Eagles send hurdlers to state

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

MANKATO -- Send out the memo: New Ulm will be represented in the 300-meter girls hurdles in duplicate, and Mary Otis will be seen in triplicate at the State Class AA track meet.

Otis qualified for the state meet with first-place finishes in the 110-meter hurdles, the 100-meter dash and the 300-meter hurdles at the Section 2AA track meet Friday. Freshman Melissa Kuebler finished second in the 300 hurdles to join Otis at state.

State prelims begin at 10 a.m. Friday, June 11 at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Finals are Saturday, June 12.

The 1-2 finish in the 300 hurdles isn't bad, considering that Kuebler is just a freshman and that Otis ran the race for just her fifth time ever. Otis started running the race dat the Cougar Relays toward the end of the season.

Kuebler just missed a trip to the state tournament in the 300 hurdles last year as an eighth grade student running for Sleepy Eye St. Mary's in the Section 2A meet.

"Last year, I kind of got gypped," Kuebler said. "I had the lead until this [second] corner, but I froze and forgot to breathe."

This year, Kuebler had set a goal of getting to 46; she didn't reach her goal, but she is happy with the outcome.

"My time wasn't the time that I wanted to get, but I'm happy with the time I got -- it's a personal best" she said. "I'm just glad to go to state."

Otis and Kuebler knew they had a good chance at the 1-2 finish when they saw that they were in lanes 4 and 5, the two top seeds.

"Melissa and I talked and we knew she could get in the top three with Mary in there," coach Jason Mortenson said. "I told her to go like she was going to beat Mary.

"She was in her back pocket and she stayed there," he said. "It was nice to see purple in the front."

Katie Thiesen from New Prague nicked the last hurdle, giving Kuebler just enough breathing room to finish well. Otis heard the sound and actually looked back to make sure Kuebler had not fallen -- they were in it together.

The two enjoy a good working relationship, supporting each other.

"Even though she is younger, I look up to her because of her outgoingness and her willingness to work," Otis said. "She's really competitive -- she's really pushed me to go harder.

"When I started doing the 300 and ended up doing better than her, I felt bad right away," she said. "But we talked about it and she knows she has three more years."

"[The state meet will] be really nice, because we can run with each other," Kuebler said.

Otis and Kuebler also push each other in the 100 hurdles.

Otis took first place with a 15.8, just in front of Litchfield sophomore Natalie Devine (15.88).

Kuebler was third (16.50).

"It shows that I'm improving. I want to go to summer track meets, which would help me too," Kuebler said. "Natalie [Devine] is really fast ... hopefully, I can beat her before she graduates -- that'd be nice."

Kuebler beat her best time in the 100 hurdles by about .3 and took third place to two very fast runners, so she was pleased.

"It was good -- I was one away from making state," Kuebler said. "I was kind of surprised. I didn't know if I would get that good of a time."

Otis also qualified for state as she won a third event in the meet -- the 100 dash. She shaved .21 off of her qualifying time to beat New Prague's Becky Theisen in a photo finish with 12.83. Otis threw herself forward just as she crossed the line to secure her first place finish, although she had to wait for the results to know for sure. Theisen finished in 12.84. New Ulm's Katie Schmiel finished sixth in the race with her time of 13.40.

Otis was also seventh in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet, 8 3/4 inches.

In the high jump, Sharon Wurtzberger took sixth place with a jump of 5-0. First place was 5-6.

In the 200-meter dash, Katie Schmiel took third place with her time of 27.21.

The Eagles girls also placed in all four relay events. The 4x200 relay of Schmiel, Brittany Bauer, Anna Nosek and Stacie Mages placed fourth with a time of 1:51.43. Finishing fifth in 4:23.02 was the 4x400 relay team of Bauer, Kuebler, Nosek and Hannah Sellnow. The 4x800-meter relay team of Allison Betsch, Laura Kauffman, Danielle Kral and Greta Sieve was sixth in 10:33.16. The 4x100 team placed eighth with a time of 54.2. The team included Megan Oberle, Chandra Oscarson, Mages and Rachel Reinarts.

"It's been a fun and successful season," Mortenson said. "I'm really appreciative of the girls and what they've accomplished. It's icing on the cake to place third of 15 in the section.

"Next year, we're going to miss our seniors, but the majority of the team will be back and it should be another fun season," Mortenson said.