8. Rebels track and field has impressive spring

 

United South Central/Alden-Conger’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams had its fair share of accomplishments this spring.

The list goes on and on.

For starters, the Rebels won boys’ and girls’ Gopher Conference championships. The boys won by a margin of 105 points, won first place in 10 events and placed in all 18. The girls edged New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva by nine points and placed first in five events.

The girls team “piled up a bunch of points,” according to head coach Kent Viesselman, by finishing second and third in the high hurdles and second, third and fifth in the 300-meter hurdles.

In addition to its conference titles, the boys’ and girls’ teams both qualified for the Class A True Team State Tournament, which is organized by the Minnesota State Track and Field Coaches Association.

The boys’ team won the state title 4 1/2 points ahead of runner-up Morris Area and 5 1/2 points ahead of third-place Winona Cotter. Finishing in first place for the Rebels was the 4×200-meter relay team of Thane O’Rourke, Chris Melby, Jannik Rosemeyer, and Teddy Wiebold. Wiebold (200-meter dash), Riley Niebuhr (high jump), and Tony Willette (shot put and discus) all recorded second-place finishes.

The Rebels’ girls team placed sixth at the True Team meet. Hannah Goemann had the top individual finish for the girls with a second-place finish in the 800-meter run. Amanda Allis chipped in a third-place finish in the shot put. Kendall Ward added a fourth-place finish in the high hurdles. Goemann added a fourth-place finish in the high jump and another in the 1,600-meter run.

The Rebels capped its season by sending two individuals to the Minnesota State High School League-sponsored Class A track and field meet at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Goemann finished the 800-meter run in 2 minutes and 19.86 seconds, and Willette threw the discus 147 feet, one inch.

Goemann finished fourth in 800-meter run preliminaries in 2:19.37. Her final’s time was less than one-half second slower.

Willette’s final throw bested his preliminary throw by 3 feet, 4 inches, and he beat the eighth-place finishers by 2 1/2 feet.