Local state meet veterans Brody Wangsness, Autumn Jahnke and Samuel Moore will be joined by newcomers Sutton Lohmiller and Alyson Daigneault Friday and Saturday in the Class A track and field championships at Hamline University in St. Paul.
Brody Wangsness
Wangsness is set to run the first flight of the 110 hurdles preliminary round Friday afternoon. St. Croix Lutheran's Jon Tollefson brings a sizzling 14.28 into the state. Fourteen of state seed times are better than the 17.16 Wangsness ran in the Section 6A meet, but his time is deceiving. Wangsness ran the 110 last year at state and posted a 16.18. Nine will advance to the finals on Saturday - the top two finishers in each flight plus the five best times. Coach Marc Reynolds: "Brody has a tough draw due to the windy conditions he had to run against at the Section 6A meet last week. Much of his competition is running in the 15-second range and that is something Brody can do as well. If he can put a clean race together on Friday in the prelims, he will also have a shot at placing."
Autumn Jahnke
Jahnke won the Section 6A pole vaulting title by clearing the bar at 10-2, a personal-best for the WDC senior. The vault puts her in elite company at Hamline Friday afternoon. Last year's top three finishers, Josie Lilja of BOLD, Bridget Egan of Belle Plaine and Corinna Brown Ton of Minnehaha Academy are all back this year, but none of them are ranked in the Top 6. Jahnke's best effort at state last year was nine feet. Coach Marc Reynolds: "Autumn is tied for first in the Class A pole vault seeding with five other girls at 10-2. Autumn has consistently been vaulting 10 feet and will put herself in contention to place with another vault like that at the state meet."
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Sutton Lohmiller
Lohmiller will be taking his one and only crack at state in the shot put having won the Section 6A title with a toss of 49 feet. The WDC senior will throw in the first flight Friday afternoon. Nathan Brinker of Holdingford brings a 52-7 into the state meet. Coach Marc Reynolds: "Sutton is ranked 10th in the Class A shot put at 49 feet. Sutton has thrown well over 49 feet on a number of occasions this season and if he can do that he will also put himself in a good spot to place."
Alyson Daigneault
Daigneault was easily one of the biggest surprises of the 2015 track and field season for the Wolverines. The first-year jumper took second in the Section 6A meet to give WDC a state meet qualifier in the event for the second year in a row. Daigneault is set to jump Saturday afternoon. The best distance going into the state is a 37-3.5 turned in by Clara Paul of Concordia Academy. Coach Marc Reynolds: "Alyson is also seeded in the 10th triple jump at 34'11". If Aly can duplicate what she jump at the section she will also be in the hunt for a spot on the podium. Regardless for Aly, this will be a great experience for her as an eight grader and she will build on this in the years to come."
Samuel Moore
Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale's Samuel Moore is one of only two freshmen competing in Saturday afternoon's three flights of competition. He struggled at state last year with a throw of 112-2 after winning the section title with a 142-6. Moore's 147-4 toss in the section this year will be the 11th-best seed throw going into state. His best throw this year is a 159-6. Only four state qualifiers have better seed throws. The best is Stewartville's Shane Curtis with a 168-7. Coach Jeff Moore: "He's doing okay, he just needs some confidence in himself."
