Girls Track: Winning tradition continues

Field MVP Isabelle Ferm ran in her 4th straight state meet (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Coach Tom Hart said his team's 2014 spring season could be described in a single word: Successful.

"I think we had great season," Hart said. "The girls improved as the season progressed and we achieved our goal of running faster, jumping higher and farther and throwing farther."

Farmington finished second at the Missota Conference Championships and third at both the Section 1AA and True Team section meets.

"With those finishes I was happy with our season," Hart said. "Izzie Ferm also qualified for the state meet again and we sent three relay teams to state. That's the most I have witnessed in my almost 20 years being around Farmington track."

Hart added that the closest thing to a disappointment came in a so-so showing at state that had his four entrants reach the podium just once. The 4x200 relay team of Ferm, Emma Record, Jennifer Miller and Megan Graham finished ninth at the state finals.

Emma Record (above) and Lauren Peterson shared Track MVP honors  (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Seventh-grade distance runner Lauren Peterson (photo by Jim Lindquist)

"If I could re-do anything it would be to get another shot at a couple of events at state," he said. "We had some athletes battling injuries that prevented them from achieving their goals."

Hart and his staff awarded varsity letters to 38 athletes for their contributions during the 2014 season, including 10 seniors: Kathryn Beckett, Jessica Bowens, Morgan Cecchittini, Alex Elliot, Kelli Elmer, Isabelle Ferm, Aly Grebner, Abby Kampa, Chantal Kheirallah and Maricia Pacheco.

Underclassmen earning letters included juniors Sofia Chadwick, Nicole Doran, Ashley Ellefson, Megan Graham, Alicia Hett, Kendall Novak, Destiny Schmitz, Alexandra Sitzman and Jordan Walls; sophomores Racquel Beckett, Kaylin Finstad, Amanda Flanscha, MaKayla Ford, Emma Goralksi, Lexi Hermoza, Leah Kiage, Morgan Mach, Jennifer Miller, Maricella Pacheco, Asuah Reedy and Elizabeth Welter; freshmen Victoria Almquist, Rachel Kiminski, Samantha Kramer, Shannon McKnight and Emma Record and seventh graders Lauren Peterson and Anna Palodichuk.

**A complete list of other team members appears at the end of this story

Ferm won all-Missota Conference distinction for the fourth consecutive season and teamed up with Hett, Graham and Miller to win the 4x400 conference title. The 4x200 relay foursome of Ferm, Record, Miller and Graham also reigned as Missota champions.

Ferm closed her standout career with a fourth trip to the state meet and was joined by the 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 (Chadwick, Peterson, Mach, Hett) relay teams.

Alicia Hett (above) and Megan Graham received the Tiger Award (photo by Jim Lindquist)

 Ferm took home team MVP honors for the field events while Record and Peterson shared "Most Valuable" honors on the track. Hett and Graham were co-winners of the Tiger Award for attitude and work ethic and pole vaulter Kendall Novak received the Most Improved Award.

With 10 state meet qualifiers returning next year Hart said the future continues to look bright in the Tiger camp.

Megan Graham (photo by Jim Lindquist)

"We look to build from this year's successes but realize we need to keep working because the competition will be doing the same," he said.

Farmington moves to the talent-laden South Suburban Conference next year and Hart aid he is excited about the change.

"Many of our meets have already been South Suburban-heavy so we are familiar with most of the teams," he said. "The South Suburban coaches have told us they are happy to see us arrive as it will make the conference stronger."

**2014 Girls Track participants
Juniors
Kali Allard, Sydney Bockelman, Sarah Cummings, Alexis Johnson, Ariel Rau, and Jordan Trout
Sophomores
Kaitlyn Bessler, Kaitlin Edwards, Ratinaqu Hach, Kelly Haeg, Emily Larsen, Courtney McCuddin, Hannah Morgan, Jessica Novotny, Asuah Reedy, Taylor Scharrat, Hannah Stoefel and Vanessa Thraen
Freshmen
Emma-Jean Anderson, Kayla Bauman, Gabrielle Elliot, Amma Ewuakye, Kiana Gates, Lily Gildenzopf, Gabrielle Herrera, Catherine Hurley, Sami Hyytinen, Maria Paduano, Amanda Schmidt, Shaina Thelen, Bethany Weiher and Grace Welter
Seventh-grader
Emily Schaffer

Track: Hyytinen, Grubb shine at wet state track

Justin Hyytinen (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The weather outside was frightful but the performances of Tigers Justin Hyytinen and Tanner Grubb were delightful at the 2014 Class AA Track and Field Championships held Saturday at soggy Hamline University.

Junior Hyytinen and senior Grubb had their hands in all 25 team points as Farmington finished in a three-way tie with North St. Paul and Moorhead for ninth place in the final team standings.

The Tigers qualified for the state meet in nine events and earned points in four.

"Justin and Tanner were outstanding against the state's best," coach Brian Helmstetter said.  "I would say we had a good state meet.

"There were a couple of places where we could have done better, but overall it was good."

Hyytinen started his busy state run with a seventh place finish in Thursday's 3200-meter run, finishing in 9:22.46.

Tanner Grubb (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The same day, Grubb made the 400-meter dash finals with a school record time of 48.88 and the 4x400 relay team of Nehemiah Rockett, Ryan Parco, Devon Webb and Grubb set another school mark of 3:21.74 in qualifying for Saturday's finals.

Hyytinen placed third in the 1600-meter run on Saturday in a star-studded field that saw the top six finishers hit the line in a span of fewer than three seconds.

Grubb added fourth place points in the open 400, slicing 06. of a second off his school record in the process with a finishing time of 48.82.

Hyytinen stepped in to join Rockett, Webb and Grubb for the 4x400 relay final and erased Thursday's school mark with a third place effort in 3:20.97.


