Huskies dominate in track as girls earn first, boys second

It was a banner day for the Owatonna girls and boys track and field teams when they traveled to Rochester to take on the Rochester Mayo Spartans, the Mankato West Scarlets, the Winona Winhawks and the Rochester John Marshall Rockets on Thursday, April 29.
The Husky girls won their meet by scoring 466.5 points, just 11 points more than Mankato West. Meanwhile, the boys team scored 451 points, but came in second place behind Rochester Mayo.
Owatonna’s Janeesa Moore set a personal record by finishing the 100-meter dash in 13.32 seconds. She came in third place, just a couple hundredths of a second ahead of her teammate Ava Wolfe who finished in fourth place.
Emma Johnson earned third place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.95 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash, Lauren Waypa set a new personal record with a time of 27.79 seconds, which was good for third place.
Owatonna hurdler Madison Koslosky also earned third place in the 300-meter hurdles. She crossed the finish line at 52.38 seconds.
The Husky girls scored 33 points in the 400-meter dash thanks to Sarah Kingland, Annika Wiese and Mckenna DuFrene who came in fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Owatonna also scored 33 points in the 800-meter run. This time it was Anna Cox, Zinash Valen and Angela Zaccaria who finished in third (2:36.36), fifth (2:39.26) and seventh place (2:46.08), respectively. They all set new personal records.
In the 1600-meter run, the Huskies had a pair of top five finishers. Kiara Gentz finished in 6:06.81 and achieved fourth place, while Laura Stevensen set a new personal record by finishing in 6:12.04 and earned fifth place.
The Huskies’ relay teams had even better success. The 4x100 relay team, which consists of Moore, Laken Meier, Waypa and Wolfe, won the race with a time of 53.44 seconds to earn Owatonna 20 points. The 4x200 team, Moore, Aileen Jock, Waypa and Wolfe, also won their race and earned the Huskies 20 points.
DuFrene earned the Huskies 15 points by winning the high jump with a height of five feet, while Brooke Miles came in fifth place with a height of 4 feet and 8 inches.
Wolfe, Wiese and Waypa finished in second, fourth and sixth, respectively, in the long jump.
Kya Dixon won the shot put and set a personal record with a distance of 35 feet and 6.50 inches.
Last but not least, Hillary Haarstad came in second place in the triple jump with a height of 33 feet and 5.25 inches.
Shortly after the girls meet ended, the boys meet began and the Husky boys achieved similar success.
The Huskies had three top four finishers in the 110-meter hurdles. Jack Titchenal came in first place with a time of 15.63 seconds, Ryan Gregory finished in 15.72 seconds for second place and Carter Johnson came in fourth with a time of 15.87 seconds. Combined they earned the Huskies 41 points in just that event.
Those same three boys also competed in the 300-meter hurdles. This time it was Gregory who won the race with a time of 40.08 seconds. Titchenal finished in 43.99 seconds for third place and Johnson came in sixth with a time of 45.16 seconds. Combined they earned the Huskies 38 points in that event.
Zach Stransky kept the Huskies’ winning ways going when he finished in first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.45 seconds. Less than a couple seconds later, Noah Wellnitz came in fourth place with a time of 54.87 seconds.
In the 800-meter run, Connor Ginskey and Riley Voracek came in third and fourth place, respectively, with times of 2:09.17 and 2:10.69.
The Huskies’ 4x200 relay team, which consists of Justin Gleason, Kaven Torabpour, Garrett Karsten and Ryley Glassmaker, came in second place with a time of 1:34.81.
Owatonna’s 4x400 relay team, Wellnitz, Torabpour, Stransky and Gregory, did even better, coming in first place and setting a season record with a time of 3:38.73.
The Huskies’ 4x800 team, David Smith, Ty Svenby, Connor Ginskey and Jacob Ginskey, also earned Owatonna 20 points by finishing in first place with a time of 8:57.36.
In the discus throw, the Huskies earned 40 points thanks to three top four finishers. Eli Spurgeon came in first place with a distance of 137-11. Meanwhile, Trever Schirmer and Nicholas Cummins came in third and fourth place, respectively.
Owatonna also had three strong finishers in the high jump. Owen Korbel came in second place with a height of 6 feet, Gregory hit 5 feet and 10 inches and Titchenal came in seventh place with a height of 5 feet and 8 inches.
Last but not least, the Huskies earned 35 points in the shot put. Schirmer earned first place with a distance of 46 feet and 4.75 inches, Spurgeon finished in fourth place with a distance of 43 feet and 4.25 inches and Nathan Smith came in eighth place with a distance of 40 feet and 9.75 inches.
The boys’ next track and field meet is a road meet at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, at Lakeville South High School. The girls’ next track and field meet is a home meet at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11.