By John Rittenhouse
Nineteen members of the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track program earned berths in the Section 3A Track and Field Championships with their performances during Thursday's Sub-Section 10 meet in Luverne.
Ten Patriot girls and nine boys will be competing at todayÕs section event, which begins at 4 p.m. in Pipestone.
The top-four relays and top-four finishers in individual events at the sub-section level qualify for the Section meet.
H-BC-E will be represented in 10 events in the boys' and girls' competitions.
The Patriots placed third in the boys' team competition and fourth on the girls' side in Luverne.
Luverne and Southwest Christian led the boys' field with 206 and 134 points respectively, while H-BC-E compiled 119.5. Pipestone-Jasper (117), Murray County Central (70.5) and Edgerton ((24) round out the boys' teams.
P-J took top honors with 191 points in the girls' team competition. Luverne (180), MCC (112), H-BC-E (91), Edgerton (46) and SWC (43) capped the field.
Senior Brad Haak helped the Patriot boys land three meet championships.
Haak won the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run with respective 50.97 and 2:01.97 times.
Haak, Lee Jackson, Greg Van Batavia and Tyler Bush won the 3,200-meter relay and established a new sub-section meet record with a time of 8:16.59.
The boys' 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays also qualified for section competition.
The 1,600-meter squad of Jackson, Lee Walraven, Tyson Metzger and Bush placed second with a time of 3:47.73.
The 400- and 800-meter squads finished third with respective 46.77 and 1:39.84 efforts.
Chris Reid, Metzger, Jackson and Jesse Leuthold ran the 400. Metzger, Walraven, Van Batavia and Leuthold formed the 800-meter team.
Reid and Bush placed second during individual events.
Reid, who was third in the long jump with a distance of 19-9, placed second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes with respective 11.43 and 23.0 efforts.
Bush came in second to Haak with a time of 2:03.86 in the 800.
Patriot Kale Wiertzema qualified for the section meet by placing third in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:03.74.
Leuthold and Van Batavia will advance to Pipestone by placing fourth in the 100 and 3,200 with respective 11.75 and 11:10.72 performances.
The Patriots girls won a meet championship in the 3,200-meter relay.
Mya Mann, Cassi Tilstra, Brittney Rozeboom and Bev Wurpts captured H-BC-EÕs lone title with a time of 10:17.5.
The girls' 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays also qualified for the section meet.
The 400-meter team of LaDonna Sandstede, Kelly Mulder, Melinda Feucht and Erin Boeve placed third with a time of 54.75, and Wurpts, Boeve, Mann and Tilstra came in third in the 1,600 in 4:23.17.
Amanda Connors, Feucht, Sandstede and Mulder placed fourth in the 800 in 2:00.03.
Boeve came up with a pair of second-place finishes and Wurpts and Mann recorded one each in individual events.
Boeve finished second in the long and triple jumps with distances of 15-7 and 32-9. Mann ran 800 meters in 2:32.71. Wurpts was timed at 5:40.72 in 1,600.
Cassi Tilstra qualified for the section meet by finishing third in the 400-meter dash in 1:02.99, and Amanda Tilstra made it in the 3,200-meter run after finishing fourth in 13:10.22.
Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-EÕs top-eight finishers during the sub-section meet.
H-BC-E boys
Sixth place: Roger DeBoer, 110 hurdles, 20.05; Adam Sieff, 300 hurdles, 51.7; Cody Scholten, pole vault, 8-6.
Seventh place: Lee Farrell, 300 hurdles, 54.68; Scholten, high jump, 5-2; Kerry Fink, triple jump, 32-2.
Eighth place: Walraven, 200, 24.97; Fink, 800, 2:27.21; Derek Haak, 3,200, 12:09.63; Sieff, 110 hurdles, 20.76; R.DeBoer, 300 hurdles, 56.08; Devin DeBoer, triple jump, 31-9.
H-BC-E girls
Fifth place: Kari Roozenboom, 100 hurdles, 18.63; Rozeboom, pole vault, 6-0.
Seventh place: Kerri Fransman, 3,200, 13:43.06; Feucht, 300 hurdles, 5.06; Rozeboom, high jump, 4-2; C.Tilstra, pole vault, 5-0.
Eighth place: Chelsea Fink, 400, 1:09.24; Roozenboom, high jump, 4-0; Mulder, long jump, 13-3; Sandstede, triple jump, 29-10; Rosie Lewis, discus, 83-0.