The Triangular Track Meet was held at Centennial High School on April 21st. It was an intense competition with three main rival schools, which were Centennial, Blaine, and Coon Rapids.

Unfortunately due to rough weather conditions, including snow and sleet, students from Blaine High School resigned and left soon after the meet had began. But – we were still able to catch the 4×800 relay before the athletes evacuated. To move things along, both the boys and girls relays were held at the same time. Ben Olson (9) established a large lead for the team in the first leg of the race. Peter Caron (12), Josh Klukas (10), and Carter Woetzel (10) maintained the lead and won the event for the team.

The girls’ team on the other hand, fell a little short with Centennial coming in first place. When asked about her fellow athletes and their performance, Ellen Mickelson (9) said, “Good, I think the wind slowed us down.”

Although the temperatures never peaked 40 degrees, and at some times it was hard to see through the blizzard-like snow, Blaine’s track team prevailed with spirit. With Blaine gone, Centennial and Coon Rapids decided to continue on to the “…the bitter and I do mean bitter end.”, said Colleen Cardinal, the head track coach of Centennial.

The final scores for girls were: Centennial 71.75, Coon Rapids 63.5, and Blaine 26.

The boy’s final scores were: Centennial 94, Coon Rapids 43, and Blaine 24.

When Ann Stalboerger, (Head of the Blaine girls Track and Field) was questioned on her track team so far, she informed us they were doing well! “The Blaine girls have been doing very good so far this season. We took 3rd place in the Shakopee Relay meet last week against 9 other teams.” When asked to predict the outcome of the upcoming race, Stalboerger said “No predictions, just hope we run well considering the cold and windy conditions!”

This was a common trend between all of the schools participating. Head coaches from Centennial (Colleen Cardinal) and Coon Rapids (Denny Green) were all good sports towards the other schools, wishing them well especially against the difficult weather.  Coach Cardinal said “ I always hope to be competitive between the two other schools.” Coach Green hoped to see improvements and a better effort from him Cardinals. He confessed “Not looking to try and win the meet, but more for the development of our depth.”