Other state meet results:
Grubb finished 12th in the 200-meter dash preliminaries in 22.46 and did not qualify for the finals
The 4x800 relay team of Jared Wolt, Alex Hart, Sean Dougherty and Webb finished 15th in 8:25.02
The 4x100 relay team of Caleb Bray, Jack Erickson, Sean McHenry and Mason Auge did not qualify for the finals.
The 4x200 relay team of Auge, Bray, Erickson and Parco did not qualify for the finals
 CJ Wynings did not qualify for the finals in the discus.

Tiger Girls Results
Farmington scored a single team point at the state meet on a ninth place finish in the 4x200 relay by the team of Isabelle Ferm, Emma Record, Jennifer Miller and Megan Graham.

The 4x800 relay foursome of Sofia Chadwick, Lauren Peterson, Morgan Mach and Alicia Hett ranked 15th in 9:42.46.

Farmington's 4x400 team of Hett, Miller, Graham and Ferm ran a 3:59.08, three spots out of qualifying for the finals.

Ferm triple jumped 35-7.25 and finished in 15th place.

"We competed hard but it just wasn't there for us today," coach Tom Hart said.

"If there was a disappointment it came in the 4x400 where I thought we would run around a 3:57 in the prelims but it didn't happen. If we had gotten to the finals, I thing we would have had a shot a top five finish."

Farmington placed second in the 4x400 at the 2013 state meet.

Girls Track: Ferm, 3 relays to state meet

Isabelle Ferm to state in 3 events (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Senior Isabelle Ferm is going back to the state meet for the fourth consecutive year and several teammates are joining her for the trip.

Ferm won the Section 1AA triple jump title with a leap of 36-4 and ran legs on both the second place 4x200 (1:44.26) and 4x400 (3:59.03) relay teams to qualify for the state meet and help the Tigers to a third place finish Saturday at Lakeville South.

Emma Record, Jennifer Miller and Megan Graham joined Ferm on the 4x200 team and Miller, Graham Alica Hett and Ferm ran the 4x400.

"This is Izzy's fourth year making into the state meet," Tiger coach Tom Hart said, "and hopefully she can get that elusive championship that she has been close to."

The 4x800 relay foursome of Sofia Chadwick, Lauren Peterson, Morgan Mach and Hett ran together for the first time this season and ran 9:39.20 to place second and punch its ticket to the state finals  next weekend at Hamline University in St. Paul.

The four state qualifiers helped the Tigers to a third place finish in the 12-team section field.

State powerhouse Lakeville South won the meet with a dominant 151 points. Lakeville North grabbed the runner-up spot with 79 points, six more than the third place Tigers. Other point totals included Rochester Century 66.5, Northfield 55.5,  Winona 49, Rochester John Marshall 41, Red Wing 41, Rochester Mayo 39, Austin 38, Faribault 25, Owatonna 19, Kasson-Mantorville 13, Hastings 9 and Albert Lea 3.

4x800 relay: Sofia Chadwick, Lauren Peterson, Morgan Mach and Alicia Hett

"The 4x800 started the day off for us in the right direction," Tiger coach Tom Hart said. "After that the ladies brought a lot of fight to their events.


"Qualifying the three relays was a wonderful way to end the day. All of the preparation our coaches and athletes put in this season showed as their performances were great."

Two other Tigers came tantalizing close to making the state cut. Destiny Schmitz ranked second in the triple jump heading into the final round before Northfield's Anna Pfefferle edged by her to take the final spot on the state roster.

Freshman sprinter Record had the best preliminary time in the 200-meter dash but finished third in the finals, .38 of a second out of second place and a state bid.

Hart said the first goal for the state qualifiers is to reach the finals but the ultimate aim is a spot on the awards stand.

"Getting to the podium and making all-state," he said. "That is my goal for all of them."

Other Farmington point scorers:
100-meter dash: 4. Morgan Cecchittini; 6. Record
800-meter run: 6. Hett
1600-meter run: 6. Maricia Pacheco
3200-meter run: 4. Peterson
Pole vault: 4. Kendall Novak

Girls Track: Tigers second in Missota finale

Isabelle Ferm three 1st place finishes (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington won four events and finished runner-up for the second straight season at the Missota Conference Championships held Thursday at Chanhassen.

Chanhassen successfully defended its 2013 league title with 184 points. Farmington won a heated battle for second place with 148, followed by New Prague 131.5, Shakopee 131, Northfield 105, Chaska 85.5, Red Wing 69 and Holy Angels 43.

The Tigers scored 31 points in the final three events of the meet to nail down second place.

"I thought the ladies performed very well and I am very happy for them," coach Tom Hart said. "The weather gave them a great opportunity and they took advantage of it by recording season best and personal best performances.  

"Their hard work really showed and their competitiveness was what got them to their second place finish.  As their coach I couldn’t be more proud of how they handled themselves ...We look forward to the section meet and trying to qualify as many events for state as possible."

Senior standout Isabelle Ferm ended her four-year run at conference meet in style, winning the triple jump (37-2.5), running on two first place relay teams (4x200 and 4x400) and placing third in the 200-meter dash. She had her fingerprints on 56 of the Farmington points.

Emma Record, Jennifer Miller and Megan Graham joined Ferm in winning the 4x200 in 1:45.03 and Ferm, Miller, Graham and Alicia Hett teamed up for the 4x400 victory, clocking 3:59.75.

Megan Graham ran on two winning relay teams (photo by J. Lindquist)

Like Ferm, Hett had a busy day on the Chanhassen oval, placing fifth in the 800-meter run and teaming with Sofia Chadwick, Maricella Pacheco and Morgan Mach to take fourth in the 4x800 relay.

Graham and Record also added points in individual events. Record ranked third in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the 200-meter dash; Graham placed fifth in the 400-meter dash.

