Girls Golf: Swenson 30th in Section 1AA

Brianna Swenson

Tiger sophomore Brianna Swenson posted a round of 97 to finish 30th in a 49-player field in the final round of Section 1AA individual play Monday, June 4, at Cannon Golf Club in Cannon Falls.

Swenson qualified for final round play with an opening-round 98 on the same course the previous Thursday.

Tiger coach Jon Stock was pleased with Swenson's season-ending effort.

"Brianna was one shot away from a personal best," he said.

Boys Golf: May on to state; Tigers sixth in 1AA

Tommy May advances to state tournament

Tommy May followed up his opening round 74 with a two-over par 75 to tie for fourth at the finals of the Section 1AA Championships played Monday at Bellwood Oaks Golf Course in Hastings.

The solid two-day performance earned the Tiger senior a berth in next week's Class AA State Championships slated for Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids.

"Tom showed some real character by fighting and grinding around the course," coach Jon Holmes said..

"He was not having his best of days, but the fact that he managed to stick around par really goes a long way in revealing just how much disposition he has developed and how he has taken his game to the next level...I couldn’t be prouder of how he finished ."

May is the first Tiger to make the state meet field since Greg Werner qualified in 2009.

The Tigers, who came into the second round of section team play in seventh place, moved up a notch in the final standings with a two-day total of 316, one of their best showings of the season.

"It was right up there with the 312 we shot at Chaska Town Course, especially since this was a par 73 course," Holmes said. " Everyone played better and we saw what a difference that can make.

Ryan Kelly second-round 78

"I am absolutely pleased at how this group finished the season. They never gave up. They stayed with it through the final hole."

In addition to May's team leading 149,  Ryan Kelly Shot 160 (82-78); Erik Holmstrom 161 (80-81); Mitch Reed 172 (88-84), Tony Lalani 173 (90-83) and Jake Hanson (90-85).

Tiger Scoreboard: June 5, 2012

Boys Golf
Section 1AA Championships at Bellwood Oaks Golf Course in Hastings
Rochester Century 605, Owatonna 615, Lakeville North 616, Winona 623, Albert Lea 639, Farmington 642, Faribault 646, Red Wing 652.

State Qualifier: Tommy May, 4th place tie with 36-hole total of 149 (74-75)

Boys Track: Saving the best for last

The 4x 400 relay team of (l to r) Tommy Weigel, Tyler Lerbakken, Tanner Grubb and Chad Retterath is headed to the state meet

Heading into the final event of the day at Saturday's Section 1AA Championships at Lakeville South it looked as though the Tigers would be sitting out the 2012 state meet.

They had put together a productive day against top flight competition but the best they had to show was a trio of third place finishes, one place short of qualifying for the big show.                                              
Based on seed time it appeared at be the 4x400 relay team of Tyler Lerbakken, Chad Retterath, Tanner Grubb and Tommy Weigel would also do well to finish third.

The Farmington foursome ended the meet with flourish, however, getting quality efforts from all four runners and surviving what coach Brian Helmstetter termed a "horrible" hand-off to take second in 3:29.58.

"I didn't think a 3:29 was going to make it to state," Helmstetter said, "but the hand-off cost us two or three seconds which we are going to need to make it to the the finals st state.

"We will run faster next week as Tanner has only had a half season of training and the other three are competitors. ...I am especially proud of Chad who came back from three injury-plagued seasons to get after it this year."

The Tigers, who ranked ninth among 14 teams in the final section standings with 34 points, earned two third place finishes in individual events. Freshman Justin Hyytinen ranked third in the 1600-meter run and sophomore Grubb was the third finisher in the 400-meter dash.

Justin Hyytinen 3rd place 1600-meter run (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The 4x800 meter relay quartet of Lerbakken, Retterath, Eric Stoeckman and Hyytinen also earned six third place points.

The 4x200 relay foursome of  Ryan Parco, Weigel, Grubb and Jack Erickson took fifth place. Lerbakken finished sixth in the 400-meter dash and Reid Taubenheim ranked eighth in the pole vault to round out the scoring for the Tigers.

 "Overall, this meet was a great learning experience for our younger athletes," Helmstetter said. "Many of them are ninth and 10th graders and they were competing against some strong competition. This will help them for the years ahead."

The 4x400 relay team will run in the preliminaries Friday at Hamline University in St. Paul in an attempt to make Saturday's championship field..

Lorencz, Ferm and Parco dominate section track

Nadia Lorencz: 1st in 100-meter hurdles, triple jump, long jump (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The talented trio of Nadia Lorencz, Izzie Ferm and Alyssa Parco combined for six first place finishes to help the Tigers to a third place finish in a quality 14-team field at the Section 1AA Championships held Saturday at Lakeville South.

The Tigers amassed 87 team points in the two-day meet and Lorenz, Ferm and Parco had their fingerprints on 80 of them.

All in all, Farmington's Big Three qualified for next weekend's Class AA State Championships in six different events: Lorencz in the triple jump; long jump and 100-meter hurdles; Ferm in the 400-meter dash and triple jump; Parco in the 300-meter hurdles and Parco, Ferm, Megan Graham and Alicia Hett in the 4x400 relay.

"As a coach you feel blessed when a great athlete comes along," coach Tom Hart said, "and we have three of them. I can't say enough about what they mean to our team.

"They are such hard workers, both during the season and off-season. And the great thing is they are so coachable... They are getting what they deserve with all of these honors"

Lorencz, who finished runner-up at state in the hurdles and long jump last spring, won all three of her events at the section and set two meet records in the process. Her 14.56 clocking in the hurdles set a new standard as did her 37-6.75 effort in the triple jump. She leaped 17-11.25 in the long jump to lead the field.

Izzie Ferm: 1st 400-meter run and 4x400 relay; 2nd triple jump; 3rd 200-meter dash (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Ferm had an even busier day. For openers, she won the 400-meter dash in 58.51 seconds and anchored the victorious 4x400 relay team that checked in at 4:03.6. The versatile sophomore also ranked second behind Lorenz in the triple jump at 36-5.5 and third in the 200-meter dash (26.21), missing state meet qualification by .09 of a second.

Alyssa Parco: 1st 300 hurdles and 4x400 relay, 3rd 100 dash (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Parco, a three-time state-meet qualifier in the 300-meter hurdles, battled a tough wind to win her signature event in a season-best 44.10 and ran the opening leg for the victorious 4x400 relay team. The tough-minded senior also placed third in the 100-meter dash in 12.54, just .01 of a second away from second place and a trip to state in a third event.

"When I was thinking of a perfect meet for us, I thought we could qualify for nine events at state," Hart said. "We made it in six and came within a fraction of a second of doing in it in two more. That's pretty impressive."

The other Tiger individual points came from senior hurdler Jessica Arey who turned in a career-best 47.64 to take fifth place and freshman Graham who ran 1:02.77 to finish eighth in the 400-meter dash.

The 4x200 relay foursome of Jennifer Miller, Courtney Johnston, Graham and Laura Steege finished seventh in 1:49. 39.

State meet preliminaries take place Friday with the finals set for Saturday at Hamline University in St. Paul.

"I can't say we are going to win everything," Hart said, "but we should be right up there with the best in most of the events we're in."