Soaked and smiling, the Wayzata girls team took a celebratory lap around the wet track at St. Michael-Albertville, hoisting their trophy high and erupting into cheers every few strides. Phones were out, of course, capturing the moment. Nearly every runner had a varsity jacket or a damp hoodie clinging to her shoulders, drenched from hours in the elements.

But with a Class 3A team title in hand, after coming up just short last year, joy was the only thing pouring harder than the rain. The Wayzata girls dominated the field with a whopping 102.5 points. St. Michael-Albertville came in second with 73.

Wayzata head coach Alicia Pierskalla said her athletes have been “working hard for this all year.” The team has had many meets with rainy conditions, she said, which made the athletes extra prepared for the downpour Thursday.

“They just came out there and competed,” Pierskalla said.

Wayzata’s dominance in the 4x800 relay isn’t new — and neither are the names behind it.

At the Lake Conference Championships in May, the Trojans’ relay team of Addison Neitz, Jazleen Malherek-Osorio, Julia Link and Maddie Gullickson broke the Minnesota state record, clocking 8:58.22. That time beat the previous record of 8:59.04, which Wayzata had set at the same meet in 2023.

On Thursday at the Class 3A state meet, the Wayzata girls proved again they’re the gold standard in relays. The team of Neitz, Alyson Kleyman, Lila Golomb and Link took home the state title with a time of 9:16.67. The Trojans also won the 4x200 relay in 1:40.96 — the No. 5 time in Minnesota this spring — behind the team of Constanza Castillo, Carolyn Voss, Tessa Cherne and Tenley Senden. Wayzata claimed second in the 4x400 relay (3:53.34), thanks to Haux, Addison Neitz, Cherne and Voss.

Even in difficult conditions and with slightly different lineups, Wayzata’s depth and consistency shone through.

Gullickson and Malherek-Osorio shifted their focus to individual distance events in the postseason and had standout results. Gullickson won both the 3200 and 1600, while Malherek-Osorio placed top-10 in both events.

Junior Jessica Haux earned 10 points with a runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles (14.56) and added six more in the 300 hurdles, where she placed fourth. Junior Lila Golomb scored six points in the 800 with a fourth-place finish. In the field events, senior Katie Kelzenberg captured silver in the discus, good for 10 points. Allison Berns PR’d in the high jump to take fourth, adding 5.5 points.

The team is heading to Applebee’s to celebrate.

The Hastings team tent sagged slightly under the weight of a soaked canopy, pitched on the edge of a muddy softball outfield just beyond the rain-slicked track at St. Michael-Albertville. Shoes squelched in the grass as athletes and coaches moved in and out, packing everything away.

No one looked bothered. If anything, this group of boys was glowing. Laughter cut through the light drizzle, and smiles were everywhere. The final scores had been in for a while, but they were still soaking it in: Hastings had won the Class 3A boys team title with 52 points. Mounds View was second with 49, Elk River third with 48. 

“Our kids took care of business,” head coach Jason Koch said.

That they did.

Hastings leaned on its relays and overall speed to seal the team title.

The 4x200 squad of Cole Zeien, Gunner Hanstad, Sebastian Strauss and Lane Hoffman scorched the track in 1 minute, 25.80 seconds — just 0.22 seconds shy of the state record. Hoffman also won the 200 with a time of 21.22, a personal best for the junior and the top time in Minnesota this spring.

Strauss and Hanstad added more points with first- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, in the 400.

Later, the 4x400 team — Jack Cloutier, Hanstad, Johnathan Vickney and Strauss — closed the meet with another clutch victory, clinching gold and securing the team title in emphatic fashion.

Koch pointed out Hastings is one of the smallest schools in the class. As a result, seeing his team rise to the moment was something he and the athletes will remember forever, he said.

“I’m just super excited, appreciative and blessed to be able to have this,” Koch said.

Junior Emma Kvant won the Class 3A girls 200 with a time of 24.62 seconds, just ahead of senior teammate Gabriella Keefer.

Kvant still remembers the first time she met Keefer. The junior was in eighth grade then. She recalls thinking Keefer was “so cool.”

“From that moment on we’ve just been competing against each other, pushing each other,” Kvant said.

It was a great day for the two Knights. Kvant broke the Class 3A girls 400 record in the prelims Tuesday, running 53.74 seconds. Kvant, who is going to play soccer at South Dakota State after her senior year, won the 400 final Thursday in addition to the 200. Keefer, who recently committed to South Florida for track, adds the 200 silver medal to the gold she earned in the 100.

Keefer said her older sister, collegiate All-American Anna, “set the bar pretty high” for her own athletic career. But she’s also been very encouraging. Anna texted her sister some advice this morning: “go out and make some noise.”

Gabriella and Kvant both did just that.

Roseville junior pole vaulter Jayda Wilson — one of only seven Minnesota girls to clear 13 feet — successfully defended her Class 3A title Thursday. The junior has drawn interest from Big Ten schools, including Minnesota. A former gymnast, Wilson is described by her coach Greg Ueland as a “technique geek” and studies slow-motion Olympic footage to refine her form, Cassidy Hettesheimer reported last month in a profile on Wilson.

Moments after standing atop the podium and receiving his gold medal, Mounds View senior Casey Poppler exited the track and immediately found coach Ross Fleming for a bear hug.

