East Ridge girls track & field: Raptors break meet record in 800 relay; Ethier sets school record

In its final meet before tomorrow’s True Team Section, East Ridge High School’s girls track and field team rolled to a second-place finish at the eight-team Edina Invitational last Friday. The Raptors finished with 133.5 points behind winner Eden Prairie, which collected 165.5 points.

“I was really pleased to see so many of our athletes with top finishes this week, especially given the weather conditions – it rained almost the entire meet,” said East Ridge coach Lloyd Ness.

Besides its teams performance, the Raptors’ can boast impressive marks from individuals on the track and in the field – most notably the new meet record set in the 800 relay by Raven Tittle, Megan Amend, Alicia Ickstadt and Nicole Ethier. The tetrad won the race in 1 minute, 47 seconds, breaking the previous record of 1:47.09. The previous record was set by Hopkins in 2011.

The Raptors went on to collect a victory in the 4x400 also: Kiera Joiner, Brenley Goertzen, Katie Marcus and Amend won in 4:11.28. Joiner won the 400 in 61.27, and Ethier won the 800 in 2:22.60 – a new East Ridge school record. The previous record, set by Anna Moynihan in 2011, was 2:28.29.

For second-place finishes, Reme Abulu was runner-up in the 100 with 13.32, and Marcus finished the 400 in 61.84. Bailey Ness completed the 3200 with 11:37.05, Karina Joiner was second in the 100 hurdles with 16.65, and Nicolette Brown cleared 34 feet in the shot put.

The invite was the Raptors’ final meet before tomorrow’s True Team Section at Stillwater. The section marks the final stretch of the regular season: After tomorrow’s meet, the Raptors will host the conference prelims and finals on May 22 and 24, respectively. Section prelims and finals follow on May 29 and 31, respectively, at the University of St. Thomas.

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