Luverne’s Marcus Walgrave (left) won the 110-meter hurdles and placed ninth in the 300-meter hurdles at the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships in Blaine last weekend. Tyler Elbers (right) tied for third place in the high jump.By John RittenhouseSenior Marcus Walgrave joined a select group of Luverne High School athletes during the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships in Blaine over the weekend.Walgrave raced his way to a pair of wins in the 110-meter high hurdles at the National Sports Center, becoming the fifth LHS boy to win an individual event at the state meet in the last 15 years."I ran really good in the 110s," Walgrave said from his home Monday. "I felt really fast."Walgrave’s feelings were evident in his performance, as no hurdler in the 110-meter event was able to keep up with the LHS standout in two races.During Friday’s preliminaries, Walgrave stunned the field by turning in a 14.97 while producing the lowest-qualifying time for Saturday’s finals.Although he entered the meet in the middle of the pack based on times produced by all the other runners during various section competitions throughout the state, Walgrave didn’t feel like he was an underdog."I was pretty confident about my chances in the 110s," he said. "I was in the middle of the group as far as qualifying times, but I didn’t run too well at the section meet, so I wasn’t too worried about that."The way things turned out Saturday, Walgrave had reason to be confident.The Cardinal ran a 14.66 while setting a new school record in the finals, besting the 14.79 produced by runner-up Michael Kasten, of Plainview, by .13 of one second."Marcus ran the best race of his high school career, and he picked the best time to do it," said Cardinal coach Craig Nelson. "His reward was a state championship. Just to get to the state meet in Minnesota is an honor. To win an event is incredible."Considering the odds Walgrave had to overcome to get to the state meet makes the feat even more impressive.He advanced to state and placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles as a sophomore, but a broken leg during a football game the following fall hampered Walgrave during his junior track season. He did place fifth with Luverne’s 800-meter relay team last season, but Walgrave didn’t regain his form as a hurdler until this spring."I was really disappointed last year, with the injury and all that. I felt I had a good chance of doing some things last year, but I never got the chance," he said.Walgrave took advantage of his opportunity in the 110s last weekend, and he nearly won two events during the meet.Walgrave ran a 39.22 during the preliminaries of the 300-meter hurdles, winning his heat and recording the second best qualifying time for Saturday’s finals.Running just behind defending state champion Tom Ellingworth, of Redwood Valley, during Saturday’s finals, fate delivered a cruel blow to Walgrave."I was too close to the last hurdle, and my head leg got caught under the face of the hurdle," he explained.The result of foot-hurdle exchange was a spill on the track that left Walgrave with a softball-sized track burn on his shoulder. Walgrave picked himself up and crossed the finish line with a time of 47.14, good for ninth place."Marcus was in a close second behind Ellingworth before he hit that last hurdle," Nelson stated. "It was a valiant effort on his part. He was running as hard as he could. He just got too close to that last hurdle."Walgrave wishes he could have cleared the final hurdle in the 300s Saturday, but that incident takes nothing away from his success in the 110s. He becomes the second LHS hurdler to win the 110s at the state meet (the first was Brian Hoime in 1988), and the fifth LHS boy to win an individual state title. Andrew Norton (high jump) and Craig Bosch (discus) won state championships last season. Lynden Reder won a discus championship in 1999.Junior Tyler Elbers earned a medal while participating at his first state meet.Elbers cleared 6-3 for the second straight week to tie for third place with Pillager’s Luke Kavanaugh in the high jump.Crosby-Ironton’s Parker Robinson cleared 6-8 to win the high jump title."Tyler has been a consistent jumper for us all season long," Nelson said. "The pressure of competing at state can get to some kids, but Tyler didn’t miss a jump until 6-4. He just missed clearing 6-4 with two of his three attempts. He’ll be back with us next year, and he has a great opportunity to improve on his 6-3."Walgrave and Elbers scored a combined 20 points during the championship, giving Luverne a 14th-place finish as a team."I’m extremely proud of these two guys. They had great seasons, and they represented LHS very well at the state meet," Nelson said.