Morgan Cecchittini placed in three events, finishing fifth in the long jump, seventh in the 100-meter dash and running on the fifth place 4x100 relay team with Racquel Beckett, Kelli Elmer and Nicole Doran.

Seventh grade distance runner Lauren Peterson led a quartet of Tigers who earned points in two events with a fourth place effort in the 3200-meter run and a sixth place finish in the 1600-meter run.

Destiny Schmitz ranked fifth in the high jump and eighth in the triple jump. Jordan Walls placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles and tied for eighth with teammate Ashley Ellefson in the pole vault. Maricia Pacheco finished eighth in the 3200-meter run and ninth in the 1600-meter run.

A pair of Tigers came up with season-best effort to score third place points: Kendall Novak in the pole vault and Kaylin Finstad in the high jump.

Aly Grebner took fourth in the discus and Elizabeth Welter came up with a sixth place finish in the long jump.

Next Saturday the Tigers head to Section 1AA Championships at Lakeville South. The state meet is the following weekend at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Jennifer Miller ran on two winning relay teams (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Track: Tigers win Foley Classic the easy way

Tanner Grubb 3-event winner (photo by J. Lindquist)

Justin Hyytinen broke 800-meter school record (photo by J. Lindquist)

Farmington won Thursday's annual Pat Foley Classic at Carleton College in Northfield by, well, the luck of the draw.

Team points aren't kept at the triangular get-together with section rivals Northfield and Rochester John Marshall but the winner is rather determined by a random drawing of a name of of one of the 36 events (boys and girls).

In this case the "winner" was the boys' 200-meter dash and because Farmington's Jack Erickson was the winner of that event, the Tiger boys and girls teams were declared meet champions.

"It was fun to see the boys and girls run the victory lap together," Tiger boys' coach Brian Helmstetter said.

In addition to the fun format to determine a team winner, the meet also served as a final tune-up for next Thursday's Missota Conference Championships at Chanhassen.

"We had some good times and we figured out a few things tonight," Helmstetter said.

One thing he figured out was that he may face a dilemma in where to run junior Justin Hyytinen in the conference and section meets. Hyytinen, already one of the best 1600 and 3200-meter runners in the state, broke Henry Schneider's 28-year old record in the 800-meter run with a 1:56.01 clocking.

But Hyytinen's second school record run of the season wasn't the only boys' highlight. Farmington won 12 of the meet's 18 events and piled up the lower places as well.

Tanner Grubb was a three-event winner, capturing the 100-meter and 400-meter dashes and joining with Mason Auge, Ryan Parco and Erickson to claim the 4x200 relay.

Five other Tigers won individual events: Jeff Gutierrez, 3200-meter run; Nehemiah Rockett, 110-meter hurdles; Zach Herrera, high jump; Sean McHenry, long jump and Mason Gaylord, triple jump.

The 4x100 relay team of Erickson, McHenry, Auge and Caleb Bray and the 4x400 foursome of Webb, Gaylord, Robin DeCastro and Jared Wolt also put together first place finishes.

Other top three Tiger performances:
100-meter dash: 3. McHenry
200-meter dash: 2. Auge.
400-meter run: 2. Parco; 3. Rockett
800-meter run: 2. Webb
1600-meter run: 3. Roberto Vasquez
3200-meter run: 3. Hunter Sevenich
Pole vault: 3. Wyatt Ferm
Long jump: Parco
Triple jump: 3. Dalton States
Shot put: 2. Mike Husnick; 3. Tanner Thode
Discus: 2. CJ Wynings; 3. Brendan King

Isabelle Ferm was a two-event winner (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tiger girls won four individual events and one relay at the Foley Classic. Isabelle Ferm was a two-event winner, taking the triple jump and teaming with Jennifer Miller, Morgan Cecchittini and Kelli Elmer to win the 4x200 relay.

Other individual winners included Samantha Kramer, 200-meter dash; Destiny Schmitz, high jump; Jordan Walls, 100-meter hurdles and Leah Kiage, 300-meter hurdles.

"We had some good performances in less than ideal May conditions," Tiger coach Tom Hart said, "Hopefully that transfers over to next week."

Other top three Tigers finishes:
4x800 relay: 2. Maricella Pacheco, Sara Cummings, Anna Palodichuk, Alexis Johnson
200-meter dash: 2. Nicole Doran; 3. Alexandra Hermosa
400-meter dash; 3. Amanda Schmidt
800-meter run: 2. Alicia Hett
3200-meter run: 2. Lauren Peterson
4x100 relay:  2. Elmer, Doran, Cecchittini, MaKayla Ford
High jump: 2. Kaitlyn Besler; 3. Kendall Novak
Pole vault: 3. Walls
Long jump: 3. Megan Graham
Triple jump: 3. Schmitz

Girls Track: Tigers 3rd at Section True Team

Lauren Peterson won the 1600-meter run; Maricia Pacheco (left) took 8th (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington finished third at the 10-team Section 1AA True Team Championships held Tuesday at Lakeville North.

State powerhouse Lakeville South dominated the meet, finishing with a winning team total of 1183 points. Lakeville North took second with 946.5, followed by Farmington 820.5, Rochester Century 750, Owatonna 727.5, Rochester Mayo 686, New Prague 644, Mankato West 636.5, Northfield 546.5 and Rochester John Marshall 390.5.

"I wanted to vie for second place and have a shot at the at-large spot in the state meet," Tiger coach Tom Hart said.  "We had a few events where we did not finish as highly as I thought we could have, but the kids really gave it their all. 

"We had some very tired athletes last night, and they definitely came to compete. We also got a chance to see many of our section teams and what events they looked strong in, so that was a bonus."

Only one Tiger entry scored first place points at the meet. Seventh-grader Lauren Peterson, who seems to get better with every race, out-sprinted New Prague's Maria Berg down the stretch to claim the 1600-meter run in 5:16.04.

