Hack Attack: Austin freshman headed for state in 100 and 200-meter dashes

Austin's Carolyn Hackel wins the 100-meter dash during the Section 1AA finals Saturday afternoon in Lakeville. Hackel earned state appearances with wins in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. - Photo courtesy of the Faribault Daily News

LAKEVILLE — Before the track and field season began, Austin freshman Carolyn Hackel was hoping to make the jump from contender to champion and she accomplished that feat when she won the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash at the Section 1AA meet in Lakeville South Saturday.

Hackel earned state berths in both events and will join Austin junior Omot Okello, who earned a state berth in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles.

“I have the state times posted in my room and every day I look at them and tell myself I can make those times,” Hackel said. “It feels so nice and this was my goal. It was my job to carry it out and I’m happy that I did.”

Hackel, who broke her own school record in the 100 for the third time this year and set a personal best time in the 200, was in the third place in the 100 with 30 meters left when she turned it up a notch and won the race by eight-tenths of a second.

“I didn’t feel like I was making the time, so I thought ‘maybe I should pick it up a little bit,” she said.

Hackel led the 200 for the last 100 meters as she cruised to the win and she took almost a full second off her prelim time in the event.

Okello finished fourth in the 110s, but he ran three-tenths hundredths of a second faster than the state standard.

“He ran a good time and we’ll see how it goes up at state,” Austin head coach Tony Einerston said. “He’s been dealing with a quad injury but he’s had treatment and that’s helped quite a bit. It’s nice to get another state qualifier after taking a year off.”

Omot just missed a trip to state in the 300s as he took third after he edged out the fourth place finisher by two-tenths of a second.

Austin senior Nate Schwab finished fifth in the 800-meter run as he was just over a second from qualifying for state.

The Austin 4 x 200-meter relay team of Saara Tuomola, Haley Splinter, Carley Grunewald, and Hackel missed qualifying for state by just over a second as they finished third with a time of 1:46.45.

Austin junior pole vaulter Abby Snater missed out on a return trip to state when she hit a height of 10-6, which was four inches short of the state standard. She took fifth overall.

AUSTIN BOYS RESULTS

800-meter run: Nate Schwab (fifth, 2:03.26)

1600-meter run: Nate Schwab (seventh, 4:36.09); Andrew Baker (13th, 4:43.18)

110-meter hurdles: Omot Okello (fourth, 15.13)

300-meter hurdles: Omot Okello (third, 41.36)

4 x 200-meter relay: Caleb Bentley, Erik Stephenson, Francisco Torres, Zach Vierkandt (seventh, 1:34.36)

4 x 800-meter relay: Mason Wollersheim, Dylan Diekman, Ryan Larson, Jordan Bentley (sixth, 8:27.78)

Long jump: Jake Hagen-Erickson (eighth, 19-8.25)

Discus: Andrew Hagan (10th, 129-6)

AUSTIN GIRLS RESULTS

100-meter dash: Carolyn Hackel (first, 12.45)

200-meter dash: Carolyn Hackel (first, 25.92)

1600-meter run: Justice Tabor (21st, 5:49.49)

4 x 200-meter relay: Saara Tuomola, Haley Splinter, Carley Grunewald, Carolyn Hackel (third, 1:46.45)

4 x 800-meter relay: Haley Splinter, Merideth Fritz, Karyn Potach, Madison Overby (seventh, 10:11.81)

High jump: Merideth Fritz (24th, 4-4)

Pole vault: Abby Snater (fifth, 10-6)

 

 

SportsPlus

Mower County

Technical issues causing delay in upload of Mower voter tallies

News

Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota wins 4th Senate term, defeating GOP ex-NBA player Royce White

News

AP Race Call: Republican Brad Finstad wins reelection to U.S. House in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District

Mower County

Author to present winter legends and history at Austin Public Library

News

About 24 states say they’ll send National Guard troops to DC for vote certification and inauguration

News

An Israeli strike kills 20 in north Gaza, where Palestinians say they’ve had little food for weeks

News

Election Day voting unfolds generally smoothly with some scattered issues and delays reported

Mower County

City honors Legion, VFW Color Guard

Mower County

In Your Community: First three prizes claimed from Holiday Bing-Oh!

News

New North Shore livestream offers moment of Zen amid info overload

News

Public input sought on major powerline proposed for southwest Minnesota

News

Minneapolis musician Tyka Nelson, Prince’s sister and only full sibling, dies at 64

News

Federal Reserve is set to cut rates again while facing a hazy post-election outlook

News

Ruby slippers from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ are for sale nearly 2 decades after they were stolen

News

‘I thought it would be fun.’ 92-year-old election judge has served voters for 7 decades

Albert Lea

Albert Lea teacher living in Austin arrested for solicitation of a minor

Mower County

Reschedule bridge demo of Fourth Street NW to begin Friday

Education

Mock vote at Pacelli involves students in the process

LeRoy

Highway 56 reconstruction completed in LeRoy

Business

Hormel to Donate 5K Jennie-O turkeys during a community-wide giveaway event

News

Your rights, rules at the polls in Minnesota

News

Quincy Jones, music titan who worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, dies at 91

News

Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day

Brownsdale

Cedar River project makes use of local company’s hardware