Nine Luverne football players won event titles during the annual Cardinal Pride competition Monday. Kneeling, left to right, are: Cody Gehrke, Chris Morgan, Joel Evans, Tony Smedsrud and Brad Herman. Back: Ben Cornish, Tyler Elbers, Marcus Walgrave and Joey Pick.
By John Rittenhouse
A Luverne High School senior-to-be emerged as the 2002 overall champion of the Luverne Cardinal Pride competition Monday.
Joel Evans, who will be a senior member of the LHS football team this fall, took top honors in the event that is staged on the first day of practice every season.
Evans won two individual events, and secured another point title for an event (point titles are based on the size and the weight of athletes in certain events) to score 1,639 points and walk away with the overall crown.
Evans' event wins came in the 60-second jump rope competition (193 jumps) and the squat weight competition (391 pounds). He also was the squat weight points champion.
Evans also helped his cause by placing third in the clean weight competition and fourth in the power press weight competition. On the points side, Evans was second in the 400-meter dash and third in the clean weight standings.
Chris Morgan won a pair of individual events by bench pressing 236 pounds and power press lifting 225 pounds. Morgan, who placed second to Evans in the overall competition, also won the power press points competition.
Cody Gehrke, who placed third in overall points, won the clean weight competition with a lift of 295 pounds. He also was the points champion in that event.
Marcus Walgrave set a new Cardinal Pride record by winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 54 seconds. Walgrave shared top honors in the shuttle run time (4.1 seconds) title with Joey Pick and Tyler Elbers. Walgrave was awarded the title in the shuttle run points competition.
Tony Smedsrud won the vertical jump event with a height of 31-3, and Ben Cornish was the bench weight points champion.
Brad Herman was named the junior varsity overall points champion.
Here is a look at the top five finishers in each event.
Overall points: Evans, Morgan, Gehrke, Elbers and Aaron Schmidt.
400-meter time: Walgrave, Scott Goebel, Elbers, Canaan Petersen and Aaron Schmidt.
400-meter points: Morgan, Evans, Walgrave, Gehrke and Herman.
Shuttle run time: Pick, Walgrave, Elbers, Petersen and Schmidt.
Shuttle run points: Walgrave, Elbers, Morgan, Pick and Josh Lange.
Jump rope: Evans, Walgrave, Elbers, Nate Stehlik, Cody Jagow and Schmidt.
Vertical jump: Smedsrud, Petersen, Elbers, Herman and Schmidt.
Bench weight: Morgan, Jagow, Gehrke, Lange and Roth Anderson.
Bench points: Cornish, Morgan, Stehlik, Jose Saravia and Gehrke.
Squat weight: Evans, Gehrke, Morgan, Pick and Anderson.
Squat points: Evans, Mark Remme, Pick, Elbers, Petersen.
Clean weight: Gehrke, Morgan, Evans, Anderson and Jagow.
Clean points: Gehrke, Morgan, Evans, David Roeman and Remme.
Power press weight: Morgan, Jagow, Gehrke, Evans and Petersen.
Power press points: Morgan, Schmidt, Stehlik, Cornish and Gehrke.