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ST. MICHAEL/ALBERTVILLE – A pair of area athletes are bringing home the gold after they put up big performances on the second day of the Class A state track and field meet Wednesday.

GMLOKS sophomore Tate Goergen won the championship in the 800-meter run and Blooming Prairie senior Owen Krueger finished ninth in discus, after taking first in shot put on Tuesday.

Goergen led from the start in the 800 as he took an early lead and never let up. His winning time of 1:55.64 wasn’t his fastest of the year, but it was enough to top Trinity/Unity’s Micah Gregory, who took second with a time of 1:57.83.

“It was an awesome feeling to put on that blue ribbon,” Goergen said. “Hopefully I can grow faster and faster every year and keep winning it.”

Goergen set the school record with a time that was two seconds faster earlier in the year. Last year, Goergen took second at state in the 800 and he wasn’t about to let that happen again.

“I was going to run the race I know I can run. I just kept my pace and that’s how you win,” he said. “(Taking second last year) was definitely on my mind, but you don’t want to think about it again. Having that experience last year, I knew what I had to do in order to win.”

Krueger put the finishing touches on a strong state performance when he took ninth in discus after winning the shot put on Tuesday, when he hit a new school record throw of 55 feet-10.25 inches on his first throw of the meet to put him in prime position to take home the gold in shot put. 

It is the senior’s second trip to the state meet and his discus throw of 151-3 is also a new BP record.

“I came in with the expectation of wanting to win shot (put) and make the podium in discus and that’s what I did,” Krueger said.

Krueger was motivated by his father’s distances, which were set at NRHEG.

“I’ve been throwing 160s in practice and I really wanted to break my dad’s record, but I didn’t get it. But I broke it by five feet in shot,” Krueger said. “The first time I broke it, he was almost in tears and so was I.”

There were four discus throwers who hit over 160, including a mammoth throw of 172-9 by champion Auggie Yonkey of Maple River

BOYS RESULTS

Shot put: Owen Krueger (BP) (first, 55-10.25)

Discus: Owen Krueger (BP) (ninth, 151-3)

300-meter hurdles: Zach Reiland (GMLOKS) (ninth, 41.16)

800-meter run: Tate Goergen (GMLOKS) (first, 1:55.64)

4 x 400-meter relay: Zach Reiland, Kaleb Yunker, Carter Glynn, Tate Goergen (10th, 3:28.47)

Pole vault: Gage Mullenbach (BP) (no height)

GIRLS RESULTS

100-meter dash: Chantle Reiland (third, 12.56)

4 x 200-meter relay: Lydia Redman, Brynna Nelson, Breeley Galle, Chantle Reiland (third, 1:45.02)

200-meter: Chantle Reiland (GMLOKS) (eighth, 25.66)

800-meter run: Clare Bisanti (LP) (18th, 2:24.96)

Pole vault: Amelia McCabe (GMLOKS) (seventh, 10-0)

Long jump: Chantle Reiland (GMLOKS) (16th, 16-9)

High jump: Lauren Queensland (GMLOKS) (seventh, 5-2); Nevaeh Shaw (GMLOKS) (21st, 5-0)