Luverne senior Craig Bosch prepares to deliver the winning throw during the discus competition at the Section 3A Track and Field Championships in Pipestone Thursday. Bosch and the Cardinal boys emerged as the team champion at the event.
By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne boys' track team saved its best effort of the 2002 campaign for the Section 3A Championships in Pipestone Thursday.
Competing in a 26-team field, the Cardinals proved to be the cream of the crop as they edged out Montevideo for the team title.
Luverne compiled 85 1/5 points to nip the Thunder Hawks, who came in second with 84 counters. Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth (65), Pipestone-Jasper (51) and Redwood Valley (48.5) round out the top five.
In the process of winning a section championship, seven Cardinals earned trips to compete in the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Championships tomorrow and Saturday in Blaine. Another LHS athlete will join the delegation as an alternate for the 800-meter relay team.
The top relay teams, the top-two finishers in individual events and any relay or individual to meet the preset state qualifying standards at the section level advance to state.
In Luverne's case, two individuals and one relay team won section championships and one individual earned the right to compete at the state classic.
Capturing section titles for LHS are seniors Craig Bosch and Andrew Norton and the 800-meter relay team.
Bosch, who just missed qualifying for state by placing third in the shot put with a toss of 48-9, took top honors in the discus with a distance of 146-6.
Norton, who placed fourth with a distance of 41-1 in the triple jump, cleared 6-3 to win the high jump competition.
Seniors Tom Sandager and Travis Johnson, junior Marcus Walgrave and sophomore Tyler Elbers won the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:34.4.
Also qualifying for state is freshman Scott Goebel, who placed second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:42.17.
Senior Chris Morgan will serve as the alternate for the 800-meter relay to round out Luverne’s official representation at the state meet.
The 800-meter relay team will compete during tomorrow's preliminaries, which begin at 4 p.m. The 800 relay will be the eighth running event of the day, and the finals are slated 11:53 a.m. Saturday.
The boys' high jump competition begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, and the discus begins at noon. The 1,600-meter run takes place at 12:27 p.m. Saturday.
Sandager, Walgrave, Elbers and Justin Van Wyhe missed qualifying for state by one place in Pipestone.
Walgrave, who was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.88, placed third in the 300-meter hurdles in 41.4.
Sandager, who placed eighth with a distance of 19-9 1/4 in the long jump, finished third in the 400-meter dash in 52.51.
Van Wyhe finished third in the triple jump with a personal best distance of 41-5 1/2. Elbers cleared a personal best height of 6-0 to finish third in the high jump.
The top-six finishers in each event earn medals, and Morgan earned one along with the state qualifiers. Morgan, who didn't make the finals in the 110-meter hurdles, placed fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.3.
Tim Rust also took a medal by clearing 11-6 in the pole vault to place fifth.
Luverne’s 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays finished ninth and 10th with respective 3:41.15 and 9:21.69 times.
Van Wyhe, Goebel, Nick Otten and Ruston Aaker ran the 1,600. Kyle Bitterman, Jamison Tooley, Aaker and Otten formed the 3,200-meter team.
Johnson and Elbers didn't make the finals in the 200-meter dash, Goebel was unable to place in the 800 and the 400-meter relay team of Sandager, Elbers, Morgan and Johnson was disqualified.