Cadence Leiding

MARSHALL — The Fairmont girls track & field lineup produced eight individual all-Big South Conference Big School medalists, but the outstanding top-three performances were not quite enough to earn a three-peat on Tuesday.

Cadence Leiding, Alexa Bush and Jazlyn Geerdes each earned conference championships to spearhead the Cardinals’ 138.5-point effort to garner third place behind champion Marshall (182.5) and second-place Waseca (148) at Southwest Minnesota State University athletic complex in Marshall.

The Fairmont girls team was the two-time defending ‘Big’ Big South team champion during the post-covid time span.

Brianna Simpson nearly swept the three sprint races for the newly-crowned Tigers, striking gold in the 200-meter dash (27.2) and open 400 (61.79), while claiming the silver medal in the open 100 (13.43).

Marshall’s Allyson Sample packed more scoring production by coming close to a long-distance twin win by capturing first in the 3,200-meter run (11:59.39) and netting second in the mile (5:10.1).

Taleigha Bigler added a gold-medal performance in the 800-meter run (2:19.09) for Marshall, while Paige Cunningham took top honors in the shot put with a heave of 34-11 1/2.

Leiding earned her first BSC championship by clearing the 300-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 50.4 seconds to literally get Fairmont off on the right foot to open the league meet Tuesday night.

Leiding just missed by two spots of doubling her all-Big South medals when she finished fifth in the high hurdles (17.9).

Bush continued to clear the triple-digit mark again in the discus, reaching a first-place distance of 102 feet, 9 inches to strike gold for the Cardinals.

Bush also earned all-conference honors by placing third in the shot put with a heave of 32-5 1/2.

Geerdes matched Bush by doubling her all-conference accolades in the field events. Geerdes won the triple jump crown with a hop-skip-and-jump of 33-4, while earning the bronze medal in the high jump by clearing 4-8.

Fairmont senior sprinter Corene Moeller closed out her elite conference career by earning all-league honors in both the open 200 and 400, while adding a fifth-place showing in the 100-meter dash (13.92). The fleet-footed Moeller claimed a silver medal in the 200 with a time of 27.7 before doubling the distance and claiming second in the 400 in 62.99.

Macy Hanson garnered all-BSC honors by netting second in the 3,200 with a time of 12:04.57, while just missing doubling up her accolades for Fairmont by finishing fourth in the mile (5:36.85).

The Cardinals’ 4×200-meter relay team of Harper Artz, Hannah Goerndt, Emelia Klanderud and Bella Larson produced a second-place time of 1:52.53 to merit all-league honors.

In the boys’ competition, senior throwing sensation Sawyer Tordsen earned the lone gold medal for Fairmont, which narrowly missed overtaking host Marshall for third place in the team standings, 111-110. Worthington won the BSC boys championship with 166.5 points, while Waseca took second at 137.5.

Tordsen, Fairmont’s record-setting strongman, cleared 51-2 to fend off teammate Hank Artz for first-place honors in the shot. Artz earned all-conference honors by claiming second place with a heave of 46-8 1/2.

Tordsen nearly doubled his league throwing crowns by claiming second in the discus by hitting a mark of 157-4 1/2. Artz just missed all-BSC accolades by placing fourth with a spin-and-hurl of 147-10.

Gavin Artner delivered a heavy dose of points to the Cardinals’ team effort by netting all-conference honors in both the mile and 2-mile runs. Artner claimed second in the 1,600 (4:41.12) and the 3,200 (10:57.32).

Fairmont’s 4×100 relay team of Charles Neusch, Blaze Geiger, Isaiah Lockwood and Trey Tumbleson broke the wire in an all-league second-place time of 44.81, while Gage Borntrager rounded out Fairmont’s all-league performers by collecting third place by clearing 11-9 in the pole vault.

Borntrager also chipped in a fifth-place leap in the triple of 40-9 1/2, while teammate Landon Gilbertson placed fourth (42.88) in the 300 hurdles and fifth in the high hurdles (17.44).

Fairmont competes in the first round of the two-day Section 2AA Meet on Wednesday, May 31, at Worthington.

Big South Conference

Big Schools Meet

Girls Division

Team Standings: 1. Marshall 182.5; 2. Waseca 148; 3. Fairmont 138.5; 4. St. Peter 118; 5. New Ulm 66; 6. Worthington 37.

Boys Division

Team Standings: 1. Worthington 166.5; 2. Waseca 137.5; 3. Marshall 111; 4. Fairmont 110; 5. St. Peter 105; 6. New Ulm 54.