By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth boys' and girls' track teams turned in program-best efforts at a section track meet Thursday.
Competing at the 2002 Section 3A Track and Field Championships in Pipestone, the Patriot boys compiled 65 points to place third out of 26 teams while the girls scored 36 points to finish eighth.
According to Patriot coach Tom Goehle, both teams produced program-best finishes in the final standings at the section meet.
"We had a great day," Goehle said. "It was pretty awesome. The kids got a great day to run, and they really went after it."
More important than the successful team outings is the fact that seven Patriots earned the right to compete at the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships in Blaine this weekend.
The winning relay teams, the top two individual finishers and any relay or individual who meets preset state qualifying standards at the section meet move on to the state meet.
H-BC-E athletes earned their trips to the National Sports Center by winning six section championships and placing second in one event.
Six boys will be competing in four events at the state meet, which begins tomorrow and wraps up Saturday.
If there were an MVP award in section competition, it probably would have gone to H-BC-E senior Brad Haak. Haak won a pair of individual events and played a key role in helping the H-BC-E 3,200-meter relay team advance to state.
Haak, the defending state champion in the 800-meter run, won the section title in that event with a 2:01.03 time Thursday.
The 800 title came about 30 minutes after his winning effort of 51.3 during the 400-meter dash.
As impressive as the last two wins were, Haak stunned the crowd with an astonishing run in the 3,200-meter relay.
With sophomore Lee Jackson and freshmen Greg Van Batavia and Tyler Bush joining Haak in the relay, H-BC-E entered the event as one of the event favorites.
H-BC-E found itself facing about a 10-second deficit after 1,600 meters, but Bush shaved two seconds off the leader's pace during the third leg of the race. Haak took the baton about 50 meters behind the leading team for the final leg, when he ran a stunning 1:57 split to lift the Patriots to a five-second victory.
Bush and junior Chris Reid also earned individual berths in the state meet for H-BC-E.
Bush placed second to Haak in the 800 with a time of 2:03.1.
Like Haak, Reid won a pair of section championships. He took top honors in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.15. Reid also won the long jump crown with a distance of 21-8 1/2, which was one-quarter of one inch short of the school-record mark of 21-8 3/4 that Steve Esselink used to win the event at the state meet in 1999.
Joining the six boys going to Blaine is sophomore Erin Boeve, who won a section title for the Patriot girls in Pipestone.
Boeve won the long jump crown with a distance of 17-1 1/4.
Haak, Reid, Bush and Boeve will be competing in Blaine tomorrow.
The boys' and girls' long jumps are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. The preliminary running events begin at 4 p.m., and Reid will be on the track for the 100, which is the sixth event of the afternoon.
Bush and Haak will run in the 800, the 16th running event on schedule, Friday evening.
The finals of the boy' 3,2000-meter relay is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Saturday, with the boys' 100-meter dash finals slated for 11:25 a.m.
The boys' 400-meter dash finals are set for 1:35 p.m., with the boys' 800 finals following at 2:27 p.m.
Medals are awarded to the top-six individuals and relays at the section meet, and H-BC-E received awards in 13 events.
Along with winning two titles, Reid placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.33.
Boeve placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 33-0 and ran a leg with the fifth-place finishing 1,600-meter relay team that was timed at 4:18.99. Bev Wurpts, Mya Mann and Cassi Tilstra are the other team members.
Wurpts and Tilstra placed fourth and sixth in the 1,600-meter run and 400-meter dash with respective 5:44.35 and 1:03.12 times.
The girls' 3,200-meter relay of Mann, Tilstra, Brittney Rozeboom and Wurpts finished second with a time of 10:19.92.
The boys' 400-meter relay team of Reid, Tyson Metzger, Lee Jackson and Jesse Leuthold placed eighth in 46.5. Leuthold ran an 11.8 in the 100-meter dash without placing.
Mann and Amanda Tilstra produced times of 2:39.21 and 13:29 in the girls' 800- and 3,200-meter runs without placing.
The girls' 400-meter relay team consisting of LaDonna Sandstede, Kelly Mulder, Melinda Feucht and Boeve didn't place with their time of 54.34.
The 800-meter relay team consisting of Amanda Connors, Feucht, Sandstede and Mulder didn’t place with their time of 1:59.55.