The Austin boys track team has had an incredible season! I’ve been so busy with getting a house on the market, buying a new house, planning a graduation party and attending track meets that I have not had time to update this blog in a LONG time…sorry. The guys have been working hard and training diligently, and that effort has paid huge dividends, as they have advance to the True Team State Meet AND three relays qualified for State. Jacob’s 4 X 800m relay posted a 25-year-record-smashing time at the Section meet in Lakeville to advance to State, and at the State meet they broke their own record by another 3 seconds!! They took third place in State, but the top 5 finishers were within 1 second, so it could hardly have been a closer race! Here are some links to some articles in the local papers on the team’s accomplishments:
Tag Archives: track
Austin advances three, two relays to state meet
Austin advances three, two relays to state meet
(From the Austin Post Bulletin)
LAKEVILLE — It was hard to wipe the smile off Austin boys track and field coach Tony Einertson’s face on Saturday. He was that happy.
“Things went as well, or better, than I expected,” he said. “I’m so happy for these guys. It was a terrific day.”
The Packers finished a solid fourth in the Section One, Class AA meet at Lakeville South High School with 94 1/2 points. Farmington won it with 136 points followed by Owatnna (111 1/2) and Lakeville North (101).
Most important, Austin advanced three individuals along with a pair of relays to this week’s Class AA state meet at Hamline University in St. Paul.
Junior Henry Darling finished first in the 400 (51.00), junior Tim Erickson qualified with a second-place finish in the 800 (2:02.26) and junior William Darling was second in the 300 hurdles (40.46).
“We decided to sacrifice some in the individual events in order to load up our relays,” said Einertson.
The Packers “bookended” the relays, winning the first one — 3200 — and the last one — 1600 — of the day. They also finished second in the 800 and third in the 400.
“We finished 1-2-3-1 in the relays, and you can’t do much better than that,” said Einertson.
Members of the 3,200 relay were Christian Folken, Jacob Larson, Kyle Dammen and Erickson.
“Kyle ran a 56-second final 400 on his leg,” said Einertson, “and that’s when we took the lead for good.
“Our 400 relay was absolutely fantastic, too, but then again, so was the 1,600. I can’t say enough about them.”
Einertson said Darling ran a “very smart” race to win the 400.
“He had to go against a strong wind and just took it easy the first half before turning it on,” he said. “Then he flew the last 200 meters.”
William Darling hit a number of hurdles, but stuck it out.
“It wasn’t pretty,” said the Austin coach, “but he kept at it and did a great job.”
The pace of the 800 was slow because of the wind but “Tim adjusted and also ran a smart race.”
Einertson was also named Section One, Class AA Coach of the Year.
“This was our best performance in years,” he said. “Now I can’t wait to see what we can do at state.”
David is officially ALL-AMERICAN!
David competed in the Division III National Track and Field Championships tonight and posted a height of 15’11” which placed him 6th in the nation in polevaulting! Congratulations, David! You’ve always been All-American in our hearts!
From the Wheaton College website:
Thursday night, senior David Larson, competed in the men’s pole vault at Nationals for the second consecutive year. Larson came into Thursday’s competition with the 12th-best height of the 17 competitors. On Thursday night he posted a career-best height of 15′ 11-1/4″ to finish sixth at Nationals and earn All-American recognition. Larson’s effort on Thursday bested his qualifying height of 15’ 10” that came on May 15. Larson is the first Wheaton pole vaulter to earn Division III All-American honors since Matt Sheehan finished second at the 2004 Division III Championships.
Jacob’s 4X800 Relay Qualifies for the Hamline Elite Meet!
Tomorrow, Friday April 24, Jacob and his Austin Packer track team buddies will head to the Twin Cities for the Hamline Elite Meet, where high school track athletes in Minnesota become eligible to enter the meet based on performance.
The Austin 4×800 relay qualified last Saturday at the Austin Invitational with a time of 8:15:91. The relay will run at 5:45pm.
GO PACKERS!
Pam Larson 