By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton track teams secured 16 automatic berths into section competition during the Sub-Section 10 Track and Field Championships in Pipestone Thursday.With the top three finishers in individual and relay competition earning automatic bids into the section meet, H-BC-E-E finished the day assured that 15 athletes would represent the school at today’s Section 3A Championships in Luverne.Under a new qualifying format that compares times and distances produced by athletes during all four sub-section meets that make up Section 3A, two Patriots who already secured automatic berths into the section field earned the right to compete in two other events.The section meet begins at 2 p.m. today in Luverne.The H-BC-E-E boys scored 92.5 points to place fourth in the team standings at the sub-section meet. The girls tallied 84 points to place fourth.Eight Patriot boys guaranteed themselves positions in the section meet in nine different events by earning automatic berths in Pipestone.Tom LeBoutillier and Tyler Bush came up with individual championships to provide the team’s highlights of the meet.LeBoutillier, who placed third with a time of 19-6 in the long jump, won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.06.LeBoutillier also qualified for the section meet by a time comparison in the 300-meter hurdles, an event he placed fifth in at the sub-section meet with a time of 43.94.Bush took top honors in the 800-meter run with a 2:01 effort.Todd Alberty, Curt Schilling, Cody Scholten and Derek Haak also earned automatic berths into the section attraction.Alberty covered 40-9 to place second in the triple jump. Schilling placed third in the shot put with a toss of 45-7 1/2, Scholten cleared 5-10 to place third in the high jump and Haak ran 800 meters in 2:10.51 to place third.The boys’ 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay teams locked up automatic berths into section competition by placing second with respective 3:32.66 and 8:32.76 efforts. Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson, Alberty and Bush ran with both teams.Eighth H-BC-E-E girls locked up a total of seven automatic berths into section competition Thursday.Cassi Tilstra helped the Patriots win a pair of sub-section titles.Tilstra won the 800-meter run in 2:26.76, and ran a leg with the champion 3,200-meter relay team, which produced a time of 10:00.25. Mya Mann, Ashley and Jocelyn Bucher joined Tilstra in the 3,200.Rosie Lewis, Amanda Connors and Jocelyn Bucher earned automatic berths in the section field as individuals.Lewis placed third in the discus with a toss of 94-1, Connors placed second in the long jump with a distance of 14-9, and Bucher raced 400 meters in 1:05.36 to place third.Lewis also qualified for the section meet with a distance comparison in the shot put. She placed fifth in the sub-section event with a toss of 31-6 3/4.H-BC-E-E’s 1,600- and 400-meter relay teams secured automatic berths into the section meet by placing second and third respectively in Pipestone.Mann, Ashley Bucher, Amanda Tilstra and Cassi Tilstra ran the 1,600 in 4:14.65. Connors, Lewis, Mann and Kelly Mulder covered 400 meters in 54.09.Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-E-E’s point scorers and the team standings from the sub-section meet.Girls’ standings: Luverne 155, Pipestone 119, Fulda 104, Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton 84, Murray County Central 80, Adrian 74, Southwest Christian 61.Boys’ standings: SWC 158.5, Luverne 133, MCC 94, H-BC-E-E 92.5, Fulda 91.5, Pipestone 64, Adrian 62.H-BC-E-E boysFifth place: 800 relay (John Sandbulte, Soeren Trebesch, Devin DeBoer and Cody Rozeboom), 1:43.2; Greg Van Batavia, 800, 2:12.8.Sixth place: Sandbulte, triple jump, 37-4 1/2; 400 relay (Paul DeLeon-cepeda, Rozeboom, D.DeBoer, Roger DeBoer), 50.44.H-BC-E-E girlsFourth place: Connors, 100, 14.07.Fifth place: A.Tilstra, 800, 2:35.29; Rayna Sandoval, 3,200, 13:05.04.Sixth place: Kari Roozenboom, triple jump, 18.86; Roozenboom, 100 hurdles, 18.86.
