ACCELERATION — Blue Earth Area’s Addison Armstrong accelerates out of the starting blocks during the 400-meter dash in the small-schools competition of the Big South Conference track & field meet on Monday at Wilson Track in Blue Earth. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Mertens/Faribault County Register)

BLUE EARTH — Blue Earth Area’s Addison Armstrong won the pole vault and finished second in the 400-meter dash at the Big South Conference’s small schools track & field championships on Monday at Wilson Field.

In the team standings, the Luverne Cardinals swept the girls and boys titles, winning the girls meet with 156.5 points and the boys meet with 136 points.

For the girls, the Jackson County Central Huskies finished second with 134 points, followed by the Redwood Valley Cardinals with 99, the Pipestone Area Arrows with 81, the Windom Area Eagles with 58, the Blue Earth Area Bucs with 53.5 and the St. James Area Saints with 29.

For the boys, Jackson County Central was runner-up with 103 points, followed by Redwood Valley with 93, Pipestone Area with 81, Windom Area with 78, St. James Area with 70 and Blue Earth Area with 44.

“We had some personal records and some season-best times in our relays, which highlighted our results,” BEA assistant coach Lindsey Norman said. “We have a meet coming up in Waseca where we have unlimited entries; so everyone will have a chance to compete. That should be a good meet.”

Armstrong cleared 10 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault, which was 6 inches better than second-place Peyton Hanson of JCC.

Armstrong’s 400-meter time was a personal-record 1:02.25. Luverne’s Elizabeth Wagner won the 400 with a time of 1:00.5.

BEA’s Eloise Blair took third in the 100-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 17.07, while Pipestone Area’s Caiya Strasser won with a time of 16.08 and JCC’s Rylie Cother was second at 16.54.

BEA’s Aubrey Woodwick placed third in the 3,200-meter run with a personal-record time of 13:45.19. JCC’s Cora Pauling won the race with a time of 12:48.48, and Redwood Valley’s Madalyn Munsell was second at 12:48.51 in a thrilling finish. Munsell was just a half-step behind Pauling as the top two were sprinting the final 100 meters to the finish line.

For the boys, JCC’s Caleb Vancura won the shot put and discus with throws of 50-2 and 138-10, respectively. He won the discus by more than 26 feet.

BEA’s Jack Norman threw a personal-record 42-1 to take third in the shot put, while teammate Blair Lunz was third in the pole vault, clearing 10-6, which was a personal record.

Luverne’s DJ Rock and JCC’s Quinn Landherr took the top two spots in the pole vault with marks or 13-0 and 12-6, respectively.

Those were BEA’s field event highlights, but their 4×200 relay team of Nick Nelson, Gage Barker, Norman and Jacob Grandgenett finished runner-up with a time of 1:35.53, just .33 of a second behind champion Luverne.

Nelson ran a personal-record 11.89 to place third in the 100-meter dash. JCC’s Ben Dahlin won in 11.75 and Luverne’s Lucky Dara was second with a time of 11.81.

The Bucs travel to Waseca for a 4:30 p.m. invitational meet on Thursday.

Big South Conference

Small Schools Meet

Girls Division

Team standings: 1. Luverne 156.5; 2. Jackson County Central 134; 3. Redwood Valley 99, 4. Pipestone Area 81; 5. Windom Area 58; 6. Blue Earth Area 53.5; 7. St. James Area 29.

Boys Division

Team standings: 1. Luverne 136; 2. JCC 103; 3. Redwood Valley 93; 4. Pipestone Area 81; 5. Windom Area 78; 6. St. James Area 70; 7. Blue Earth Area 44.