Roseville’s Robert Mechura had been the favorite in the 1600. Mechura was, after all, the defending champion in the 1600 and 3200. He also won the Class 3A cross country state title in the fall. But on this day he finished third.

In this same race a year ago, Poppler placed ninth. He said he pushed himself too hard in the beginning and “paid the price.”

“I’ve been working really hard to get back,” said Poppler, who will run for St. Thomas next year, said. “I know I can compete.”

Poppler knew he had one of the best kicks in the field and that “good things would happen” if he stuck with the leader. He stayed patient, even when Sean Fries, who placed second, created a gap ahead of him.

Poppler waited for the wind to subside for a moment and then surged forward — trying his best to close hard in the last 250 meters. It worked.

“This just feels surreal,” Poppler said with a smile after the race. “There’s not very many kids who can say they’re an individual state champ. … It’s something that I’ve been waiting for.”

Wayzata junior Maddie Gullickson capped a stellar meet with a win in the Class 3A girls 1600-meter, completing a commanding distance double after capturing the 3200 title on Tuesday morning.

In the 3200, Gullickson left no doubt, surging to an early lead  and finishing in 10:26.

“This year, I had some more goals for myself,” she told the Star Tribune’s Cassidy Hettesheimer on Tuesday, “and I was really working hard to start the race from the gun and push myself to my limits.”

Gullickson returned Thursday with the same energy and was not fazed by the weather. This whole track season has been rainy, she said, and her coaches have tested her and her teammates with grueling workouts in rain and mud.

“We’re kind of used to getting gritty in this weather,” she said.

Gullickson said she mentally prepared herself for Thursday knowing that, coming off the race two days ago, she wouldn’t be “super fresh.” Her race strategy was to get ahead early in the first lap, groove through the second, push again in the third and cruise to the finish line in the final lap.

The approach worked. Her 1600 win (in 4:49.50), after she three-peated in the 3200 on Tuesday, solidified her status as one of Minnesota’s most consistent big-meet performers.

For now, Gullickson is hunkered down in a tent to wait for the team awards this evening. The Wayzata girls are in the lead with 80.5 points. St. Michael-Albertville is in second with 51.

The weather is pretty gnarly outside, and I’m just now regaining feeling in my fingertips. But watching these young athletes persevere through the rough conditions has been thrilling. Here are some updates since our last post: 

Boys 4x800 relay: Eden Prairie edged out Wayzata at the finish line to win in 7 minutes, 59.94 seconds. Elijah Donaldson, Tyler Doolittle, Elijah Magare and Simeon Donaldson make up the winning squad.

Girls 100 hurdles: Despite the rain, Lakeville South’s Eva Welsch blazed to a 14.27-second finish in the Class 3A race, the second-fastest time in the state this season.

Boys 110 hurdles: Rochester Century senior Joshua Kyei-Baffour, a North Dakota State commit and the state record holder (13.58), won the Class 3A championship in 13.94 seconds.

Girls 100: The name Gabriella Keefer should ring a bell — she’s the younger sister of fellow track athlete and former collegiate All-American Anna Keefer. The St. Michael-Albertville senior pulled off a bit of a surprise in the Class 3A girls 100 final, surging ahead after placing second in prelims. She’ll compete later in the 200 final.

Boys 100: After running the fastest 100 in Minnesota this season with a 10.46 in Tuesday’s prelims, Myles Woods beat his time Thursday, clocking 10.44 seconds to win the Class 3A title and solidify his place as one of the top track athletes in the state.

Wayzata’s girls opened the afternoon finals with a commanding win in the Class 3A 4x800m relay, clocking in at 9 minutes, 16.67 seconds. 

The Trojans defended their title with ease, after posting a blazing 9:11.93 in 2024.

Welcome to the final session of the high school state track and field meet at St. Michael-Albertville! 

This afternoon features the Class 3A finals. Expect tight races, big marks—and plenty of wind and rain—as titles are decided across sprints, hurdles, relays and distance races. The boys and girls team trophies are also up for grabs. 

I’ll have live updates, highlights and standout performances all day long. And don’t worry — Cassidy isn’t going anywhere. She’ll be snapping photos during the afternoon session, so keep an eye out for those flicks!

When athletes begin to congregate for team awards at the end of the finals session, you can easily hear the clanking and clattering of medals — runners, jumpers, vaulters and throwers with multiple awards around their necks, huddled together, waiting to receive their team trophy.

Becker won its first state title on the boys side, led by a stellar day from senior Carter Reckelberg, a senior North Dakota State commit who won his third long-jump title and the 200m, plus finished as runner-up in the 100m and 4x200m relay. The Bulldogs scored 64 team points, followed by Alexandria's 61 and Monticello's 52.

Alexandria won its second straight 2A girls state team title. The Cardinals make the jump to 3A next year. Mankato West came in second with 57.5 points while Monticello again placed third, with 45.

The Cardinals' girls head coach, Meghan Orgeman, said that the team's theme this year was "running into the fire."

"If you think like a firefighter, there's a fire, you have to run courageously towards the fire," said Orgeman, "but another piece of that is your teammates, your firefighters, have to run with you, so you can't run into the fire alone."

That was exemplified by Alexandria's strong relays, as the girls set a 2A record in the 4x100, placed second in the 4x200 and third in the 4x800. Their boys, meanwhile, won the 4x100 and 4x200.