East Ridge track & field: Raptors girls second, boys fifth at True Team

The East Ridge girls track and field team showed off its depth at the True Team Section 2AAA meet last Thursday in Stillwater, earning 669.5 points for second-place honors behind champion and host Stillwater (717.5 points). East Ridge’s boys team also did well, finishing in fifth place. Champion and host Stillwater took first with 851.5 points, followed by Woodbury with 699 points.

True Team meets take into account results from the whole team, awarding points based on performance to all participants in a given event.

For the East Ridge girls, the meet was the Raptors’ second-straight runner-up team performance, boasting strong relay teams that collected first-place honors in the 800-meter relay (1 minute, 47.36 seconds) and 3200-meter relay (9:47.96), while finishing second in the 1600-meter relay at 4:02.89.

The Raptors soared in the 800 also, as senior Nicole Ethier and freshman Brenley Goertzen took first and second in 2:23.85 and 2:25.77, respectively. Freshman Emily Betz won the 3200 in 11:30.82, sophomore Kiera Joiner was runner-up in the 400 with 1:00.92, and sophomore Sandra Gramer was second in the 300 hurdles with 48.94.

In the boys meet, two Raptors collected wins, including junior Nate Roese, who won the 400-meter dash after finishing in 49.98 seconds, and Jayden Cline, who won the high jump with 6 feet. Mitchell Gable also cleared 6-0 for second place in the high jump. Junior Willie Neuenfeldt contributed another big performance for the field events, taking second in the shot put with 46-9.

In relays, the Raptors’ 800-meter relay team was third with a time of 1:32.82.

East Ridge’s next competition will be at home, as the Raptors play host to the Suburban East Conference meet May 22 and 24.

Tags: track and field, east ridge, sports, raptors, prep