Later in the meet, Peterson finished second to Rochester John Marshall's Emma Christensen in the 3200-meter run.

Megan Graham 3 top 10 finishes (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Farmington 4x400 relay quartet of Alicia Hett, Jennifer Miller, Shannon McKnight and Megan Graham closed the meet with a second place finish.

Hett picked up third place points in the 800-meter run and two relay teams put together fourth place finishes: the 4x100 foursome of Racquel Beckett, MaKayla Ford, Kelli Elmer and Morgan Cecchittini and the 4x800 grouping of Hett, Morgan Mach, Maricia Pacheco and Emily Schaffer.

Emma Record recorded the fifth best time in the 100-meter dash and Destiny Schmitz finished fifth in the triple jump.

Other Farmington top 10 finishers:
200 meter dash: 6. Isabelle Ferm; 8. Record
400-meter dash: 10. Graham
1600-meter run: 8. Maricia Pacheco
100 hurdles: 10. Jordan Walls
4x200 relay: 6 (Miller, Record, McKnight, Graham)
High jump: 9. Kaylin Finstad
Pole vault: 6. Walls
Long jump: 9. Cecchittini
Discus: 9. Aly Grebner
Triple jump: Ferm

Alicia Hett 3 top 10 finishes (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Track: Hyytinen has record night at Hamline

Justin Hyytinen (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Justin Hyytinen broke a meet and school record in the 1600-meter run at the Hamline Elite meet held Friday night at Hamline University in St. Paul.

The speedy Tiger junior ran the four-lap race in 4:14.05 to break the old mark of 4:15.16 set in 2008 by Irondale's Andy Richardson. It also eclipsed the previous school mark of 4:19 set in 1983 by Roger Thelen.

Hyytinen's blue ribbon performance wasn't the only Tiger first place finish at the elite meet. The girls' 4x200 relay team of Emma Record, Jennifer Miller, Megan Graham and Isabelle Ferm led the talented field with a finishing time of 1:43.07.

The Farmington boys also had several top finishes at the invitation-only meet, including:
4x400 meter relay: 3rd Ryan Parco, Nehemiah Rockett, Devon Webb, Tanner Grubb, 3:25.71; 200-meter dash: 5th Grubb, 22.59;
300-meter hurdles: 6th. Rockett, 40.22;
High jump: 6th Wyatt Ferm, 6-2 
800-meter run: 9th Webb, 2:00.74, 
3200-meter run: 13th Hyytinen, 9:53
110-meter hurdles: 15th Rockett, 15.82

Track: Tigers draw Hamline Elite bids

Farmington will be well-represented at the Hamline Elite Track and Field Meet Friday night at Hamline University in St. Paul.

The invitational only meet features athletes with the best times, heights and distances from around Minnesota.

Two Farmington boys, Justin Hyytinen and Nehemiah Rockett, made the field in two events apiece, Rockett in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles and Hyytinen in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs.

Tanner Grubb made the cut in the 200-meter dash and Devon Webb qualified in the 800-meter run. Wyatt Ferm earned his invitation in the high jump.

The 4x400 relay team of Rockett, Grubb, Webb and Ryan Parco will compete in the 4x400 relay.

The Tiger girls will be represented by the 4x200 relay team of Emma Record, Jennifer Miller, Megan Graham and Isabelle Ferm

Track: A chance to compete

With large numbers of participants out for both boys and girls track, it sometimes becomes difficult to get everyone opportunities for actual meet experience.

The Tigers solved that dilemma Tuesday by sending one team to Eagan for the Wildcat Invitational and another to a triangular with Red Wing and New Prague in Red Wing.

Farmington entrants scored many personal bests at the triangular with the best finish of the day belonging to the 4x100 relay team of Max Aldana, Dylan Otterness, Gavin Bassett and Nino Douangboutdy.

Four Farmington individual performers scored third place points: Chris Erickson, 300-meter run; Alex Hall, 300-meter hurdles; Alex Hall, high jump and Dylan Hammerschmidt, pole vault.

Jackson Schneider placed fourth in both the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. Ryan Newton ranked fourth in the 300-meter hurdles and Jakob Lee was fourth in the discus.

All of the Tiger girls' points of the afternoon came in the 800-meter run where Alexis Johnson and Nicole Willis ranked third and fourth respectively.

Girls Track: Peterson wins 3200 at Eagan

Lauren Peterson 1st in 3200-meters; 2nd in 1600-meters (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Seventh-grader Lauren Peterson provided the lone Farmington first place finish as the Tigers placed fourth among 10 quality teams at the Wildcat Invitational held Tuesday in Eagan.

Peterson ran a personal best time in winning the 3200-meter run in 11:32.89 and also placed second in the 1600-meter run to account for 18 of her team's point total.

Deep and talented Lakeville South won the meet with 170 points, 18 more than host Eagan. Eastview edged the Tigers 67-65 for third, followed by Rosemount 64, Cretin-Derham Hall 57.5, Woodbury 42, Park of Cottage Grove 39.33, Apple Valley 33.5 and Bloomington Jefferson 11.66.

"This was a  great opportunity for the ladies to compare themselves to some of the best teams in the state," coach Tom Hart said. "We ran decent races, but we need to get faster, jump higher and longer, and throw further if we want to compete in the championship meets at the end of the season."

In addition to Peterson's runner-up finish in the 1600, Alica Hett ran a personal best 2:26.10 to take second in the 800-meter run.

The Tigers opned the meet on a positive note with the 4x800 relay team of Sofia Chadwick, Maricia Pacheco, Morgan Mach and Hett putting together a third place finish.

Jordan Walls finished fourth in the pole vault as did the 4x200 relay team of Morgan Cecchittini, Megan Graham, Jennifer Miller and Emma Record.

