By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne track teams turned in some promising performances at the Dan Lennon Invitational meet staged at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, S.D., Monday.
Competing in the Class A version of the event against a strong field of teams, the Cardinal athletes turned in 10 top-10 performances during the meet.
"We had a good meet," said Cardinal coach Craig Nelson. "Outside of the Minnesota State meet and the Howard Wood Relays, this probably is the third most competitive meet we go to. There were between 800 and 900 athletes competing for more than 50 teams."
The Luverne boys produced six top-10 performances during the day.
The 800-meter relay team of Tom Sandager, Travis Johnson, Tyler Elbers and Chris Morgan came up with Luverne's top effort by finishing fourth in 1:39.23.
Andrew Norton, who placed ninth with a distance of 20-2 in the long jump, cleared 5-10 to place sixth in the high jump.
Cardinal Tim Rust cleared 11-6 to place sixth in the pole vault, while Sandager ran 400 meters in 55.22 to finish sixth.
The boys' 1,600-meter relay team of Sandager, Johnson, Elbers and Norton finished eighth in 3:47.28.
The Luverne girls turned in four top-10 efforts, including a record-setting effort by Danielle Cook.
Cook cleared the 55-meter hurdles in 9.06, which surpassed the old school standard of 9.1 set by Kelli Heidebrink in 1989.
Luverne's best finish came from Amanda Aning, who cleared 9-6 to place third in the pole vault.
Aning also ran a leg for Luverne's 800-meter relay team, which placed 10th with a time of 1:58.03. Callen Bosshart, Maggie Vanden Hoek and Cook are the other team members.
Luverne's 1,600-meter relay team of Sadie Dietrich, Jenni Christensen, Amanda Dooyema and Patricia Willers placed ninth in 4:29.46.
Nelson said Monday's meet could set the stage for a strong outdoor season that begins with the Cardinal Quadrangular Tuesday.
"It certainly was one of our better meets we had down there in Vermillion. We had a bunch of kids having really good days against very good competition. I was very pleased. It gives us a lot of momentum heading into the outdoor season," he said.
Here is a look at the rest of the performances turned in by LHS athletes Monday.
LHS boys
14th: Elbers, high jump, 5-8.
15th: Morgan, 400, 57.3; sprint medley relay (Rust, Jerome Willers, Kyle Bitterman and Nick Otten), 4:15.47.
17th: Craig Bosch, shot put, 46-5.
22nd: Johnson, 100, 12.09.
48th: Ben Peters, 100, 12.98.
No places: Tom Gluf, shot; Mark Brockberg and Bitterman in the high jump.
LHS girls
12th: Dietrich, 400, 1:06.47.
14th: Aning, long jump, 15-2.
16th: P.Willers, 55 hurdles, 9.35.
18th: Bosshart, long jump, 15-0.
22nd: Pap, triple jump, 28-7; medley relay (Pap, Nicole Willers, Christensen and Suzanne Gluf), 5:07.71.
26th: Marissa Stewart, shot, 30-5.
29th: Maggie Kuhlman, 3,200, 14:07.63.
31st: Amanda Saum, 3,200, 14:17.77; Andrea Drost, 800, 2:50.71; Pap, long jump, 13-11.
34th: Nicole Cronquist, 1,600, 6:30.02.
43rd: Tracey Scheidt, 55 hurdles, 10.55.
49th: Katie Jauert, 1,600, 7:00.97.
50th: Jocelyn Alschlager, 1,600, 7:01.28.
51st: Heidi Sandbulte, 800, 3:16.02.
52nd: Erin Hamann, 800, 3:22.36.
No places: Christina Smidstra and Nicole Willers in the 100; Adria Sherwood, Serena Franken and Sandra Willers in the shot.