ON YOUR MARK — Members of the Fairmont Cardinal boys track & field lineup scheduled to open the official outdoor season on Monday — weather permitting — at Bonk Track in Fairmont include, front row (l-r): Seth Siebring, Jaron Schutz, Gage Borntrager, Isaac Sheard, Ben Heinze, Kyler Wolters, Jaydon Putney, Gavin Artner, Devon Szafryk, Anthony Napier-Cubias, Landen Pederson and Kellen Stenzel. Second row: Ethan Siebring, Benet Mathiason, Jake Ehlert, Ty Nawrocki, Caleb Chambers, Taylor Austin, Ethan Geerdes, David Barrientos, Hank Artz, Blaze Geiger, Landon Gilbertson, Allon Chen, Josiah Hoye and Connor Gronewald. Third row: Israel Blackmon, Brier Lenort, Jordan Thompson, Cooper Gudahl, Charles Neusch, Alan Bush, Jase Meade, Braydon Lindsay, Sawyer Tordsen, Oliver Tordsen, Ivan Martin, Andrew Haefner and Isaiah Lockwood. Fourth row: Nolan Schultze, Andrew Haugen, Nolan Hansen, Trey Tumbleson, Will Niestrath, Ethan Pockrus, Landon Weber, Tylan Tumbleson, Iker Juarez, Owen Gellert, Caine Gronewald and Mathias Tiffany. Back row: Assistant coach Dave Shoen, assistant coach Scott Geerdes, head coach Jesse Walters, assistant coach Brad Johnson and assistant coach Crystal Hanson. Not pictured: Assistant coach Stew Murfield, Adrian Sanchez, Ian Hatfield, Dakota Madias, Yandel Cruz, Dayton Draper and Nelson Remington. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Ready, set, go.

The Fairmont Cardinals boys track and field team is ready to embark on the season with the help of two returning state champions — Sawyer Tordsen in the discus and Nelson Remington in the 100-meter wheelchair race.

Torden is now a senior and one of the team anchors. His gold-medal winning discus throw was 156 feet, 9 inches, and Remington, a sophomore, won his event with a time of 18.75 seconds.

Remington also was third in both the 200- and 800-meter races, turning in times of 37.27 seconds and 2:41.82, respectively.

The team tied with Stewartville and Grand Rapids for 18th place with 21 points during the Minnesota State High School League’s Class AA state meet.

“They have some pressure to repeat as state champs, but it’s a good pressure,” first-year head coach Jesse Walters said. “They have to continue to work hard and get better to repeat as state champions.”

Others who placed in the top 10 in their events at the Class AA state meet were Hank Artz in the shot put and Hudson Artz in the 400-meter dash.

Hudson Artz, a 2022 graduate, finished seventh in the open 200 in 50.29 and Hank Artz, currently a sophomore, was fifth in the shot put with a throw of 50-11 3/4.

Walters has the luxury of banking on a veteran crop of athletes to lead the team. Walters replaces legendary coach Bob Bonk at the helm and was an assistant last year, so his familiarity with the athletes will help the transition run a little smoother.

“It’s been a good transition, but of course I feel the pressure of following a legend and keeping this a strong and winning program,” said Walters. “The track program has been traditionally strong and I expect the boys to continue those winning ways. We have 57 boys at the moment, so we have some depth and our strengths are throwers. We look forward to this spring.”

The Cardinals host New Ulm, St. Peter and United South Central on Monday — weather permitting, travel to Mankato East on April 6, and to Wilson Field to take on host Blue Earth Area on April 14.

Fairmont runs against St. Peter and host Waseca on April 21, and competes against Worthington and host St. James Area on April 25.

There is an invite-only meet at Hamline University on April 28.

The annual Sentinel Relays are set for Friday, May 5, at Fairmont.

In May, Walters said the schedule is busier and includes a road meet at Jordan on May 9 and they go to Worthington for an invitational meet May 16.

The State True Team meet is Saturday, May 20, at Stillwater High School and the Big South Conference meet runs Tuesday, May 23, at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

“We always want to do well in the conference meet and the True Team meet,” Walters said. “We want to score as many points as possible in the state meet. We want to get as many competitors as possible to the state meet.”

Walters’ seniors to help navigate the quest are Sawyer Tordsen, David Barrientos, Adrian Sanchez, Trey Tumbleson, Ben Heinze and Kyler Wolters.

The junior class consists of Gavin Artner, Taylor Austin, Israel Blackmon, Gage Borntrager, Allon Chen, Ethan Geerdes, Blaze Geiger, Landon Gilbertson, Connor Gronewald, Andrew Haefner, Nolan Hansen, Ian Hatfield, Josiah Hoye, Isaiah Lockwood, Dakota Madais, Ty Nawrocki, Will Niestrath, Landen Pederson, Isaac Sheard, Kellen Stenzel, Devon Szafryk and Landon Weber.

“We have a large junior class, which will help this season and next season,” Walters said. “We have senior leaders and underclassmen who have had some success.

“Everyone will need to contribute if we’re to have team success.”

Walters’ sophomores are Hank Artz, Caleb Chambers, Owen Gellert, Andrew Haugen, Iker Juarez, Ivan Martin, Ethan Pockrus, Jaydon Putney, Nelson Remington, Nolan Schultze, Jaron Schutz, Mathias Tiffany and Oliver Tordsen.

Freshmen on the team are Alan Bush, Yandel Cruz, Dayton Draper, Jacob Ehlert, Caine Gronewald, Cooper Gudahl, Brier Lenort, Braydon Lindsay, Benet Mathiason, Jase Meade, Anthony Napier-Cubias, Charles Neusch, Ethan Siebring, Seth Siebring, Jordan Thompson and Tylan Tumbleson.

Artner anchors the distance events, while other consistent point gatherers should be Geiger, Weber, Schultz, Gilbertson, Tumbleson and Wolters.

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Editor’s Note: Fairmont competes in the Minnesota State University prep indoor track & field invitational at noon today on the Mankato campus.

Nelson Remington competes in both the 60- and 200-meter wheelchair races, Gavin Artner puts his long-distance skills on display in both the mile and 2-mile competitions, Blaze Geiger and Taylor Austin each run in the open 400, Trey Tumbleson vies for top honors in the long jump, high jump and 200-meter dash, Sawyer Tordsen and Hank Artz will throw in the shot put, while Gage Borntrager, Caleb Chambers and Geiger will join Tumbleson in the open 200.

Fairmont also will be represented in the 4×200 and 4×400 relay races.