Other Farmington point scorers:

200 meter dash: 5. Record

400 meter run: 7. Graham

4x100 relay: 6. Kelli Elmer, Nicole Doran, Racquel Beckett, Cecchittini

4x400 relay: 5. Hett, Graham, Miller, Victoria Almquist

Hgh jump: 5. Destiny Schmitz

Pole vault: 6. Ashley Ellefson

Discus: 6. Aly Grebner

Next Tuesday the Tigers head to Chaska for the annual running of the Missota Conference Relays.

Girls Track: Relays shine at Shakopee

Tiger sprinter Emma Record (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington loaded up its relay teams at Friday's four-team invitational meet at Shakopee and the move produced big results as the Tigers won three of the four relay races and finished runner-up in the other.

Defending Missota Conference champion Chanhassen won the meet with 110.5 points, followed by Shakopee 81.5, Farmington 72.5 and Holy Angels 17.5.

"It was a lot of fun to see so many kids competing and giving it their all," Farmignton coach Tom Hart said. "It was a great day to be at a track meet."

The Tigers scored six first place finishes in the 18 events. Three of them came in individual events with Ashley Ellefson taking honors in the pole vault (8-0); Isabelle Ferm leading the pack in the triple jump (33-10.5) and Aly Grebner winning the discus (95-1).

But it was the relays where coach Tom Hart's team really stood out. The first win came from the 4x800 quarter of Alicia Hett, Lauren Peterson, Sofia Chadwick and Maricia Pacheco who clocked 10:09.51 to win by 30 seconds.

The 4x200 team of Jennifer Miller, Emma Record, Megan Graham and Ferm brought home the second winner with a finishing time of 1:48.07. The third blue ribbon relay performance of the day came from the 4x400 grouping of Hett, Graham, Miller and Ferm who punched the clock in a good early season time of 4:08.28.

A fourth relay entry, the 4x100 foursome of Record, Kelli Elmer, Nicole Doran and Amanda Flanscha  ranked second.

Distance runner Maricia Pacheco (photo by J. Lindquist)

Hett took second in the in the 800-meter run as did Jordan Walls in the long jump. Destiny Schmitz tied for the runner-up spot in the high jump.

Three Tigers scored third place points: Grebner, shot put; Pacheco, 800-meter run and Elizabeth Welter, long jump.

Four more Farmington performers took fourth place, including Cecchittini, 100-meter dash; Peterson, 1600-meter run; Maricella Pacheco, 3200-meter run and Makayla Ford, 200-meter dash.

Leah Kiage ranked fifth in the 300-meter hurdles as did Welter in the triple jump and Jessica Bowens in the discus.

Next Thursday the Tigers host their annual invitational meet at Tiger Stadium. Other participating teams include Lakeville South, New Prague, Prior Lake, Red Wing and Woodbury.

Track: The great outdoors...at last

High-jumper Wyatt Ferm cleared the bar at 5-10 (photo by Jim Lindquist)

No official point totals were kept and snow still rimmed the track but the Tigers finally got to test their legs outside Monday afternoon when they hosted Rosemount and Shakopee for a scrimmage at Tiger Stadium.

As would have been expected, times were not record-like and rust could be seen on such things as relay hand-offs and footwork in the field events but all-in-all Farmington coaches Brian Helmstetter and Tom Hart agreed it was still a productive day.

"The first outdoor meet is a great chance to see where everyone is at," Helmstetter said. "The fact that we have so many sprinters and so few hurdlers will be a big conversation tomorrow...It looked like our first outdoor meet. I am hoping in the next week or two things will look a bit more polished, however, I am excited with what I saw and where our younger runners might go."

"We had some decent performances last night," Hart said, "but we didn’t put any A or B relay teams together. We let them compete against each other, and it was fun to see the intra-team competition....  Fri. we go to Shakopee for a five- team scored meet.  We look to load the teams up a bit more for that one."

Boys Highlights

100 meter dash: Tanner Grubb 11.33; Mason Auge 11.73
1600-meter run: Justin Hyytinen, 4:27
800-meter run: Jared Wolt, 2:10; Adam Dougherty, 2:12
200-meter dash: Grubb, 23:05; Jack Erickson, 24.19
110-meter hurdles: Alex Hart, 18.77
3200-meter run: Hyytinen, 9:45
4x200 relay: (Auge, Erickson, Ryan Parco, Grubb), 1:47
Long jump:  Parco, 19-1; Sean McHenry, 18-8
High jump: Wyatt Ferm, 5-10
Shot put: CJ Wynings, 40-10
Triple jump: Mason Gaylord, 38-2

Sprinter/hurdler Leah Kiage (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Girls Highlights

1600-meter run: Lauren Peterson, 5:30.29; Sofia Chadwick, 5:41.85; Maricia Pacheco, 5:46.77; Morgan Mach, 5:54.83

4x100 relay: (Racquel Beckett, Emma Record, Megan Graham, Izzie Ferm), 53.16
100 dash: Mikayla Ford, 13:44; Morgan Cecchittini, 13.62
800-meter run: Alicia Hett, 2:29.31
3200-meter run: Peterson, 11:42; Pacheco, 12:47
300-meter hurdles: Leah Kiage, 54.11; Rachel Kiminski, 55:28
4x400 relay: (Mach, Emily Schaffer, Chadwick,Hett), 4:28.15
100-meter hurdles: Destiny Schmitz, 18.39; Jordan Walls, 19.25; Kiminski, 19.39 

NOTE: Free, downloadable high-resolution photos from this event are available at Jim Lindquist's Photography website at http://sidekick.smugmug.com/

Girls Track: Tigers 10th at River Falls

Alicia Hett anchored the third place 4x800 meter relay team (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington scored 25.5 points and finished 10th among 18 teams at the All-American Indoor Invitational held last Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

"We had a decent day against some very good competition," coach Tom Hart said.

East Ridge outscored runner-up Anoka 88-73.5 to capture the team title at Farmington's only scored indoor meet of the season.

