zoller 22′ 3.75″; 92. Kennedi Kalinowski 21′ 8.75″; 102. Braylin Fish 20′ 8.5″; 108. Dawson Colden 20′ 2.25″; 120. Cora Jensen 18′ 0.5″; 128. Aveah Hanson 17′ 2.75″.
Winner/TRF Places-Boys
60 – 1. Zak Walker, Moorhead, 6.9; 51. Tallon Vordebruggen 7.87; 118. Cash Reynolds 8.30; 140. Carson Walseth 8.57; 142. Corbin Hruby 8.59; 161. Joey Bruggeman 9.02; 162. Matthew Dearth 9.03; 167. Parker Kasprowicz 9.12.
200 – 1. Leif Shervey, United Clay-Becker, 22.67; 40. Briley Olsonawski 25.86; 46. Ian Hruby 26.00; 66. Cash Reynolds 26.61; 77. Caleb Mauch 26.88; 106. Lincoln Davis 28.55; 111. Dylan Lane 28.97; 120. Matthew Dearth 29.92.
400 – 1. Cole Ohnstad, Oak Grove Lutheran, 51.15; 5. William MacLean 52.39; 10. Everett Nelson 53.85; 12. Colin MacLean 55.15; 17. Briley Olsonawski 56.99; 20. Jaxson Tanner 57.96.
600 – 1. Jaden Miller, Fergus Falls, 1:25.69; 14. Clay Nelson 1:41.71; 18. Lincoln Davis 1:43.17; 28. Dylan Lane 1:57.80.
800 – 1. Jaden Miller, Fergus Falls, 2:00.71; 4. William MacLean 2:10.41; 20. Tobias Sobotta 2:27.84.
1 Mile – 1. Curtis Griffin 4:46.80; 39. Tobias Sobotta 5:37.64; 48. Wyatt Novak 5:43.05; 65. Dylan Lane 6:06.81; 84. Luke Smith 6:48.96.
3200 – 1. Grant Martin, Climax/Fisher/Sacred Heart, 10:25.13; 2. Curtis Griffin 10:30.87;
19. Clay Nelson 13:31.36.
60 hurdles – 1. Billy Thompson, Detroit Lakes, 9.04.
300 hurdles – 1. Easton Holland, Central Cass, 42.52; 11. Ian Hruby 46.48.
4×200 – 1. Moorhead A 1:34.30; 15. TRF A (Caleb Mauch, Michael Rowe, Kolton Almjeld, Tallon Vorderbruggen) 1:43.69; 22.TRF B (Carson Walseth, Corbin Hruby, Matthew Dearth, Cash Reynolds) 1:52.95.
4×400 – 1. TRF A (Briley Olsonawski, Colin MacLean, Everett Nelson, William MacLean) 3:40.32; 9. TRF B ( Caleb Mauch, Michael Rowe, Jasxon Tanner, Curtis Griffin) 4:00.03.
4×800 – 1. Fergus Falls A 8:35.41.
High Jump -1. Reign Battle, Moorhead, 6′ 2″; 12. Everett Nelson 5′ 4″.
Pole Vault – 1. Parker Wixo, Central Cass, 12′ 6″; 22. Lincoln Davis 7′ 0″; 27. Tallon Vorderbruggen 6′ 0″.
Long Jump – 1. Zak Walker, Moorhead, 22′ 10.75″; 56. Carson Walseth 16′ 1.75″.
Triple Jump – 1. Darius Lockett, Fergus Falls, 43′ 5.25″; 21. Caleb Mauch 31′ 7.25″.
Shot Put – 1. Jake Borowicz, Roseau, 50′ 2.75″; 52. Joey Bruggeman 34′ 8.5″; 101. Clay Nelson 29′ 4.5″; 106. Kolton Ahlmjeld 28′ 8.25″; 111. Parker Kasprowicz 27′ 7.5″; 128. Michael Rowe 25′ 5.5″.