June 28, 2018
After being rescheduled from April to May due to snow, the Heidi Kunz Mahtomedi Invitational brought with it all the cold, rain and wind of early April, yet MPA athletes overcame the poor weather with strong performances across the board.
On the girls side, the 4x800m team of senior Sarah Ley, sophomore Skylar Cernohous, ninth grader Katie Dahiya, and seventh grader Margo N. placed third. Sophomore Nasri Maktal made her season debut in the 100m hurdles, running a personal best of 21.51. In the 100m, senior Quinn Campbell ran a personal best 14.26 to place fifth. The girls 4x200m team of junior Ellie Quam, sophomores Catherine Moore, and Aaliyah Kellogg, and ninth grader Izzy Quam placed fourth with a time of 1:53.84, just off the MPA top 10 list.
In the 400m, ninth grader Izzy Quam placed fourth, going toe to toe with some of Minnesota’s top 400m runners. In the 200m, sophomore Catherine Moore had a breakthrough race, finishing second in a personal best time of 28.06, ninth best all time at MPA. Catherine then joined teammates Gabby Law, Izzy Quam, and Keerti Upadhyaya for the 4x400m, placing fourth.
In the high jump, sophomore Aaliyah Kellogg continued her improvement, this time clearing 4’6 to place fifth and move up to fourth all-time at MPA. Senior Quinn Campbell also recorded a personal best in the high jump, jumping 4’4 to move up to fifth all-time at MPA. Also finishing fifth at the meet was junior Gabby Law in the triple jump, and ninth grader Izzy Quam in the long jump. In the discus, Sophomore Zoe Hutton, new to throws, recorded a 6 ½ foot personal best in just her third meet!
On the boys side, the 4x800m team started off the meet strong. Juniors Matt Bourne and Henry Peterson, sophomore Henry Snider and eighth grader Cullen Moore finished second. In the 110m hurdles, both junior Dylan Dickinson sophomore Charles Grimes recorded personal bests. Dylan is now just 4 hundredths of a second from breaking the 20 second barrier!
The boys performance of the day came in the 4x200m. Juniors Tae’Vion Wilkins and Ian Olson, and Sophomores Kailil Schertzing and Nathan Harvanko won the event, running 1:38.56, fifth best all-time at MPA, and just off the MSHSL honor roll!
The 4x100m relay of juniors Tae’Vion Wilkins and Ian Olson, sophomore Kailil Schertzing, and, making his Track and Field debut, ninth grader Caleb Rhodes placed third with a time of 47.56, ninth best all-time at MPA. In the 800m run, senior Declan Dahlberg placed first, with a winning time of 2:02.30, placing him sixth all time at MPA and earning a spot on the MSHSL honor roll, and junior Matt Bourne placed fifth in 2:08.93. In the 200m, both sophomores Tae’Vion Wilkins and Nathan Harvanko broke 25 seconds to place fourth and sixth respectively. In the 3200m, sophomore Henry Snider finished first, winning in a time of 10:20.88, eighth best time in MPA history and good for a spot of the MSHSL honor roll! Ninth grader Peter Manolis finished fourth in the event with a personal best of 11:15.38.
In the high jump, junior Yahya Madar went toe to toe with the 2017 Class AA state champion, and both jumped 6’4. Yahya placed second based on the tie breaker. In the triple jump, junior Tae’Vion Wilkins placed fourth, jumping over 37 feet again. Junior Ethan Berning placed fifth in the shot put, going over 35 feet. In the discus, senior Sumner Wu placed fourth with a throw of 99’11, and senior Paul Thompsen-Nelson recorded a personal best by 17 feet, throwing over 91’!
The Panthers placed fifth for both the boys and girls teams at the Heidi Kunz Mahtomedi Invitational.