The best Tiger finish came in the 4x800 relay where the team of Emily Schaffer, Morgan Mach, Sofia Chadwick and Alicia Hett finished third.

Isabelle Ferm had the top Tiger individual finish, a fourth place effort in the long jump. Seventh-grader Lauren Peterson took fifth in the 3200-meter run, setting a new school indoor record in the process.

Destiny Schmitz placed in two jumping events, taking sixth in the triple jump and tying for seventh in the high jump.

The 4x400relay quartet of Hett, Megan Graham, Shannon McKnight and Victoria Almquist placed sixth and the 4x200 foursome of Ferm, Emma Record, Amanda Flanscha and Racquel Beckett ranked seventh.

Graham earned seventh place points in the 400-meter run and Ferm and Aly Grebner placed ninth respectively in the triple jump and shot put.

Girls Track: Success despite weather, injuries

Maria Kiminski: MVP, All-State, All-Missota (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Despite one of the latest-arriving springs in decades and injuries to key performers, the Tigers continued to find success.

Farmington finished runner-up at both the Missota Conference Championships and Missota Conference Relays (by one point), took third in Section 1AA meet and scored its highest finish ever finish (second) in a relay at the Class AA state finals.

"We had a successful season with lots of new faces contributing which was exciting," coach Tom Hart said. "We have started to show what we can do as a team and I look for us to build off that going into next season."

Twenty-five Tigers scored the required 25 points to earn varsity letters this spring, including six seniors: Alex Frost, Courtney Johnston, Maria Kiminski, Kesley Lindell, Nadia Lorencz and April Morris.

Underclassmen winning letters included juniors Kathryn Beckett, Morgan Cecchittini, Kelli Elmer, Isabelle Ferm, Aly Grebner and Maricia Pacheco; sophomores Madison Bowe, Sofia Chadwick, Nicole Doran, Megan Graham, Alicia Hett and Destiny Schmitz; freshmen Racquel Beckett, Jordan Walls, Leah Kiage, Jennifer Miller, Maricella Pacheco, Elizabeth Welter and eighth-grader Emma Record.

Kiminski received the team's Most Valuable Player Award while Schmitz was tabbed as "Most Improved." Frost won the Tiger Award for dedication and work ethic,

All-State 4x400 Relay: Megan Graham, Kiminski, Alicia Hett, Isabelle Ferm

 

The 4x400 team of Kiminski, Hett, Graham and Ferm won all-state distinction for its second place finish at the state meet.

Those four along with Chadwick, Frost, Elmer, Doran, Cecchittini, Record, Graham, Schmitz, Miller and Grebner earned all-Missota Conference honors.

"The thing I enjoyed most about this season was our improvement and our depth," Hart said. "We had ladies step up in big moments...Our ability to adjust on the fly was incredible."

The Tiger coach also paid tribute to his team's loyal supporters.

"The parents' support at our meets (none at home) rivaled anyone's," he said. "The crowd cheering so loud for us was awesome."

Besides the weather, Hart said the only down sides of the spring came on the injury front. Lorencz, a Michigan State recruit who won two state titles as a junior, sprained her ankle late and could not recover enough to make a return trip to state. 

All-Stater Ferm repeated as Section 1AA 400-meter run champ (photo by Jim Lindquist)

 

Ferm, another state meet veteran who still managed to defend her section 400-meter title, lower her own school record in the event and anchor the runner-up relay at state, ran through a nagging hip injury most of the year,

Hart said he will miss the contributions of his six graduated seniors next spring but he is optimistic his large group of returnees will carry on the program's rich tradition.

"We will return many athletes with experience," he said. "We had a few athletes this year who just missed qualifying for state and that hunger will drive them to success."

Destiny Schmitz: Most Improved (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Girls Track: 4x400 relay state runner-up

(l to r) Megan Graham, Maria Kiminski, Alicia Hett, Isabelle Ferm

In many ways the 2013 season had been a frustrating one for coach Tom Hart and his Tiger girls' track team.

Intolerable weather conditions. Debilitating injuries to key performers. A fraction of a second or inches from qualifying for the state meet in multiple events.

But there was no sign of frustration on the faces of Hart or the Tiger 4x400 relay team on Saturday after Maria Kiminski, Alicia Hett, Megan Graham and Isabelle Ferm roared to a second place finish at the Class AA State Championships at Hamline University in St. Paul.

The speedy foursome clocked a season best 3:55.73 to finish 1.69 seconds behind champion Minnetonka. The runner-up finish was the best-ever by a Tiger girls' relay team at the state meet.

Kiminski and Hett ran strong opening legs to keep the Tigers in the hunt and then Graham and Ferm put together back-to-back 57 second-plus laps to record all of Farmington's 10 points in the meet.

Ferm's strong closing leg helped take the sting out of her 10th place finish in the 400-meter dash preliminaries the previous day, one spot short of making the finals.

Later on Friday Jennifer Miller stepped in for Ferm in the 4x400 prelims (after Ferm aggravated a nagging hip injury) to allow the Tigers to advance to Saturday's finals.

"Jennifer helped us get here and today we ran an amazing race," Hart said. "I told the girls beforehand that we could run 3:55 if everyone did what they had to do...and that's exactly what they did.

"They put themselves into a position to be state champions. You can't ask for much more than that. I am so proud of all of them"

Girls Track: Ferm, relay headed to state

Isabelle Ferm back to state (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Junior Isabelle Ferm battled through a sore hip to defend her Section 1AA 400-meter title in 57.43, a new school record, to earn a return trip to the state meet at the Section 1AA Championships held Saturday at Lakeville South.

Ferm, who finished sixth in the 400 at state last year, also teamed up with Maria Kiminski, Alicia Hett and Megan Graham to take second in the 4x400 relay in a season-best 4:01.60  to punch their return ticket to state.

