Riders Split Squads Across ND/MN
Wayzata Relays
For the first time in school history Friday, the Red River boys traveled to the suburbs of the Twin Cities for a meet. Wayzata High School, the defending MN AA Champions, played host to the Wayzata Relays. An invitation to the meet was extended by Aaron Berndt, the Wayzata head coach, who happens to be a RR alum and track and field legend (Class of ‘98). Berndt rolled out the red carpet for his former team, providing a tent, water, one-liners, RR track stories, and a top-notch meet. The tent was especially crucial, as rain rolled in for the latter half of the meet.
Since the state of Minnesota does not allow the javelin throw, RR’s best spear launchers competed in West Fargo for a chance to set or extend their qualifying marks. This took out some of the team’s best throwers. Additionally, seniors Cheyenne Hare and Alessandro Kroeger rested in order to fully recuperate from past injuries. These factors weakened the RR team as a whole. Furthermore, the MN schools illustrated their strength and depth with strong results in all event areas. The Riders competed well, but placed seventh out of eight teams.
Team Results:
1) Wayzata 189
2) Mounds View 124
3) Maple Grove 102
4) Brainerd 96
5) Chaska 69
6) Minnetonka 60
7) Red River 51
8) Woodbury 43
Enerson Hurdles to Victory
Junior Bryce Enerson was the lone event winner Friday, taking the 110 hurdles title in a PR time of 15.11. The time moves him to #11 in school history and only .01 seconds from #10. He also placed sixth in the 300 hurdles (42.66) and eighth in the high jump (5’6) to score 14 points. Eighth-grader Lukas Heydt posted a massive PR in the 110 hurdles (17.18), finishing ninth. He also broke the 46 second barrier in the 300 hurdles for the first time (45.91). Junior Bikash Pathak also joined the PR Party with a time of 45.35.
Topping Uses Wind Wisely
Senior Zack Topping, recent state qualifier in the 100 and 200, hit another qualifying time with his fifth place performance of 11.37 in the 100. In the 4×200, a last minute change in the relay order led to a new split lead. Topping, the usual lead-off leg, switched positions with senior headwind specialist Austin Oehlke. The move paid off, as Oehlke powered through a stiff wind to unleash Topping, who managed a 22.2 split, which is the fastest of his career and a team-leading performance. Juniors Brady Dvorak and Ethan Brandvold closed out the relay, placing fourth in 1:35.72. The quartet also ran the 4×100, placing fifth with a time of 45.82.
The Dorsey Run-Down with guest columnist Gavin Dorsey
Red River had a unique opportunity this weekend when they were invited to travel five hours to Wayzata, winners of the last six Minnesota true team titles and defending Minnesota AA Champions. The team is coached by Red River alum Aaron Berndt, whose records and all-time rankings can be found on the website or the booklet handed out a few weeks ago.
The day started off, as usual, with the 4x800m relay. The team of Marcelles Sartwell, Mustafe Abdi, Zach Simon, and Jake Arason, already having punched their ticket to Bismarck, placed 3rd with a time of 8:26.86. The team fell just short of second place Maple Grove by .01 seconds and first place Wayzata by slightly over 3 seconds. The second Red River team of Dameon Zenawick, Ryan Prusak, Gavin Dorsey, and Jeff Corcoran also placed 7th.
With clouds overhead, the rain started to fall approximately at the start of the 800m run. Sartwell, after helping the 4x800m team place 3rd, ran a personal best 2:02.82. The mark is slightly over a second off of the state-qualifying 2:01.74.
By the time the 3200m came, the rain was pouring and almost everyone wanted to go home. However, the aforementioned Arason had PR on his mind. Running 9:54.88, he placed 5th and currently is ranked #9 in the state of North Dakota. Also running an incredible race was freshman standout Hunter McHenry. McHenry PR’ed by 8 seconds en route to a state-qualifying 10:03.52. The first year runner also broke the previous freshman two-mile record and now will compete for the riders at the state meet in Bismarck.
-Dorsey is a junior distance runner for the Riders and an aspiring sports journalist.
Packer Relays
In West Fargo, a small contingent of throwers and a handful of other athletes took to the track and to the field at the Packer Relays. Not surprisingly, senior Brett Klefstad was the top performer, scoring 16 points in the javelin and shot put. Klefstad won the javelin with a PR toss of 173’6 . In the shot put, he placed third with a throw of 46’11. Junior Cole Ogren added the team’s only other points, placing sixth in the javelin (153’10). In the highly anticipated Weightman’s Relay, Jayden Remz, Justin Erickson, Trent Herberg, and Cade Johnson ran bravely, but ultimately finished third with a time of 51.97. Preparations are already in play for how the throwers will bring back that title to RR in 2020.
Fargo Rotary
Due to AP testing and a number of athletes needing to get caught up on schoolwork Monday, the Riders sent a partial team to the Fargo Rotary meet at Fargo South High School. Despite not competing at full strength, the team still managed to rake in some serious points, placing fourth overall with 91.5 points.
