Tigers fare well at Hamline Elite

Tanner Grubb anchored second place  4x400 relay

The Tigers scored points in six events at the Hamline Elite meet held Friday night at Hamline University in St. Paul.

The highest finish of the night came on the boys' side ledger where the quartet of Tyler Lerbakken, Tommy Weigel, Justin Hyytinen and Tanner Grubb that was runner-up in the 4x400 relay in a school record time of 3:25.17.

Hyytinen added an eighth place finish in the 1600-meter run, clocking a personal-best 4:26.56.

Nadia Lorencz placed in two events for the Tiger girls, ranking third in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.5 and fourth in the long jump with a leap of 16-9.25. Lorencz also took ninth place in the triple jump with a 33-8.5 effort.

The 4x200 relay team of Isabelle Ferm, Maria Kiminski, Morgan Cecchettini and Megan Graham placed fifth in 1:47.45 and the 4x400 quartet of Alicia Hett, Jennifer Miller, Graham and Kiminski who clocked 4:06.87.

Track: First Missota meet at FHS a success

In its two stints in the Missota Conference (1960-1983 and 1998-present) Farmington High School had never hosted the league track and field championships. After Thursday's 2011 conference competition at Tiger Stadium, that task can be crossed off the school's to-do list.
Farmington athletic director Jon Summer noted that when Prior Lake dropped out of the conference last spring, a new host school for the meet was needed. With Farmington's state-of-the-art facility at his disposal and his coaching staff supporting the idea, Summer stepped up to take on the challenge.
"This year was the first time the meet was run as one-day event," Summer explained. "Preparing for a conference championship meet requires much planning and most importantly, an excellent event-day staff.
"I was very fortunate to have this type of staff who helped make the day an excellent one for athletes and coaches."
As for results from the first-ever undertaking, Summer said the early returns are positive.
"I am very happy how the day went," he said. "We had excellent weather and saw some great competition, both on the track and in the field events."

Missota Conference Track & Field Championships at FHS Thursday, May 26

For the first time in its long membership, Farmington is playing host to the Missota Conference Track and Field Championships.
The 2011 league meet for both boys and girls teams will take place this Thursday, May 26, at Tiger Stadium, featuring teams from Farmington, Chaska, Chanhassen, Holy Angels, New Prague, Northfield, Red Wing and Shakopee.
Running event preliminaries start at 1:30 p.m. with the finals set to begin at 4:00 p.m. The final event (4x400 relay) is slated for 8:45 p.m.
Admission for the day-long event is $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for students.

Running Preliminaries
1:30 Girls 3200m Run Final Field Session 1 (1:30– 4:30)
1:50 Boys 3200m Run Final
2:05 Girls 100 Hurdles Prelims (3 heats) Boys Triple Jump Girls Discus
2:20 Boys 110 Hurdles Prelims (3 heats) Boys Shot Put Girls Long Jump
2:40 Girls 100m Dash Prelims (3 heats) Boys Pole Vault Girls High Jump
3:00 Boys 100m Dash Prelims (3 heats)

Running Prelims: Advance heat winners and next (6) fastest times to finals.

Running Finals Field Session 2 (4:30 – 7:30)

4:00 Girls 4 x 800m Relay Final Boys Long Jump Girls Shot Put
4:15 Boys 4 x 800m Relay Final Boys High Jump Girls Triple Jump
4:30 Girls 100 Hurdles Final Boys Discus Girls Pole Vault
4:40 Boys 110 Hurdles Final
4:50 Girls 100m Dash Final
4:55 Boys 100m Dash Final
5:05 Girls 4 x 200m Relay Final
5:15 Boys 4 x 200m Relay Final
5:25 Girls 1600m Run Final (2 sections)
5:45 Boys 1600m Run Final (2 sections)
6:05 Girls 4 x 100m Relay Final
6:10 Boys 4 x 100m Relay Final
6:15 Girls 400m Dash Final (3 sections)
6:30 Boys 400m Dash Final (3 sections)
6:50 Girls 300m Hurdles Final (3 sections)
7:05 Boys 300m Hurdles Final (3 sections)
7:25 Girls 800m Run Final (2 sections)
7:35 Boys 800m Run Final (2 sections)
7:45 Girls 200m Dash Final (3 sections)
8:00 Boys 200m Dash Final (3 sections)
8:35 Girls 4 x 400m Relay Final
8:45 Boys 4 x 400m Relay Final

Track: Tigers prep for Missota Championships at Pat Foley Classic

Izzie Ferm (top) 400-meter run, long jump and 4x200 champion
John Schimmel 1st in shot put, discus