Ferm, Graham and Hett all ran on the same relay team that placed sixth at last year's state finals.

The Tigers also had four third place finishes, one place short of qualifying for the state meet.

"We had some very good performances today and it's always good to have our girls going back to state," coach Tom Hart said. "It's mildly disappointing to come so close in so many other events, but that is the nature of track. You only get one shot at state."

The Tigers finished third in the final 15-team standings. Lakeville South ran away with the title, finishing with 190 points. Lakeville North took second with 123, followed by Farmington 58, Rochester Century 56, Winona 41, Rochester Mayo 34, Austin 33, Dover-Eyota/St. Charles 27, Rochester John Marshall 27, Northfield 26, Owatonna 23,  Albert Lea 19, Red Wing 18, Kasson-Mantorville 17and Faribault 10

The four Tiger entrants that finished just out of the state meet sweepstakes were the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x800 relays and Destiny Schmitz in the triple jump.

Destiny Schmitz 3rd in triple jump; 7th in high jump (photo by J. Lindquist)

Schmitz came the closest to the state berth, actually tying for second place with a distance of 35-2.75 but losing the state bid on a tie-breaker.

"Destiny broke her personal best by almost two feet," Hart said. "She had a great day."

The third place 4x800 team consisted of Kiminski, Hett, Alex Frost and Sofia Chadwick. Kelli Elmer, Nicole Doran, Morgan Cecchittini and Emma Record ran the 4x100 and Racquel Beckett, Jennifer Miller, Cecchittini and Graham competed in the 4x200.

Defending state 100-meter hurdles and long jump champion Nadia Lorencz returned to the track after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the year and scored a pair of fourth place finishes in those events.

Missota Conference shot put champion Aly Grebner ranked seventh in the section meet as did Schmitz in the high jump. Record took eighth in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.

The state meet will be held next Friday and Saturday at Hamline University on St. Paul.

Alicia Hett

Megan Graham

Maria Kiminski (all photos by Jim Lindquist)

Girls Track: Runner-up in the Missota

Maria Kiminski anchored the winning 4x800 relay team (photo by J. Lindquist)

Despite injuries to a couple of major point producers the Tigers were able to post a second place finish at the Missota Conference Championships held Thursday in Chanhassen.

All-state hurdler and long jumper Nadia Lorencz missed the entire meet nursing an ankle injury and defending conference 400-meter Isabelle Ferm had to sit out her last two events after re-injuring her hip.

"There were definitely some points lost there but I am very pleased with how the girls stepped up today," coach Tom Hart said. "They came to compete and there we had pr's all over the place. It was a very good day for us."

Chanhassen successfully defended its 2012 title with 214.5 points. The Tigers totaled 145, followed by New Prague 121, Shakopee 111, Chaska 86.5, Northfield 82, Red Wing 71, and Academy of Holy Angels 67

Farmington won four events with the 4x800 relay team of Alicia Hett, Sofia Chadwick, Alex Frost and Maria Kiminski getting the Tigers off to a fast start with a win in the meet's opening event.

"Their goal was 9:40 and they came in at 9:41," Hart said. "It will be interesting to see what they can do in the section."

Megan Graham anchored 2 Top 3 relay teams (photo by J. Lindquist)

The Tigers made it bookend relay wins with a victory in the last race of the day, the 4x400. With Ferm out after hurting herself in her second place finish in the 400-meter run, the quartet of Kiminski, Hett, Jennifer Miller and Megan Graham ran a season-best time of 4:02.97 to grab the gold.

Before her injury in the 400 meters, Ferm won the triple jump title with a leap of 34-10.25.

The fourth first came from thrower Aly Grebner who won the event with a toss of 34-8.25. Grebner also placed in two other field events, taking fourth in both the discus and the high jump.

In addition to Ferm's runner-up finish in the 400 meters, the Tigers scored second place points in two other events: Morgan Cecchettini in the long jump and the 4x100 relay team of Kelli Elmer, Nicole Doran, Cecchittini and Emma Record.

The 4x200 relay foursome of Racquel Beckett, Miller, Courtney Johnston and Graham placed third as did Destiny Schmitz in the triple jump.

Kiminski ranked fourth in the 300-meter hurdles and Graham took fourth in the 400-meter run.

Maricia Pacheco placed fifth in the 3200-meter distance event and Schmitz and Kelsey Lindell tied for fifth in the high jump. Record and Hett were sixth in the 100-meter dash and 800-meter run respectively.

Elizabeth Welter finished seventh in the long jump. Cecchittini added a ninth place finish in the 100-meter dash and Record took ninth in the 200-meter dash.

The Tigers now turn their attention to next week's Section 1AA Championships to be held Thursday and Saturday at Lakeville South.

"We'll be finalizing relay teams and trying to get everyone healthy," Hart said.

Kelsey Lindell tied for 5th in high jump (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Girls Track: Ferm sets 2 records at Foley Classic

Isabelle Ferm 3 1sts, 2 meet records (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Isabelle Ferm broke two meet records and her own school mark in the 400-meter run to lead the Tigers in the non-scored, four-team Pat Foley Classic held Thursday at Carleton College in Northfield.

Ferm clocked 57.48 in the 400 and triple jumped 36-1 to set the new meet standards and also ran a legs on the winning 4x200 real team.

"It was a great night for us," coach Tom Hart said. "We couldn't have asked for better weather. We mixed it up a little, so we could see how the girls would compete.

"Izzy (Ferm) had a great individual night. She looked effortlessly fast...Maria Kiminski ran a personal-best in the 800 and a great 200 in a relay. All of our 800 runners pr'd and most of our sprinters did, too."

All in all, Farmington scored eight first place finishes in the meet. In addition to Ferm's two feats, the blue ribbon performances in individual events came came from Morgan Cecchittini, 100-meter dash; Kiminski, 800-meter run; Maricia Pacheco, 1600-meter run and Destiny Schmitz, high jump.

