Jun. 20—ST. MICHAEL — Sammy Christoffer’s Saturday was full of ups and downs.
The Willmar junior took home two medals — fourth place in the long jump and eighth place in the 4×400-meter relay — of the four events she competed in.
It was tough not to preserve her spot as the top seed in the long jump, or to medal in the 100 and 200. But after anchoring a 4×400 that wasn’t projected to medal put a positive end to the day.
“I thought: ‘I really need to work hard in this 4×4 and try to get (a good time),'” Christopher said.
With eighth-grader Lauren Eilers, junior Nina Dawson and freshman Lyndi Koosman, the Willmar 4×400 placed eighth at 4 minutes, 4.11 seconds.
In total, the Cardinal girls medaled in three events. Along with Christoffer’s long jump and the 4×400, junior Ava Brogren finished ninth in the high jump.
“That kind of shows how the meets go,” said Willmar head track coach Mike Bobbe. “Sam has a couple of disappointing races and we’re not expecting to podium in the 4×4. Then we, by far, run the best race of the year. And it’s the first time we beat Bemidji.”
Bobbe added: “For them to come back like that, it’s emblematic of the whole year and just the track and field meets. So many ups and downs.”
After taking 12th in the 100 (12.42), Christoffer had to hustle over to the jump pit for her first long jump attempt, where she was the high seed at 18 feet, 4 inches. The first jump was Christoffer’s best at 17-7.25. And it came under somewhat surprising circumstances.
“I went out and I actually jumped off my wrong foot, my left foot instead of my right foot, and still got my best mark,” Christoffer said.
One jumper was able to break the 18-foot mark. St. Michael-Albertville’s Olivia Peal won with a distance of 18-1.75.
“Sam’s the one with the most state experience from a couple years ago … but it’s a different ballgame when you come in as the number one seed,” Bobbe said. “There’s a little more pressure. Then with the way things were formatted this year with four jumps (and) no finals, it was tough. Hats off to the St. Michael girl, she popped a big PR (personal record). But Sam’s been consistent all year and a 17-7 jump is really nothing to scoff at.”
Then after Christoffer took 11th in the 200 (25.97), Willmar took to the track in the final race of the day, the 4×400. After Eilers and Dawson ran their legs of the race, the Cardinals were third in their heat. But a strong third leg by Koosman set up Christoffer to run the leg within striking distance of Bemidji.
“Lauren started us off well, and it’s always tough to start because those girls have ambition that they’re going to go out and make the race really fast,” Bobbe said. “The key was Nina coming back in that second leg, and then Lyndi ran her best split of the year, by far. When we can put the baton in Sam’s hands with the lead, I feel pretty good about things.”
Over the last 20 meters, Christoffer passed up the Lumberjacks’ Lauren Berg to take the top spot in the first heat.
Edina ultimately won the 4×400 with a time of 3:54.75, beating Minnetonka by .52 seconds.
“I started out at a decent pace and I held a lot toward the end,” Christoffer said. “I just kicked it all in at the end and tried to give it my all those last hundred meters.”
In a packed high jump field, Brogren cleared 5-2 and was looking to hit 5-4, her seed mark. She was unable to match that mark, putting her in ninth place.
Eden Prairie’s Niamya Holloway was the high jump champion at 5-8, beating the rest of the field by three inches.
“I didn’t jump as high as I would have liked today, but just knowing that I made the podium in my first time competing at state is pretty exciting,” Brogren said.
“When I was sitting in the tent and just staring at the pit watching the girls warm up, I thought, ‘Wow, there’s some serious competition today. I was pretty nervous but I just went there and I felt great. Although I didn’t PR, I had a great time.”
With nine team points, the Willmar girls finished in a tie for 30th place. Rosemount won the team championship with 86 points, followed by St. Michael-Albertville’s 65.
In a day of highs and lows, Bobbe is excited to return all seven of its competitors next spring.
“Our true team that finished fourth at state only had one senior,” Bobbe said. “It makes it a little easier when you know they have another opportunity. Nothing’s a given but (there’s) a lot of bright futures and a lot of kids who were just on the cusp and weren’t here today. Hopefully we won’t have a two-year layoff again.”
Class AA championship
Girls
GIRLS TEAM SCORING (Top 10 plus area teams) — (1) Rosemount 86 (2) St. Michael-Albertville 65 (3t) Minnetonka and Edina 56 (5) Stillwater 48 (6) Eden Prairie 43 (7) Wayzata 41 (8) Prior Lake 38 (9) Park Center 36 (10) Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony Village 24.5 (30t) Willmar and Totino-Grace 9
Winner and area top finishers
100 HURDLES — (1) Ava Cinnamo, Rosemount, 14.49
300 HURDLES — (1) Cinnamo, Rosemount, 44.01
100 DASH — (1) Maddie Dahlien, Edina 11.99 (12) Sammy Christoffer, Willmar, 12.42
200 DASH — (1) Dahlien, Edina, 24.45 (11) Christoffer, Willmar, 25.97
400 DASH — (1) Dahlien, Edina, 55.48
800 RUN — (1) Zoie Dundon, Burnsville, 2:10.54 (13) Nina Dawson, Willmar, 2:22.41
1,600 RUN — (1) Alexandra Weimer, STMA, 4:49.93
3,200 RUN (Thursday) — (1) Analee Weaver, Stillwater, 10:15.26
4X100 RELAY — (1) St. Michael-Albertville 48.28
4X200 RELAY — (1) Park Center 1:42.39
4X400 RELAY — (1) Edina 3:54.75 (8) Willmar (Lauren Eilers, Dawson, Lyndi Koosman, Christoffer) 4:04.11
4X800 RELAY — (1) Wayzata 9:08.02 (15) Willmar (L. Eilers, Hannah Quinn, Erin Eilers, Dawson) 10:07.13
HIGH JUMP — (1) Niamya Holloway, Eden Prairie, 5-8 (9) Ava Brogren, Willmar, 5-2
LONG JUMP — (1) Olivia Peal, STMA, 18-1.75 (4) Christoffer, Willmar, 17-7.25
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Samantha Barrett, Prior Lake, 39-6.25
POLE VAULT — (1) Julia Gherardi, Hibbing, 12-6
DISCUS — (1) Jordan Hecht, Rosemount, 134-11
SHOT PUT — (1) Hadley Streit, Mounds View, 41-4.25