The Tigers got exactly what they wanted from Thursday's three-team Pat Foley Classic in Northfield, a quality warm-up for this Thursday's (May 26) Missota Conference Championships scheduled for Tiger Stadium.
No points were tallied at Thursday's three-team meet featuring Farmington, Northfield and Rochester John Marshall but both Tiger boys coach Brian Helmstetter and girls coach Tom Hart liked what they saw at the conference tune-up.
"We had some surprises and some very hard fought races," Hart said. "It was just nice to be in a meet with good weather conditions. Overall, I'd say we had a pretty good day."
"It's a unique meet that's a reminder of the team champion approach," Helmstetter said. "They draw an event out of a hat and the winner of that event gets to keep the traveling trophy for a year. Today it was the boys 300 hurdles so Northfield gets to keep the trophy.
"As for us, we had some personal bests and we got a couple of our injured athletes back. Some of our upperclassmen are reaching last year's form and overall, the meet went well for us."
Boys
Senior thrower John Schimmel led the Tigers to seven first-place finishes, capturing the shot put and discus titles. He threw the shot 49-9 and set a personal-best in the discus with a throw of 144-5.
Senior sprinter Tyler Grubb also had a hand in two first place efforts, winning the 100-meter dash and joining Mason Auge, Jake Erickson and Charlie Wicks to claim top honors in the 4x100 relay.
Other first place winners included Tyler Lerbakken in the 400-meter run; Eric Stoeckman in the 800-meter run and Sam Hanson in the high jump.
Farmington also managed a trio of runner-up finishes in individual events: Grubb in the 400-meter dash; Carl Elmer in the 3200-meter run and Connor Phu and Reid Taubenheim (tie) in the pole vault.
The 4x100 relay foursome of Tommy Wiegel, Auge, Wicks and CJ Record and the 4x400 quartet of Grubb, Record, Wicks and Tyler Beckett each earned second place points.
Elmer took third in the 1600-meter run as did Bradley Dow in the 3200-meter run, Beckett in the 300-meter hurdles and Mason Gaylord in the triple jump.
Girls
Freshman Izzie Ferm won two individual events and combined with Meghan Graham, Erin Hickey and Alyssa Parco in winning the 4x200 meter relay to pace the Tiger girls. Ferm captured the 400-meter run (59.66) and the long jump (16-2.5).
In addition, Farmington scored four other firsts in individual events: Nadia Lorencz, 100-meter hurdles; Mary Cline, 100-meter dash; Hannah Seitzinger, 800-meter run and Maria Kiminski, 300-meter hurdles.
Four Tiger individuals tallied second place points, including Lorencz in triple jump and pole vault; Jordan Bridges in the high jump and Jessica Arey in the 300-meter hurdles.
Finishing third for Farmington were Hickey in the 400-meter run and Kesley Lindell in the high jump.
Both Tiger coaches are excited about hosting the conference meet for the first time in school history. The meet begins at 1:30 and will close under the bright lights of Tiger Stadium sometime in the early evening.

Track: Girls 3rd, boys 4th in Co-ed Invite

Jake Rudeen (rear), Chad Retterath (front) and Carl Elmer (middle) finished third, fourth and fifth in the 1600-meter run
(photos by Jim Lindquist)


Cassidy Gerber carries the baton in the 4x100 meter relay

The Tigers picked a perfect day to open their home season, hosting a four-team co-ed meet Tuesday, Apr. 12, at Tiger Stadium. Temperatures stayed in the high 60's for most of the meet and light breezes produced some good early season performances.
South dominated the girls competition with 132 points, followed by Northfield Farmington 47 and Woodbury 6.
Lakeville South won the boys meet with 107 points. Woodbury finished with 80.5, Northfield 47 and Farmington 37.5.
Maria Kiminski provided the lone Tiger win in individual competition in the girls meet with an impressive victory in the 800-meter run.
Farmington also racked up a relay win with the 4x200 foursome of Alyssa Parco, Courtney Johnston, Isabelle Ferm and Erin Hickey leading the field.
The Tigers scored a trio of second place finishes in the other relays: Mary Cline. Kelli Elmer, Ferm and Hickey in the 4x100; Meghan Graham, Hickey, Nicole Clifton and Kiminksi in the 4x400 and Kiminski, Maddie Strid, Bailey Opsal and Clifton in the 4x800.
Two other Tigers scored second place points, Parco in the 300-meter hurdles and Victoria Jacoby in the 3200-meter run.
Marciella Pacheco ranked third in the 3200 and Hickey finished third in the long jump.
"We got a good taste of what we need to do to be successful going forward," coach Tom Hart said. "We had some bright moments, but we know there is a whole lot of hard work ahead of us to be a championship caliber team.
"We were able to involve a lot of athletes last night, so that was a major positive, and it was fun getting to see the kids compete on their home track."
On the boys side of the ledger, high-jumper Sam Hanson continued his fine early season run with a first place effort, clearing the bar at 6-2.
The Tigers also put together second place finishes in three relays: Jack Erickson, Darren Beenken, Alex Chadwick, and Mackinley Bassett in the 4x100; Mason Auge, CJ Record, Tyler Grubb and Hanson in the 4x200 and Tyler Lerbakken, Tyler Wolt, Trevor Breezely and Eric Stoeckman in the 4x800.
Four Farmington individuals scored third place points, including John Schimmel in the shot put, Zach Wyatt in the triple jump, Lerbakken in the 800-meter run and Jake Rudeen in the 3200-meter run.
"Some of our relay teams had their fastest times of the year," coach Brian Helmstetter said, "and our three milers all broke five minutes. Our 4x400 relay team of Reid Taubenheim, Jeff Hansen, Eric Stoeckman, and Tanner Grubb broke the freshmen record and also had our best time of the season.
"We don't have many individual top times yet, but as a group we are better in many areas than we have been the past few years."
Both Tiger teams head to Lakeville North Friday for the highly competitive Mega-Meet and then the boys return to Tiger Stadium Tuesday, Apr. 19, for the six-team Tiger Invitational. The girls host their annual invitational meet on Thursday, Apr. 21.