East Ridge girls track & field: Raptors win Spartan Invite

Besides showcasing its 1600-meter relay team at the Hamline Elite Meet in St. Paul last Friday – and breaking another school record in the process, East Ridge High School’s girls track and field team won the eight-team Spartan Invite last Thursday in Richfield with 149.5 points. Host Richfield was runner-up with 140 points.

The Raptors’ won all four of the relay events last Thursday, including the 400-meter relay (53.53 seconds), the 800 relay (1:48.38), the 1600 relay (4:11.99) and the 3200 (10:06.49). Senior Raptor Laura Johnson tied for first place in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 8 inches, while senior teammate Nicolette Brown won the shot put with 34-10. Freshman Yahri Shavers not only won the 100 in 13.31, she broke the school record of 13.35, set by Aileen Scheibner in 2010.

“If you count the girls in the relays, we had about 35 girls place in the meet,” said Raptors’ coach Lloyd Ness. “That was fun. It was a good meet. It’s a good thing for the girls to get good competition, yet it’s just not quite as stressful as the meets coming up are going to be.”

The mood, however, was different the following day in St. Paul. Since the Hamline Elite Meet features Minnesota’s top prep athletes, coaches had to submit times no later than last Tuesday. The nature of the competitive field has earned the meet its “elite” name, as well references to the meet being like a mid-season state meet.

East Ridge’s 1600-meter relay qualified for the event and was comprised of sophomore Keira Joiner, freshmen Brenley Goertzen, junior Megan Amend and senior Nicole Ethier. The quartet took sixth place with 4:03.40, breaking the school record set a week earlier by Joiner, Katie Marcus, Goertzen, and Ethier (4:06). Lakeville South won the relay with 4:00.08.

“It’s a big-time atmosphere, and you can feel the pressure walking into it because you have all these really good teams running right now,” Ness said of the Elite Meet. “The girls stepped up and ran a really nice race.”

The Raptors are on the road again this week, competing in Edina on Friday. The invitational is the final meet before the True Team Section, which will be Thursday, May 10, in Stillwater.

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