Prep report: East girls place first at St. Francis track meet

May 18—ST. FRANCIS — Rowan Bixler, Azalea Steffes and Taylor Wood all earned first-place finishes for the Greyhounds' girls' track and field team, which placed first out of nine teams at the Terry Nutter Memorial Invitational with 167 points on Saturday in St. Francis.

Bixler (5 minutes, 19.88 seconds) and teammate Anna-Britta Helmer (5:27.35) finished first and third in the 1,600-meter dash. Proctor's Lizzy Harnell took second with a time of 5:21.20.

Wood paced the 3,200 event with a winning time of 12:27.95. Steffes won the pole vault with a mark of 9 feet.

Proctor's Zak McPhee dominated the discus with a toss of 165.10 feet, while teammate Carlie Blevins won the 800 in 2:22.28 for the girls.

Denfeld's Luke Rosholt (51.57) narrowly outpaced East's Donovin Wittenberg (51.79) to win the 400. Wittenberg (11.47) and Denfeld's Zeija Moore (12.56) each took first in the 100. Moore's mark was a personal best.

East's JV (10:17.95) and varsity (10:19.79) relay teams placed first and second in the girls' 4x800. The Greyhound girls also won the 4x200 in 1:50.69.

The Proctor boys finished fifth out of 10 teams with 80 points after winning the 4x200 with a time of 1:32.92, and the 4x400 in 4:17.05.

The Denfeld girls, which placed sixth (45.5), won the 4x100 with a time of 53.36.

East's Mark Goettel (10:26.64), Russell Hill (10:41.37) and Joey Gustafson (10:45.71) placed first, second and third, respectively, in the 3,200. The Greyhounds (127.5) finished second behind St. Francis (142) as a team.

Steve Kerzie Invitational

The Hibbing boys and Rock Ridge girls track and field teams paced the seven-team fields with scores of 162 and 171.5, respectively, at the Steve Kerzie Invitational at Rock Ridge High School.

Rock Ridge (143) and Hermantown (95) finished second and third on the boys' side, while Hibbing (150) and Ely (70) rounded out the second- and third-place finishers on the girls' side.

Bluejackets' junior Finn Eskeli swept the 200 and 400 events with times of 23.67 and 52.39, respectively. Teammate Brady Janezich won the 3,200 in 10:37.30.

Hermantown's Corban Peterson won the 100 in 11.98 seconds.

Hibbing racked up points in the field events as Aiden Shepherd and Vincent Marchetti placed first and second in both the discus and the shot put events. Shepherd's mark of 51.35 feet set a PR in the shot put.

Austin Valento beat Bluejacket teammates Wylie Stenson and Nehemia Figuerora in the pole vault with a mark of 11-6 feet to take first.

Rock Ridge's Lizzy Fultz sprinted to a first-place finish in the 200 with a time of 27.40, along with second in the 100 at 13.23, behind only Zoe Plombon of Chisholm at 13.15.

Allison Fink rallied the Wolverines with a pair of top finishes in the long jump (16 feet) and triple jump (33-1).

Barnum's Annaka Bogenholm swept the girls' throwing events with marks of 35-3 in the shot put and 101-65 in the discus.

Denfeld's Ben Senich and Brett Lapcinski led the Hunters' with two hits apiece, but a seven-run burst in the sixth inning ultimately led the Panthers to victory.

Caleb Kilroy allowed nine earned runs on 11 hits over five innings pitched for Denfeld. Brady McGinn surrendered four earned runs on three hits in his one inning of action.

The Hunters rallied back from a five-run deficit to force extra innings in game two against the Tornadoes behind two-hit performances by Vinny Udd and Kilroy. The effort fell short in the end, as Anoka scored the game-winning run on a fielding error in the eighth inning.

Lapcinski stuck out two batters over six innings pitched with only one earned run given up on six hits. Udd held the Tornadoes hitless over two innings of work.

Duluth East's Dylan Cole went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles in game one of the doubleheader, but the Panthers' five-run third inning proved too much for the club to battle back from.

Cole Licari struck out three over seven innings pitched for East, giving up four earned runs on seven hits.

Bjorn Lind, Timothy Hudoba, Cade Fladmark and Jackson Spoden all tallied hits for the Greyhounds.

East got back in the win column in game two after an eight-strikeout performance by pitcher Jackson Spoken in 6.2 innings, keeping the Tornadoes' offense in check. Lind collected the final two outs to earn the save.

From the mound to the plate, Lind paced the Greyhounds with a 3-for-4 showing. Fladmark finished 2-for-3, while Jay Nick and Hudoba each recorded extra-base hits.

Owen Marsolek pitched a complete-game gem for the Hilltoppers with 13 strikeouts and only two hits allowed in game one of the doubleheader against the Bears.

Tanner Carlson led Duluth Marshall at the plate with a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Charlie Hayden, Carter Boos, Max Berrisford and Aiden Marsolek all added hits.

The Hilltoppers cruised to the doubleheader sweep in game two behind three-hit performances by Carter Boos, Owen Marsolek and Charlie Hayden to highlight an explosive display at the plate.

Carlson logged four innings on the mound for Duluth Marshall, surrendering six earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Aiden Marsolek and Weston Heeren each pitched shutout innings as well.

Seven different players tallied a hit for the Lumberjacks on their way to victory over the Rails.

Brody Dushkin got Cloquet on the board early with a two-RBI double in the first inning. Luca Gentilini added a triple with three walks. Aiden Sievert held Proctor to one earned run over three innings pitched to earn the win, while Drew Angell gave up four hits over four innings to earn the save.

Alizae Yoki walked seven in three innings on the hill for Proctor, giving up four earned runs in the process. The Rails' pitching staff of Yoki, Nick Terhaar and Ethan Carter combined to give up 12 walks in the loss.

Tarver Sellwood's safety squeeze lifted unbeaten Northwood/Solon Springs to its fourth consecutive Lakeland Conference baseball championship.

Abe Ahlberg tossed seven shutout innings for the Green Eagles with 16 strikeouts and only two hits surrendered. Isaiah Alberg and Jared Schultz accounted for NSS's two hits.

Freshman Ada Burrows scored the lone goal for the injury-depleted Hilltoppers on Saturday in Minnetrista.

Duluth Marshall goaltender Anna Hron stopped 16 shots.

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