Thanks for following along on my first assignment as a Strib intern. Plenty of points — and medals — are still up for grabs when the Class 1A finals resume Wednesday afternoon, but here are the standings for now:

Among boys, Cotter/Hope has an early lead with 19 points, followed by Redwood Valley with 14 and Staples-Motley with 12. For girls, Math & Science Academy leads with 22 points, followed by St. Clair/Immanuel Lutheran with 16 and Clearbrook-Gonvick with 12.

See you all tomorrow!

Wrapping up some loose ends from this afternoon’s field events:

The boys shot put finals are complete, with standout performances in both boys divisions. Blooming Prairie senior Owen Krueger threw 55-10 ¼ to win the Class 1A boys shot put, and  Lakeview’s Broden Stensrud (18-10) and Terrek Jenniges (17-8) placed first and second in boys shot put wheelchair.

Park Christian junior Annika Aakre won the girls high jump title by clearing 5-7 inches on her third attempt — a 6-inch improvement from her ninth-place finish last year.

Cotter/Hope freshman Erik Semling added another championship to his growing long-distance résumé, winning the Class 1A boys 3200 meters in 9:25.68.

Semling has already claimed back-to-back cross-country state championships.

“The goal in the race was basically to win as easily as possible,” said Semling, who will follow up his 3200-meter win by competing in the 1600 on Wednesday. “If I go too hard today, then I’ll be tired tomorrow, so the goal was just to be as fresh as possible tomorrow.”

But, of course, Semling still had to win. He made his move on the back stretch — with about half the race to go — and could tell the runner ahead of him was losing steam. At that point, Semling cruised to the finish line.

With Tuesday’s win behind him and gas left in the tank, the phenom is eyeing a distance double.

After a long, grueling season, McKaylen Lewis wasn’t about to leave anything on the table. That’s why, between her primary jump events Tuesday, she squeezed in a try at the 200-meter dash — just for kicks.

The Math & Science Academy sophomore won her second straight Class 1A state title in the long jump (18-5) and placed second in high jump (5-6) Tuesday afternoon, adding another chapter to what’s already a remarkable career.

Lewis entered the meet as the favorite in multiple events, despite  a nagging hip strain that troubled her much of the spring. “It was a really rough season this year,” Lewis said, “but I tried my best and I’m glad that I could give it my best effort. I thank God that I can be here.”

This season, Lewis was forced to slow down, listen to her body and trust the support system around her — including her older brother, Malcolm, a fellow high school track star who’s rehabbing a season-ending injury of his own.

Lewis’ patience clearly paid off. A year after jumping 19-9 to break the state championship long jump record, she’s back atop the podium. Her jump Tuesday was a reminder of just how special she is when fully healthy. Lewis has already jumped 20-1¼ in AAU club competition and has made it clear: She wants to crack 21. She wants to compete in college and maybe the Olympics. She’s serious. So serious, in fact, that she hesitated when asked to review her state championship performance. The previously bubbly girl was suddenly stumbling over her words, putting her hands on her head. She let out an “uh” as she glanced down at her two medals.

“I think I’m very lucky to have done this well with everything that happened in the season,” Lewis finally said. “I’m very thankful that I could come back at least. … I just know I can be better next year.”

And then, Lewis walked out the STMA  stadium with a gold, a silver, unfinished business and two more years left to dominate the state.

St. John’s Prep sophomore Margaret Duffy surged to a state title in the Class 1A girls 3200 meters, using a late move and strong finish to pull away from a tight field. Duffy took the lead with just over 600 meters to go and widened the gap in the final lap. She crossed in at 10:54.63, edging Staples-Motley’s Audrey Brownell (10:55.30). Brownell finished just shy of completing a sweep of every distance event Minnesota offers. The junior needed the 3200 title to become the first to win them all. Luckily for Brownell, she still has her senior year to chase history.

Clearbrook-Gonvick’s Allison LaVine posted a personal-best distance of 146-03 to successfully defend her discus title. That distance is third-best in the state this season.

Junior Turner Beachy’s mind is always moving — among pole vaulting, horses, guitars and championship dreams.

But on Tuesday, the Staples-Motley standout felt very calm. After finishing eighth last season, he prioritized having fun instead of “locking down.” His mindset was to just “get it done.” He did, winning the Class 1A boys pole vault with a height of 15 feet.

Beachy knew if he vaulted the way he envisioned it in his head, he’d be close to perfect.

“I set my mind to it at the beginning of the season, and we knew it could be done,” Beachy told reporters Tuesday, his championship medal around his neck. “I felt confident through the whole meet.”

Beachy's jump was a top-10 performance in Minnesota this spring. What’s next for the state champ? 

“Drinking a lot of Mountain Dew at an unhealthy pace,” he said.

Check out Cassidy Hettesheimer’s profile on Beachy here.

Osakis junior Trenton VanNyhuis claimed the Class 1A boys triple jump state title with a clutch personal-best leap of 45-03.50 — a mark that ranks No. 11 in Minnesota this season.

VanNyhuis, who finished runner-up at state last year, found redemption with his standout performance Tuesday. This finish is especially sweet for VanNyhuis considering he suffered a broken left foot — his jumping foot — during the winter.

VanNyhuis, who also plays basketball for Osakis, suffered the injury in January. It required surgery, and since then, he’s been “grinding,” he said.

“It felt great just compared to last year, coming in second place and being 1 inch away,” VanNyhuis said.

He isn’t done yet. Midway through the triple jump competition, VanNyhuis stepped away to compete with Osakis’ boys 4x200-meter relay team in prelims — a race in which the squad broke a decades-old Class 1A record. Then he came back and closed out the field event.

VanNyhuis will return to St. Michael-Albertville on Wednesday to compete in the 4x200 relay finals.

That is, after a much-deserved ice bath.

The Silverstreaks set a Class 1A record in the boys 4x200-meter relay prelims, running 1 minute, 28.42 seconds to break the mark of 1:28.93 set by Hermantown in 2004. 

The squad — composed of Andrew Jones, Trenton VanNyhuis, Tyler Wolbeck and Zackery Bruder — now head into finals on Wednesday as the top seed.

It’s shaping up to be a showdown between St. Cloud Cathedral and PACT/Legacy in the girls Class 1A 4x200-meter final on Wednesday evening.
Both squads broke the previous class record during today’s prelims — St. Cloud Cathedral in Heat 2 (1:42.52) and PACT/Legacy in Heat 3 (1:43.29).