By John RittenhouseA delegation of five Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton boys produced a pair of places at the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships in Blaine Friday and Saturday.The H-BC-E-E group participated in three events at the state classic, and they left the event after securing a pair of finishes in the top nine.Their efforts earned H-BC-E-E seven points in team competition, which was good for 48th place.Junior Tyler Bush experienced the most successful weekend for the Patriots.Bush, who placed fifth in the 800-meter run at the state meet as a sophomore in 2003, bettered that showing last weekend.Entering the meet as a section champion, Bush ran a 1:57.9 while winning the second of two heat races in Friday’s preliminaries.Bush’s effort proved to be the third best qualifying time out of 17 runners competing in the 800.Bush turned in a better performance during Saturday’s finals, but so did a number of other runners in the field.Bush ran a 1:56.79 to place fourth in the nine-runner finale. Senior Chris Erichsen, of Kingsland, won the state title with a 1:55.06 effort.By placing fourth in the 800, Bush accounted for six of H-BC-E-E’s seven team points acquired during the state meet.He also played a role in earning another point in the 3,200-meter relay, an event the Patriots placed ninth in Saturday.Senior Todd Alberty and juniors Bush, Kale Wiertzema and Derek Haak formed the 3,200-meter relay team, which turned in an 8:32.31.Perham won the state championship by besting the 11-team field with a time of 8:00.55.H-BC-E-E also competed in the 1,600-meter relay at the state meet without placing.The event, which was scheduled to have preliminary races for the 11 teams involved on Friday, turned into an all-finals event on Saturday due to rain late Friday evening.The H-BC-E-E squad consisting of Bush, Alberty, Wiertzema and senior Lee Jackson finished 11th with a time of 3:36.47.The Patriots needed a time of 3:32.32 to place in the top nine. Hermantown won the state title with a 3:24.73 effort.
