Luverne senior Andrew Norton helped the boys' track squad win the team championship of the annual Cardinal Relays Tuesday. Norton won the long and high jump titles, and ran a leg with Luverne's winning 1,600-meter relay team during the meet.
By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne boys' track team entertained its home fans Tuesday by winning the team competition of the Cardinal Relays.
The hosts compiled 156 points to best runner-up Brandon Valley, S.D., which finished nine points off the pace with 147 counters.
It was the first time LHS won the team title at the Cardinal Relays since 1999.
"It's always exciting to win your home meet," said Cardinal coach Craig Nelson. "We had a nice team effort. We got a lot of one-two scoring punches from our boys in a lot of events, and that’s what you need to get a good team score."
Winning seven events doesn't hurt a team's cause, either.
Andrew Norton won the high jump (6-1) and triple jump (40-11) titles for the Cardinals and ran a leg for the champion 1,600-meter relay team that was timed at 3:37.88. Travis Johnson, Tyler Elbers and Tom Sandager round out the 1,600-meter squad.
Norton also placed second in the long jump with a distance of 19-6 3/4.
Sandager and Scott Goebel ran their way to victories in the 400-meter dash and 1,600-meter run with respective 53.32 and 5:00.9 times.
Cardinal Craig Bosch, who was second with a toss of 146-1 in the discus, took top honors in the shot put with a throw of 47 feet.
Luverne also won the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:36.9. Johnson, Elbers, Chris Morgan and Sandager formed the team.
Elbers (10-6 in the pole vault), Morgan (43.19 in the 300-meter hurdles) and Johnson (23.79 in the 200-meter dash) racked up second-place performances for LHS.
Here is a look at the team standings and the rest of Luverne's top-eight finishers during the Cardinal relays.
Team standings: LHS 156, BV 147, Worthington 118, Southwest Christian 101, Windom 56, Fulda 46, Jackson County Central 42, Adrian 17, Edgerton five, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central two.
Individual results
Third place: Tim Rust, pole vault, 10-6; Cody Gehrke, 100, 12.13.
Fourth place: Justin Van Wyhe, long jump, 18-6; 400 relay (Van Wyhe, Rust, Gehrke and Morgan), 47.89; Goebel, 800, 2:12.22; Elbers, 200, 23.95.
Fifth place: Mark Brockberg, pole vault, 9-6; 3,200 relay (Nick Otten, Ruston Aaker, Kyle Bitterman and Jamison Tooley), 9:43.
Sixth place: Aaker, pole vault, 9-0.
Seventh place: Van Wyhe, triple jump, 36-2 3/4.
Eighth place: Tony Willers, shot, 39-2.