Seeded ninth, Langdon-Edmore-Munich's Meredith Romfo wins state javelin title
May 25—BISMARCK — A year ago, Langdon-Edmore-Munich's Meredith Romfo was seeded No. 1 in the javelin entering the North Dakota Class B state track and field meet and finished in fourth place.
This year, Romfo entered the meet seeded ninth.
The four-sport athlete thrived in the underdog role.
Romfo won the javelin at the state meet with a toss of 136 feet, 5 inches.
"I knew during the regular season, I wasn't throwing my best," Romfo said. "Going into state, I was 9 feet off my PR. I had big room for improvement. I knew if I PR'ed, I'd place pretty well."
A big piece of Romfo's No. 9 seed was the fact she particpates in softball and track and field in the spring.
"It's super crazy," said Romfo, the sister of UND football brothers Grant and Simon Romfo. "I'm not at all of the track meets. I don't go to every practice. When the softball season ended, I knew those days (of practice) were going to be very beneficial. I got better every day."
Cardinals coach Jane Hart said the week leading up to the state meet was big for Romfo.
"She's a four-sport athlete, so I have to share her," Hart said. "(The last week) we got to work alone together for the whole week to practice for state. We strengthened some things and fixed some things. She was mentally ready. She knew what she had to do.
"With no school, too, we got to schedule what was good for her and me. We had no disruptions. We were able to get down to business and work hard, and it paid off."
Romfo's softball season ended the day after the regional track meet.
"We spent the week focusing on the little things that'll make a big difference," Romfo said. "I think that really helped. It's a great feeling, especially knowing I have one year left."
The Class B girls races was won by Bowman County with 72 points, followed by Central Cass with 58 and Fargo Oak Grove with 55. The top area school finisher was Hatton-Northwood with a sixth-place finish with 39 points.
In the Class B girls, top-eight finishes on Saturday included Elizabeth Fedje of Drayton-Valley Edinburg (second place, 300 hurdles, seventh, 400 meters), Chloe Woinarowicz of Grafton (third, 300 hurdles, eighth, 100 hurdles), Aubrey Kenner of Benson County (sixth, 300 hurdles, fifth, 800 meters), Alexis Tompkins of Grafton (fifth, 100 meters, fifth, 200 meters), Jena Schwabe of Thompson (eighth, 100 meters), Isabelle Cole of Grafton (sixth, 100 hurdles), Trista Bilden of Hatton-Northwood (fifth, javelin) and Megan Misson of Pembina County North (seventh, high jump).
In the Class B boys team race, Bowman County won with 95 points, followed by Kindred with 82 and Hazen with 57.
In the Class B boys, top-eight finishes on Saturday included Kason Buchholz of Hillsboro-Central Valley (third, 300 hurdles, second, 110 hurdles)), Cody Amble of Langdon-Edmore-Munich (second, 400 meters, fifth, triple jump), Keaton Saastad of May-Port-C-G (sixth, 400 meters, fourth, 200 meters), Easton Lovelace of Thompson (eighth, 400 meters), Karter Peterson of Thompson (third, 110 hurdles) and Jack Kern of Grafton (seventh, 800 meters).
