Stewartville's Lunaas fights his way to a state discus title

Jun. 10—ST. MICHAEL — From heartbroken to on top of the word, all in the course of 48 hours.

That was Stewartville throwing ace Tor Lunaas, the euphoria coming Saturday afternoon.

His despondent time came Friday in the Class AA state boys track-and-field meet at St. Michael-Albertville. It was brought on by his underperformance in his first of two events in this state meet, the shot put. Lunaas threw it just 47-9 1/4, or 2 feet less than he had in last week's section meet. It left him placing 11th overall which was nowhere close to earning his first state medal.

That was in stark contrast to what Stewartville teammate and best friend Peyton Byrne was able to do in Friday's shot put. Byrne won it and did so despite operating on a bad leg, nailing a throw of 54-8.

But then came Saturday. Lunaas' lack of a performance in the shot put served as the perfect sweetener for what he was able to pull off on Day 2.

Lunaas delivered the discus throw of his life, sailing it 174-11.

Not only was that a personal best, but it gave him a state championship and rewrote the Class AA record books. Class AA's prior state-meet best had been 156-9.

Lunaas shattered that.

"I was feeling pretty terrible after what I did on Friday," Lunaas said. "I'd been doing (the shot put) since the seventh grade, so I wanted to (do great) in my last year of high school. So, that was a bummer for sure. But in a way, that made (Saturday) all the sweeter. It feels so good to do what I did today. I've improved a lot. I used to be so robotic in the discus circle. But I've smoothed things out a lot."

Saturday could hardly have gone better for Lunaas. He thrives on competition and he loves the setting of a state meet and all of the camaraderie with the other throwers that comes with it.

But what Lunaas enjoyed most about his big day was seeing all of his sweat equity pay off.

His mission had been accomplished. He was finally wearing a state medal — a state championship one.

Thomas Lamkin had already stormed onto the state sprint scene.

The Red Wing junior had done it with a spectacular 100-meters preliminaries time of 10.71 on Friday, then added another layer of spectacular with his stunning 10.65 winning time in Saturday's finals.

Then there sure looked like there would be more a few hours later. With about 80 meters to go in the 200, Lamkin looked in perfect shape to make it a two-state-championships day. He was in the lead and seeming to find a new gear.

But just as he was climbing, Lamkin suddenly felt a twinge in his hamstring. Just like that, his all-but-certain second state title was taken away. Limping then to the finish line, Lamkin finished in 22.67 for ninth. That hamstring had done him in.

Still, Lamkin was in nowhere close to a complaining mood as he assessed his day. That was understandable, as he'd gone from a newcomer to the state track meet, to one its most accomplished performers.

"I still think of it like I won the 200," Lamkin siad. "I was going to win. But when I think about it, it was my fault. I didn't warm up properly, I warmed up too much."

What Lamkin takes away most from this meet was certainly how he started it. After making a statement on Friday with his 10.71 100 time, he screamed out his status with that 10.65 championship clocking. Lamkin wasn't far from the Class AA record of 10.6.

Now, it's time to really dream big. That is something he'll be sure to do.

"I like proclaiming that I'm going to do things and then go after them," Lamkin said.

Somebody suggested that he might go as fast as 10.3 next season. Lamkin liked the sounds of that. It's something to chase.

Nobody was expecting too much from Winona's Brayden Draheim in the 400-meter dash. That included Draheim, though he had some dreams and someone to inspire him.

The inspiration came from world record holder Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa. He set the mark of 43.03 while positioned in a far less than ideal spot, way on the outside in the eighth lane.

That's where Draheim knew he was going to be placed Saturday, as the race's eighth seed. His 50.84 preliminaries time was the eighth best in the final field.

"Prior to the meet, my coach told me to watch a video of that world record," said the senior. "Van Nieker was in the eighth lane. I watched how he ran it and that was how I needed to run it, too."

That worked out. Draheim went out fast — just as van Nieker did — and never let up. Draheim led the race from start to finish, ultimately finishing as a state champion in 48.44 seconds. That was a personal best and also easily broke th

Ie Winona school record of 49.35.

"I don't even have words for what I did," Draheim said. "It was just, wow."

The Section 1AA athlete with the best chance of a lofty finish in the high jump figured to be Stewartville's Carter Anderson. It was Anderson, after all, who'd won the state title the season before, clearing 6-feet-6.

But instead of Anderson, it was much less known Byron sophomore Ryan Stites who performed best. Stites cleared 6-4, equaling a career best and landing him second overall at state. Just behind him was Austin's A'triel Terry, also at 6-4 but with more misses than Stites. Kasson-Mantorville's Emmett Ricke cleared 6-2 for sixth and Anderson settled for seventh place (6-2).

"This was pretty fun and a great learning experience," Stites said. "Just my preparation in total, that's what got me ready for this. Next year, I hope to go even higher."

The Red Wing 4x100 relay team, with Lamkin in the middle of it, was timed in 43.06 for fifth. Winona's 4x400 relay team, with Draheim running the anchor leg, landed fourth (3:26.76).

Individual results:

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/516328/results/all