Cedar Mountain tops girls' meet

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

WINTHROP -- It's all part of a learning experience that Comfrey/Springfield's Holli Pederson hopes will lead her back to the Class 1A state track meet. Thursday's lesson was learning to deal with adverse weather conditions.

The temperatures in the mid-40s with a wind chill factor in the low-30s were less than ideal for all the athletes. But the cold and the rain were even worse for those who jump.

Pederson, a junior high jumper for the Rockets, passed the test well. Pederson, who went 5 feet, 6 inches to win in Mountain Lake Tuesday, won again Thursday at the girls T-Bird Relays with a height of 5 feet, 3 inches in the chilly conditions.

"She's learning to jump in all kinds of weather," Comfrey/Springfield coach Bruce Stresemann said. "I think she's getting really tough mentally. The weather used to be a problem for her. She's starting to overcome that."

Pederson and Wabasso's Missy Froelich were the final two jumpers after Liz Bachaus of LeSueur-Henderson was eliminated at 5 feet even. Froelich finished second with a mark of 5 feet, 2 inches after failing to clear 5 feet, 3 inches. Pederson tried three times to clear 5 feet, 4 inches, but failed to clear the bar on all three attempts.

"It's a little cold out today," Pederson said. "It's rainy, it's not very good to be jumping in. Standing there, you just get colder, and your legs just freeze up. You try to stay loose, but it doesn't really help."

Still, Pederson, who qualified for the Class 1A state track meet as a sophomore, wasn't unhappy with her performance Thursday.

"I wish I would have jumped better, but I guess since it's so cold out I'm happy," Pederson smiled. "I'm happy I got first."

Said Stresemann: "I think she did fantastic, considering the weather. The cold weather is a huge handicap in any jumping event. You've got to go vertical with muscles that are tight and getting tighter by the second. It's really hard to stay loose. I can't think of a worse problem than the cold."

Pederson's win was the only first place on the day for the Rockets. Brittany Feser was second in the pole vault with a mark of 6 feet, 6 inches and Trish Matter was second in the long jump at 14 feet, 11 1-2 inches.

Two of the Rockets' relays also finished second. Comfrey/Springfield was second in the 1,600-meter sprint medly in 2:07.60 and the Rockets' 400-meter relay was second in 54.90.

Comfrey/Springfield finished with 56 points in fifth place.

"Early in the season, we're finding out what people can do," Stresemann said. "We're happy with where we're at. We've got a lot of young people and it's a matter of putting them in the right place."

Cedar Mountain topped the team results with 105.5 points, getting three individual firsts and wins in two relays. Montgomery-Lonsdale was second with 85 points and Minnesota Valley Lutheran was third with 73 points.

"I think the ladies did real well," MVL coach Rollin Timm said. "I'm very happy with how we performed. We don't have a large number, but they put forth a lot of effort."

MVL won two relays and got an individual first from Lisa Petersen in the 100 meters. Peterson just beat out teammate Holly Enter with a time of 13.42 seconds to Enter's 13.50.

The Chargers 400-meter relay won with a time of 52.73, more than two seconds clear of runner-up Comfrey/Springfield. In the 800-meter relay, MVL outdistanced Cedar Mountain by just more than two seconds in 1:52.25.

Kayla Wendorff also got a second for the Chargers in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 54.19.

"I'm just proud of the ladies and how they put forth a good effort in spite of the weather," Timm said.

Cedar Mountain won five events, including a pair of relays. The Cougars won both the 1,600-meter relay and the 3,200-meter relay with times of 4:21.05 and 10:26.66, respectively.

Katie Gewerth, Jackie Serbus and Mandy Seifert were Cedar Mountain's individual winners. Gewerth won the 400 meters with a time of 1:01.53, Serbus the 1,600 meters in 5:53.78 and Seifert claimed the discus with a mark of 106 feet even.

The Cougars got individual seconds from Tiffany Bode and Seifert. Bode finished behind Serbus in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:57.88 and Seifert was the runner up in the shot put with a mark of 34 feet, 5 inches.

Cedar Mountain also got a second from its 800-meter relay with a time of 1:54.32.

The boys T-Bird Relays will get under way at 4 p.m. today.