East Ridge boys track & field: Raptors’ 400-meter relay team shines at White Bear Lake

The field and sprint events were East Ridge High School’s strongest contests at last Thursday’s boys track and field meet in White Bear Lake.

Though the team finished in sixth place with 56 points behind champion and host White Bear Lake (141) and runner-up Mounds View (118), Raptors’ sprinters raked in a handsome share of the points, while two athletes recorded lifetime personal best records in field events.

Dayo Ogundepo, Val Huerta, Emilio Huerta and Jarred Morris combined to take first place in the 4x100 meter relay, finishing in 45.52 seconds. Ogundepo, Morris, Val Huerta and Nate Roese earned third in the 4x200 with 1:51.51, while Allen Swenson recorded a lifetime personal record in the pole vault after clearing 12 feet, 6 inches for third place. Marcus Kelly also recorded a PR – in the shot put, with 41-5.

“He’s a football captain and a great guy that works hard,” East Ridge coach Shannon Rainey said of Kelly. “He’s definitely the hardest working guy in the whole school when it comes to strength conditioning. Throwing is still kind of new for him; it’s only his second year. But his leadership is amazing. He’s made some major improvements since last year.”

These relay teams have promise this season, Rainey said, and he’s hoping with even faster times at this Saturday’s meet in Stillwater, the Raptors’ roster could have qualifiers for the Hamline Elite Meet on April 27. Saturday is the team’s last chance to hit qualifying times, though, as entries for the Elite Meet are due next Tuesday.

“It’s a great meet because it’s like a hand-picked meet,” Rainey said. “It’s almost like a pre-season state meet. I’m hoping we have some performances that we can submit and hopefully, get into that meet.”

Saturday’s meet at Stillwater will be the Raptors’ only outing this week, as a previously scheduled meet at Simley on Thursday has been canceled.

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