BLAINE &045; The United South Central boys’ and girls’ track teams concluded a very successful season this past weekend at the Minnesota State High School League track meet in at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

“We could see from the seed performances coming into the meet that our best shot at a medal would be Ciara in the 300-meter Hurdles,” said coach Kent Viesselman. “Our other three entries would need to have a outstanding performances to get into the finals.”

“As it turned out, all four of our entries performed well and gave it a good shot, but came up just a little short. ”

“In the 300 prelims, Ciara was moving up around the curve and really nailed the sixth hurdle. She almost fell, and that was enough to keep her from getting into the finals. She missed advancing by 0.02 seconds,” said Viesselman.

“The good news is that all four of our entries are underclassmen, and that all four will have the opportunity to cash in on their experience this year at the state meet,” said Viesselman. “It’s rare that an athlete will place their first time at state. You have to have your best day in front of nearly 8,000 people against the absolute best in Minnesota, and experience is the only preparation for that.”

This brought to a conclusion a very successful season for both the boys’ and girls’ teams. The boys were Section 2A true team runners-up, won the Gopher Conference meet and were sub-section Champions, finishing the season with a win-loss record of 86-21 for a winning percentage of 80.4 percent Matt Mueller, Wade Miller, Spencer Niebuhr, and Brad Musser are the graduating seniors.

The girls were Section 2A true team champions, advancing to the state true team meet, where they finished sixth in the state. They also were sub-section champions and finished second in the section meet. They missed winning the conference meet by 1/2 a point. Their season record was 94 wins, 19 losses for a winning percentage of 83.2 percent. Megan Jensen, Andria Bias, and Lindsey Rauenhorst are the graduating Seniors.

“We had a great season, in both the Boys and the Girls programs ,” said Viesselman. “The kids did an outstanding job this year. We had excellent student leadership,

and our coaching staff also should be congratulated on an outstanding job this season. Nikki Phillips- long and triple Jump, Brandon Alphs &045; pole Vault, Darin Allis and Eric Allis in the throws, and Joe Guanella in the distance events. Wayne Feder served as a volunteer coach, working mainly in the jumping events.

&uot;It was a fun season, with all 52 athletes on the roster and the coaching staff all on the same page,” said Visselman.

At the season end awards program, three members of the Girls team and three members of the Boys team were selected by their respective team mates for special recognition:

Most dedicated:Jamie Klein/Matt Mueller

Most improved:Andrea Bias/ Alex Ramaker

Most valuable: Becca Bryson/Brad Tomschin

Finishes:

Girls’ 100 hurdles prelims:

12. Ciara Chistenson 16.18( Personal Record)

Girls’ 300 Hurdles prelims :

10. Ciara Christenson 47.25

Girls’ triple jump:

14. Becca Bryson 33-10

17. Kallie Rollenhagen 33-3.5

Boys’ 800 prelims:

14. Brad Tomschin 2:01.57