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)