Although the Albert Lea boys’ track and field team won six events, the Tigers lost their first home meet of the season.

Red Wing defeated Albert Lea 98-48 Thursday at the Hammer Complex.

Colton Mowers led the Tigers’ sprinters. He won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.88 seconds and took second in the 200 in 24.19.

Mowers won the 100 by 0.04 seconds, and he said he is working to improve.

“Lately I’ve been running tense, so I’ve been trying to focus on getting my face loose and more relaxed,” Mowers said. “12 seconds go by fast, so you’ve got to focus on your arms, your stride and keeping your head straight.”

Caleb Troe led the Tigers’ distance group by winning the 1,600-meter run in 4:41.24. Instead of competing in the 3,200, Troe ran a leg of the 4×800 relay with Jackson Goodell, Tyler Anderson and Joe Peterson. The group posted a time of 8:31.10 to beat Red Wing by more than nine seconds.

“That crew has been one of the strongest parts of our team,” said Albert Lea coach Kevin Gentz.

Jeremy Sekora and Connor Larson led the Tigers in field events. Sekora won the high jump with a leap of 5-6, and Larson cleared 9-6 to win the pole vault.

Although Sekora is a senior, he is a first-year track and

field participant.

“He does a great job of learning things each day in practice,” Gentz said. “He’s a coachable athlete and a good kid.”

Gentz said Larson’s height was a personal best.

Albert Lea had three top-three finishes in hurdles events. Abraham Peterson won the 110 hurdles in 17.47 seconds and took second in the 300 hurdles in 44.50. Spencer Indrelie finished 1.17 seconds behind Abraham to take second in the 110 hurdles.

Matt Nemec led the Tigers’ throwers by taking third in both the shot put with a toss of 42-5 and discus with a throw of 129-5.

In JV events, Albert Lea won 68-37.

Karter Kenis, a seventh-grader, won the 400 in 57.92, and eighth-grader Dane Brownlow took second less than a second later.

“Those are tremendous times,” Gentz said. “A lot of guys don’t break 60 seconds until their sophomore year.”

The Tigers allow junior high athletes to compete in JV events. Gentz said it’s positive for the kids and an advantage for the program.

“We definitely feel it was the right decision to allow seventh and eighth graders be a part of the team,” he said. “They enjoy it and are learning from it. They look up to those juniors and seniors.”

Next, the Albert Lea boys’ team will host Austin and Red Wing at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.