Chargers win boys T-Bird Relays

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

WINTHROP -- Track coaches always say depth is important in winning track meets. The Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers needed theirs Friday.

Faced with the absence of two of their athletes and another battling illness, MVL still managed to win its first meet of the season. MVL got three relay wins and picked up four individual seconds to total 97 points and win the boys T-Bird Relays.

"Our strength today was definitely in the relays," MVL coach Rollin Timm said. "We had a lot of different people filling in in the relays because we're missing three of our main scorers. ... That's what brought us through, the relay events."

Montgomery-Lonsdale was second with 86 points and Redwood Valley was third with 75 points.

MVL won the 1,600-meter relay, the 3,200-meter relay and the 1,600-meter sprint medley. The Chargers also picked up a pair of thirds in the 400- and 800-meter relays.

MVL won the 1,600-meter relay in 3:38.99, nearly eight seconds better than runner up LeSueur-Henderson. The Chargers took the 3,200-meter relay in 9:06.67 and won the sprint medley in 4:02.81, just edging Nicollet's 4:03.29.

"I'm real happy that we could show well at this meet," MVL's Mike Pinske said. "There were a lot of teams here. There's lots of room for improvement, but I'm real happy with this victory."

Pinske ran on the Chargers' winning 3,200- and 1,600-meter relays. He also got one of MVL's second-place finishes with a time of 52.11 seconds in the 400 meters; J.J. Kirby of LSH won in 51.22.

"That's the fastest 400 of my career," Pinske said. "I'm very happy with the time. I wouldn't have minded winning, but Kirby was pretty fast there."

Shawn Kiecker also earned a second-place finish for the Chargers, running the 110-meter hurdles in 16.76. Jason Lohmiller, who didn't compete in some of his usual events for the Chargers due to illness, did pick up a second in the triple jump with a mark of 37 feet, 10 1-2 inches.

"Jason Lohmiller in the triple jump did a great job coming off the sick bed basically and getting a second-place finish in that," Timm said. "Shawn Kiecker did real well in both hurdle events ... after running an extra event because we needed him today in the relays."

Andy Beilke also earned a runner-up finish with a jump of 5 feet, 10 inches in the high jump. Phil Moldenhauer got MVL's other second with a time of 4:58.67 in the 1,600 meters -- his first 1,600 meters in less than five minutes.

"I've got room to improve, but I think I ran a pretty decent time," Moldenhauer said.

Teammate Jeremy Costello placed third in the 1,600 with a time of 5:05.56. Moldenhauer also picked up two points for the Chargers with a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters in a time of 2:12.12.

Seth Hinz placed fourth for MVL in the shot put with a mark of 43 feet, 9 inches. The Chargers' third-place relays in the 400-meter and 800-meter relays ran times of 47.43 and 1:39.44, respectively. In both events, Redwood Valley won and Sleepy Eye finished second.

"We've knocked time off of our meet from last week, and it was a comparable day -- nice weather," Timm said. "And we improved in distance in the field events. So, it was a very positive day."

While there were positives for Comfrey/Springfield despite a ninth-place finish, there was also bad news for the Rockets. Randy Potter suffered a torn hip flexor in the high jump and may be out as long as eight weeks, according to Comfrey/Springfield coach Bruce Stresemann.

"He might have torn the bone away," Stresemann said. "It sounds pretty bad, but I don't know. If it's minor, it might be two weeks without running, but even then you multiply it because he's going to lose two weeks of training. We'll be lucky if we get him back before subsections."

Potter, in addition to competing in the high jump, also was a triple jumper for the Rockets, and ran the 800 and 1,600 meters. Plus, Stresemann said Potter could also have competed in the 3,200 meters and on several relay legs.

The Rockets' best finish was a second in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 9:18.09. Comfrey/Springfield also got a pair of thirds -- Dustin Dauer in the pole vault with a mark of 10 feet even and Michael Halter in the 800 meters with a time of 2:10.25.

"We're really happy," Stresemann said. "Michael Halter, a junior, ran the best 800 we've had in a long time. That was the highlight to me. It's a good meet. We had some good things.

"We've just got to make up for the loss of Randy and hope that he'll get back."