Maricia Pacheco 1600-meter champion (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The winning relay teams consisted of the 4x200 quartet of Jennifer Miller, Alicia Hett, Kelli Elmer and Ferm and the 4x400 foursome of Hett, Sofia Chadwick, Emma Record and Racquel Beckett..

Four Tigers finished in the runner-up spot: Megan Graham, 400-meter run; Courtney Johnston, 200-meter dash; Elizabeth Welter, long jump and Aly Grebner, shot put.

The 4x100 relay team of Elmer, Cecchittini, Nicole Doran, and Racquel Beckett also placed second.

Hett took third in the 800-meter run as did Maricella Pacheco in the 1600-meter run, Schmitz in the 100-meter hurdles and Cecchittini in the long jump.

Fourth place finishes went to MaKayla Ford, 100-meter dash; Chadwick, 800-meter run; Kathryn Beckett, triple jump and Grebner, discus.

Alex Frost ranked fifth in the 800-meter run. Jordan Walls took fifth in the pole vault and Sydney Bockelman placed fifth in the high jump.

Thursday's quadrangular served as a warm-up for next Thursday's Missota Conference Championships slated for Chanhassen.

Alicia Hett ran on two winning relay teams (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Girls Track: Tigers 4th at True Team Section

Isabelle Ferm 200-meter dash champion (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Without the services of all-state hurdler/long jumper Nadia Lorencz who was out with an ankle injury, coach Tom Hart wasn't sure how his team would fare at the Section 1AA True Team Championships held Tuesday at Lakeville North.

As it turned out the Tigers fared quite well, finishing fourth in a quality nine-team field.

Lakeville South edged crosstown rival Lakeville South 1002.50-936 to earn a spot in next week's True Team state meet. Rochester Century ranked third at 661.50 followed by Farmington 598, Owatonna 572.50, New Prague 564.50,  Rochester Mayo 498, Northfield 415 and Rochester John Marshall 349.

"Not a bad meet for us," coach Tom Hart said. "We had some people really step up tonight and compete.

Destiny Schmitz 3 top 10 finishes (photo by Jim Lindquist)

"Destiny (Schmitz) had a great night, scoring well and getting personal-best in most of her events. Maria (Kiminski) ran well in the hurdles and the relays and Izzie (Ferm) and Megan (Graham) looked strong in the 200 and 400...The weather was great and that really helped."

Junior Ferm provided the only Farmington first place finish of the meet, winning the 200-meter dash in 26.68 seconds. Ferm also finished runner-up in the 400-meter dash but had to sit out the 4x400 relay with a sore  hip.

Even without Ferm at the anchor the 4x400 foursome of Graham, Sofia Chadwick, Kiminski and Alicia Hett the Tigers finished in second place

Graham finished the meet with two more top 10 rankings, including a sixth place effort in the 200-meter dash and an eighth place showing in the 400-meter dash.

Maria Kiminski 3 top 10 finishes (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Kiminski also had three top 10 finishes, adding a fifth place in the 300-meter hurdles and a joining with Hett, Alex Frost and Alexis Johnson for fourth place points in the 4x800 relay.

Hett completed her trio of top ten finishes by taking eighth in the 800-meter run.

Schmitz had a solid all-around day, placing among the top 10 in three different events. She ranked third in the high jump, eighth in the triple jump ninth in the 100-meter hurdles.

The 4x100 foursome of Kelli Elmer, Nicole Doran, Morgan Cecchittini and Emma Record finished fourth and the 4x200 team of Racqule Beckett, Elizabeth Welter, Kelsey Lindell and Courtney Johnston took eighth.

Cecchittini also ranked sixth in the 100-meter dash and also placed eighth in the long jump.

Three other Tigers scored 10th place points: Maricia Pacheco, 1600-meter run; Record, 100-meter dash and Lindell, high jump.

For more of Jim Lindquist's photos from the Section 1AA Championships visit https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.500292580019524.1073741833.134625986586187&type=1

Girls Track: Tigers experiment in quadragular

Megan Graham ran on two winning relay teams (file photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers finally got back on the track Thursday in a hastily called Missota Conference quadrangular at Shakopee.

Chanhassen won the meet with 97.5 points. Farmington tallied 78, Shakopee 39.5 and Chaska had four.

"We ran some of our varsity kids in different events," coach Tom Hart said. "It was good to get the kids a meet and have everyone get a chance to compete. We saw some very good performances in less than ideal weather...The sprinters looked very good and there were a lot of battles in the relays."

The Tigers won nine events, including individual titles by Rachel Kiminski in the 100-meter hurdles; Morgan Cecchittini in the 100-meter dash; Leah Kiage in the 300-meter hurdles; Jennifer Miller in the long jump; Kelli Elmer in the discus and April Morris in the discus.

The other four blue ribbon performances came from the relay teams who put together a clean sweep of the team events. The regular 4x400 quartet of Megan Graham, Maria Kiminski, Alicia Hett and Isabelle Ferm won the 4x800 and the team of Graham, Hett, Ferm and Emma Record led the field in the 4x100.

The 4x400 relay went to the foursome of Racquel Beckett, Elizabeth Welter, Kiage and  Gabrielle Fettig and the team of  Miller, Courtney Johnson, Madison Bowe and Kelsey Lindell edging the grouping of Record, Beckett, Rachel Kiminski and Mikayla Ford by less than a second in the 4x200.

Three Farmington entrants scored second place points: Elmer in the high jump; Kathryn Beckett in the shot put and Jordan Walls in the long jump.

Itzell Flores took third in the 200-meter dash and Morris ranked third in the discus.

Tuesday the Tigers are hoping for some spring-like weather when they travel to Lakeville North for the Section 1AA True Team Championships.