Two Eagles qualify for State in shot put

Henle, Gruenhagen qualify with second-place throws

By ANDY ROGERS

Journal Sports Editor

ST. PETER -- If anyone in New Ulm deserves to be named comeback player of the year for anything, it would go to Heidi Gruenhagen.

Both Steve Henle and Gruenhagen qualified for the state meet with second place finishes in the shot put at the Section 2-2A track and field championships at Gustavus Adolphus College Wednesday.

Gruenhagen came on strong at the very end of the year and tossed a 35'4" to earn a bid for state. Her story is 'Cinderella' in nature.

"That was a wonderful surprise," girls coach Jason Mortenson said. "During the conference and the true team we could only take the top two (shot putters). At that time she was outthrown by Tiff Drill and Erin Wiltscheck.So she came back and now she's going to State.

"She didn't give up; she didn't quit. It's her senior year and now she's going to State."

Almost exactly two years ago, Gruenhagen suffered a life-threatening injury at track practice when a errant shot put split her scalp and fractured her skull.

She was airlifted to the Hennepin County Trauma Center in Minneapolis where her parents were told to say goodbye.

Her long road of rehabilitation has now taken her to State.

For the boys, Henle tossed the shot 49'9", which got him second behind Tony Ortmann of Marshall.

"He's thrown better and hopefully at state he will," Pickus said. "The competition is good up there -- but if he goes up there an throws a personal best, there's not much else you could ask for."

The rest of the day was mixed for the boys team.

"We didn't have a bad day; we didn't have a great day,"Eagles track coach Jim Pickus said. "Times today were good."

The 4X800 team took second with an 8:18.89 finish, which broke the school record.

"That was a race we though we could run with Mankato West (who took first with a time of 8:13.16)," Pickus said. "But they ran an outstanding time. But we broke a school record, and the kids don't have anything to feel bad about -- it's a darn good time. In four of the other sections, that would probably get them to state."

Aside from Gruenhagen's bid, there were other surprises for the girls team -- but not the same way.

"There were other surprises -- but in a negative way," Mortenson said.

LeeAnn Brudelie had 15'6" in the long jump, but it wasn't her best of the year.

"LeeAnn (Brudelie) didn't have the best day -- she was about a foot shorter that she usually is in the long jump," Mortenson said.

Tiffany Drill finished in the top four in both the shot put and the discus, but they were short of her personal goals.

"Tiff (Drill) just didn't have her top day either," Mortenson said. "Throughout the whole season she carried us and it's too bad."

She threw a 107'6" in the discus, which got her fourth. And she tossed the shot 35'1.5", which got her third.

Allison Betsch and Ashley Hauge each ran tough in the mile according to coach Mortenson.

"They did a nice job in the mile,"Mortenson said. "They were close to personal best; they ran tough. It was Allison's first section meet, so that was a pretty good experience for her -- she just a ninth grader."

A number of other individuals came close to state.

Jordan Budinski ran a 4:31.18 in the 1600-meter run, about 2.5 seconds from second.

Mary Otis, who participated in three individual events, took fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a 16.85.

Sharon Wurtzberger tied with four girls for fifth in the high jump with a 5' jump.

Billy Schreiber took sixth in the triple jump with a 40'3".

"He did a good in all his jumps," Pickus said.

Josh Zupher took part in the long jump, the high jump, 200-meter run, and the 4X400-meter run.

"I think we ended the season on an upnote," Pickus said. "It's disappointment from the standpoint that we didn't qualify many for state. It's a neat thing to go to state -- but it just didn't happen."

The Eagles teams each finished in the middle of the pack. The girls finished ninth out of 17 schools overall with a score of 29.50. The top team was Mankato East with a total of 152.83.

The boys finished eight out of 15 schools with a score of 36.50. The top team was Mankato West with 152.90.

Journal Staff Writer Ron Larson contributed to this article.