Team Results:
1) West Fargo High School 161.5
2) Fargo Davies High School 119
3) West Fargo Sheyenne HS 95.5
4) Grand Forks Red River HS 91.5
5) Fargo South High School 83
6) Shanley High School 71.25
7) Wahpeton High School 40.75
8) Fargo North High School 30.5
9) Grand Forks Central HS 27
10) Lisbon High School 20
Klefstad vs. Enerson in Points Leader Battle
Heading into Monday’s meet, Klefstad held a slight lead over Arason and Enerson in the season-long scoring skirmish. Adding more intrigue to the contest is the fact that each athlete represents a different event group (throws vs. distance vs. sprints/hurdles/jumps). Interestingly, both Klefstad and Enerson had similar days Monday, with both athletes winning one event, qualifying for state in a new event, and joining together on a relay. Klefstad scored 20 points after he won the shot put in a state-qualifying throw of 48’7 and placed second in the javelin (160’5). Enerson upped his game and closed the gap on Klefstad’s scoring lead, notching 25.5 points. He won the 110 hurdles (15.56), placed second in the 300 hurdles in a state qualifying time of 42.40, and cleared 5’8 in the high jump to tie for 3rd. The surprise of the meet came in the 4×100 relay, where both athletes teamed with Nate Hollingshead and Keandre Anderson to run 45.72 and place second overall out of the slow heat. Arason “only” scored eleven points, winning the 800 in a new PR time of 2:02.25 and placing fifth in the 4×400. With only four varsity meets remaining on the schedule, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will take home the scoring title. Stay tuned to find out.
2019 RR Boys Scoring Leaders (as of 5/7/19)
1-137.50-Klefstad, Brett 12
2-136.00-Enerson, Bryce 11
3-121.50-Arason, Jake 12
4-78.50-Sartwell, Marcelles 12
5-74.75-Anderson, Keandre 11
6-61.00-McHenry, Hunter 9
7-56.00-Rohloff, Kaden 11
8-53.50-Topping, Zack 12
9-47.25-Simon, Zach 12
10-42.75-Abdi, Mustafe 10
Other noteworthy events included the 1600, where sophomore Mustafe Abdi narrowly missed qualifying in the 1600 with a time of 4:36.70. The time was a PR by over six seconds and placed fourth overall. McHenry also set a new PR (4.57 seconds), crossing the tape at 4:40.49 in seventh place. The largest PR surely came in the 3200, where freshman Owen Reilly dropped 38 seconds off his previous best. In addition, he started his day with a five-second drop in time for his 4×800 split.
| PR’s or SB’s at Wayzata, West Fargo, or Fargo South | |
| 200 | Michael Nottestad-25.68 (-.77) |
| 400 | Om Panda-1:00.84 (-2.13) |
| 800 | Jake Arason-2:02.25 (-.87)
Marcelles Sartwell-2:02.82 (-1.93) Mustafe Abdi-2:05.10 (-.45) Gavin Dorsey-2:20.97 (-2.56) Rawley Lachance-2:21.12 (-4.82) |
| 1600 | Mustafe Abdi-4:36.70 (-6.65)
Hunter McHenry-4:40.49 (-4.57) Broden Diederich-5:08.87 (-.29) Erik Stokke-5:15.17 (-15.17) Rawley Lachance-5:23.16 (-4.82) |
| 3200 | Jake Arason-9:54.88 (-4.93)
Hunter McHenry-10:03.52 (-11.86) Dameon Zenawick-10:40.90 (-3.96) Ryan Prusak-10:42.29 (-8.47) Owen Reilly-12:21.05 (-38.25) |
| 110H | Bryce Enerson-15.11 (-.03)
Lukas Heydt (-.48) |
| 300H | Bikash Pathak-45.35 (-.52)
Lukas Heydt-45.91 (-.56) |
| LJ | Mason Gillespie-15’2 (7”) |
| TJ | Isaak Nelson-38’6.5 (.5”) |
| DT | Brett Klefstad-118’6 (4’9)
Evan Hutchison x2-115’1 (7”) Justin Erickson-99’10.5 (4’7.5) |
| JT | Brett Klefstad-173’6 (1’1) |
Updated Point Totals and Top Marks-CLICK HERE
The postseason is on the horizon for the Riders. On Friday, the boys will head back to Fargo South for the Radke/Orvik East/West Classic. Those athletes who don’t compete on Friday will attend the EDC JV Outdoor Meet on Saturday at Fargo Davies HS. All athletes will compete in the final home meet of the season on Monday, the Bob Zimney Last Chance. This will conclude the regular season portion of the schedule. On Friday, May 17, the East Region meet will be held at Fargo South.
As always, you can follow the team on Twitter (@RRTFXC) and Instagram (@rrtfxc).