Girls 3,200 champ repeats; boys cross-country winner takes another
10:35 a.m.
Wayzata sophomore Maddie Gullickson’s 3200-meter state title win was a comeback in more ways than one.
Heading into the final turn of the race, Gullickson was in fourth, several strides behind the leading trio. But into the final straightaway, Gullickson made her move, passing Robbinsdale Armstrong’s Caitlyn Osanai, then Bemidji’s Mia Hoffman, then Minnetonka’s Evie Malec to finish with a time of 10 minutes, 42.44 seconds and successfully defend her title from last year.
“I normally do have a strength of kicking. I like to sit with the pack and kind of just let the race flow and go with it, and at the end I just give it my 100 percent,” Gullickson said. “I can trust my training and trust my instincts to know when to go.”
Gullickson returned to the top of the podium after missing the fall’s cross-country state championships because of injury — a return she’s “grateful [for] every step of the way.” Malec finished second with a time of 10:42.79 and Hoffman third in 10:44.20.
The reigning Class 3A boys cross-country state champion, Roseville junior Robert Mechura, took first in the boys 3200. As part of a small group of four runners, Mechura, who is committed to North Carolina for college, broke ahead of the pack and held an early lead until he was caught by Chaska senior Nolan Sutter with two laps remaining.
Mechura, who finished fourth in last year’s state championship race, quickly regained his lead and crossed the finish line with a time of 9:06.85, ahead of Sutter at 9:13.09 and Rosemount’s Andrew Schultz at 9:18.11.
“The weather’s not ideal today, super windy on that back stretch,” Mechura said. “I slowly fell off pace a little bit. … I’m glad Nolan kept it honest on that second-to-last lap. … He’s a real competitor and a good athlete, so I had to give it my best.”
A longtime video producer as well as a runner, Mechura said he has a video in the works documenting his 2024 track season, just like he had for his 2023 state-title cross-country season.
The rest of the day, from earliest to just now:
Prelims turn notable
12:03 p.m.
Class 3A state-title hopefuls ran preliminary heats Thursday morning, setting up seeding for Saturday afternoon’s finals.
In the 100 hurdles, Minnetonka senior Claire Kohler ran the season’s fastest time in the state, qualifying for finals in 13.92 seconds. She holds the state record of 13.80, set at last year’s state championships.
In the girls 100 and the boys and girls 400s, the top-seeded runners topped the prelim heats, qualifying for finals as top seeds: Prior Lake senior Addyson White in the girls 100, Apple Valley senior Dwyne Smith Jr. in the boys 400 and St. Michael-Albertville sophomore Emma Kvant in the girls 400.
Brainerd’s Gross wins boys shot put
11:07 a.m.
Brainerd senior Dylan Gross won the 3A boys shot put with his best distance of the season — and any Minnesota high school student’s season.
The throw of 62 feet, 10.5 inches broke a school record and was more than 4½ feet clear of the second-place throw, which came from Wayzata senior Emmanuel Wilson. Howie Johnson of Forest Lake finished third with a distance of 56-9.75.
Off and running (and hiding from the wind)
9 a.m.
The first starting gun has been fired here on a breezy, cloudy day at St. Michael-Albertville High School for the 2024 high school track and field state championships.
Too breezy. Pole vault and high jump have moved indoors to the gym, out of the wind.
Thursday through Saturday, the top runners and field athletes in the state will compete, beginning with Class 3A preliminaries Thursday morning and Class 1A prelims Thursday afternoon. Friday will feature Class 2A prelims and Class 1A finals, followed by Class 2A finals and Class 3A finals on Saturday.
Thursday begins with the 3,200-meter run, the longest race of the meet. No prelims in this one, so we’ll have champions soon.
Schedule
See it event by event.
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Live results
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Tickets
Cost ranges from $8 to $13. Purchase at mshsl.org/tickets.
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Streaming
By the Neighborhood Sports Network (subscription required). Link to the streams here.