2024 Track and Field State Meet: Day 1 Recap

Three days of running and field events opened the Minnesota State High School League’s Track and Field State Meet on Thursday, June 6 at St. Michael-Albertville High School. Day 1 was comprised of preliminaries and assorted finals in Class A and Class AAA, respectively. Class AA begins its preliminaries and assorted finals on Friday. 

Here are some highlights from Opening Day: 

• Roseville Area’s Robert Mechura captured the second running championship of his junior year by winning the Class AAA 3,200-meter run. Mechura, the Class AAA cross country champion last fall, recorded a time of 9 minutes, 6.85 seconds. With two laps remaining, he used a surge to pull ahead of Chaska senior Nolan Sutter and Rosemount senior Andrew Schultz. Sutter was runner-up in 9:13.08 and Schultz third in 9:18.11. Mechura, who has committed to run at the University of North Carolina, was fourth in the 3,200 last season. 
• In the Class AAA girls 3,2000, Wayzata sophomore Maddie Gullickson used a strong finishing kick in the final straightaway to pass four runners en route to successfully defending her championship. She passed Robbinsdale Armstrong senior Caitlyn Osanai, Bemidji senior Mia Hoffman and Minnetonka ninth-grader Evie Malec to win in a time of 10:42.44. Malec was runner-up in 10:42.79 and followed by Hoffman and Osanai, respectively. Gulliickson did not run in the cross country state meet last fall because of an injury. 
• The Class A boys 3,200 had a heart-pounding finish when Mounds Park Academy junior Eddie Snider edged Cotter/Hope Lutheran eighth-grader Erik Semling by half a second. Snider’s finishing time was 9:31.95. He was followed by Semling in 9:32.0. St. John’s Prep senior Nick Hansen was third in 9:44.90.
• Hansen’s classmate, senior Olivia Pauly, won the Class A girls 3,200 in a time of 10:52.85. Luverne senior Jenna DeBates was runner-up in 11:05.37 and Cotter/Hope Lutheran junior Sonja Semling was third at 11:10.80.
• St. Croix Prep senior Joseph Arens won the pole vault with a leap of 14 feet, 3 inches. Montevideo senior Braden Nelson was second. He cleared the same height but in one more attempt than Arens. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta sophomore Grayson Gibson was third at 14 feet. 
• Brainerd senior Dylan Gross won the Class AAA shot put with a toss of 62 feet, 10.5 inches. His toss was more than four feet farther than Wayzata senior Emmanuel Wilson. Forest Lake’s Howie Johnson was third at 56-9.75.
• Lakeview senior Lucas Taylor won the Wheelchair Shot Put for the second consecutive season with a state record toss of 27-9. His previous mark of 22-9.25 was set last season. 
• McKaylen Lewis, a ninth-grader at Math & Science Academy, won the Class A high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 5 inches. Shortly after, she won the long jump with a leap of 19-9.
• Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd junior Brayson Boike won the Class A triple jump with a distance of 45 feet, 3.25 inches.
• Litchfield senior T.J. Christensen claimed the Class A shot put crown with a toss of 59 feet, 2.75 inches. 
• Clearbook-Gonvick junior Allison LaVine won the discus with a throw of 135 feet, 7 inches.