Addison Armstrong

MAPLETON — Blue Earth Area’s Addison Armstrong displayed her athletic versatility by striking gold in an individual sprint and one field event to complement anchoring a runner-up relay to power the area’s track & field contingent to next week’s Section 2A Meet.

Armstrong broke the tape in the 400-meter dash in a winning time of 63.23 seconds before clearing a first-place height of 10 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault during Thursday night’s South Sub-Section competition in Mapleton.

Armstrong also joined forces with Eloise Blair, Tailor Douglas and Katherine Armon in placing second in the 4×200-meter relay race. Blair, Douglas, Armon and Armstrong compiled a time of 1:53.26 to advance to the sectional meet that starts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 3, at Mankato West High School’s athletic facility.

Blue Earth Area teammate Chloe Groe also doubled her sectional bids by qualifying in both throwing events. Groe captured second place in the shot put with a heave of 35-3 3/4, while hurling the discus to a fourth-place mark of 99-11.

Douglas and Blair also netted individual berths in the sectional meet for the Bucs. Douglas claimed sixth place in the pole vault by clearing 7-6, while Blair glided over the high hurdles to place seventh in 18.16.

Natalie Schiltz netted fifth place in the open 400 with a time of 67.75 for Blue Earth Area, while teammate Aubrey Woodwick rounded out the team’s advancers by pocketing seventh in the 3,200-meter run in 13:36.72.

Kayla Mattson produced the Madelia/Truman/ Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther Jayhawk team’s lone girls sectional bid by crossing the finish line in the open 400 in a sixth-place time of 68.1.

Lucy Larson and Katie Hartke topped Martin County West’s girls lineup by garnering second-place showings in their respective sprint and long-distance races. Larson struck silver by crossing the finish line in the 100-meter dash in 13.87, while Hartke delivered a runner-up time of 12:46.56 in the 3,200-meter run to advance to next Saturday’s section meet.

Avery Sanders netted the eighth and final qualifying spot in the open 100 (14.42) for Martin County West, while the Mavericks’ 4×100 relay generated a second-place time of 53.95 in the 4×100.

Jayhawk sprinter Ryan Koberoski delivered a 1-2 scoring punch in the sprints to top the area boys’ contingent gaining bids to next Saturday’s sectional bid. Koberoski won the sub-section’s gold medal in the open 400 with a time of 50.99, while capturing second place in half the distance in 23.44.

Josiah DeMaris also proved a double-qualifier for the Jayhawks by producing a pair of fourth-place showings in both the mile and two-mile runs. DeMaris trailed only three long-distance runners in the 1,600 run with a time of 4:45.41, while claiming fourth in twice the distance in the 3,200 (10:02.96).

Sprinter Jackson Madsen also collected two sectional bids by finishing fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.95 for the Jayhawks. Madsen then claimed another sectional bid by sprinting across the finish line in the open 400 in 53.41.

BEA teammates Jack Norman and Austin Stauffer each delivered a pair of sectional-qualifying individual performances.

Stauffer cleared 18-8 1/2 to capture sixth place in the long jump, while collecting the eighth and final advancing spot by spraying the sand at 38-1 3/4 in the triple jump.

Meanwhile, Norman proved a perfect 4-for-4 by advancing to sectional action in both throwing events, while running the third legs on both the Bucs’ third-place 4×200 and third-place 4×100.

Norman finished fifth in the shot with a heave of 42-1 before hurling the discus to an eighth-place toss of 118-8. Norman also traded handoffs with Nick Nelson, Gage Barker and Jacob Grandgenett in both the 4×1 (45.07) and 4×2 (1:34.51) to move on to Mankato West’s high school campus next Saturday.

Grandgenett also generated a third-place individual performance of 23.66 seconds in the 200-meter dash, while Cory Kitchel rounded out the Bucs’ sectional qualifiers by netting eighth in the high hurdles in 19.5.

Ryan Pierson topped Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin by covering the 3,200-meter run in a third-place time of 10:02.4.

Max Olson and Carlos Rodriguez generated double-advancing efforts for the MCW/BO conglomerate. Olson launched the shot to a fourth-place mark of 43-11 to complement throwing the discus to a sixth-place distance of 124-10.

Rodriguez produced a sixth-place time of 12.37 in the open 100, while meriting the eighth and final qualifying spot in the 400-meter dash (54.15).

Berent Kosbab claimed seventh in the open 100 (12.44) for MCW/BO, Jamesson Forsberg pocketed eighth in the 1,600-meter run (4:54.43), while the 4×400 relay finished fourth in 3:36.78.