Photo by Jake McNeill: Fairmont pole vaulter Jase Meade lofts over the crossbar during the MSHSL State Track and Field Championships on Friday morning.

ST. MICHAEL – The Fairmont track and field team had a handful of athletes compete during Day 1 of the Class AA MSHSL State Track and Field Championships on Friday morning at St. Michael High School.

The major highlight of the day came from pole vaulter Jase Meade. Meade, who qualified for the state competition during last Thursday’s Section 2AA Championships, continued to shine at the even bigger stage. He outdueled Coye Braton from Detroit Lakes, reaching a height of 13-06 in fewer attempts to finish ninth overall. This was an improvement from his 19th-place finish during last year’s competition.

Also in the field was Cardinal discus hurler Addison Folkerts. Folkerts came up just short of her personal best but still reached 110-01, placing 17th out of 25 competing athletes. She was less than a foot away from Quinn Hodgins from Rocori.

Dakota Wiley was a second off from qualifying for Saturday’s 400-meter sprint finale. He got 13th after crossing the finish line at 50.37, placing behind Michael Hames from New Ulm (50.17), Wyatt Fiedler from Southwest Christian (50.07), Connor Bittner from St. Francis (50.01) and Sundjata Henderson from Minneapolis Edison (49.98).

Wiley later joined Carter Hanson, Brier Lenort and Jordan Thompson in the boys’ 4 by 400 sprint relay preliminarily. The group did enough for the final race, clocking in at 3:27.90 to finish eighth overall.

Saturday’s Class AA Finals begin again at 9:00 a.m. at St. Michael.